Since March 2022, the airline Austrian Airlines has been purchasing so-called sustainable jet fuel from OMV, which is made from used cooking fat. The two companies gave towards the end of the previous year announced their collaboration in this area.

The aviation industry has high hopes for so-called SAF, which is manufactured from sustainable sources. However, the fact that carbon dioxide is also produced during the combustion of SAF fuels for physical and chemical reasons is ignored. Nevertheless, high hopes are placed on this product. In Bavaria OMV builds its own production facility for SAF.

Together with its long-term cooperation partner Austrian Airlines, OMV relies on sustainable jet fuel from the OMV Schwechat refinery, one of the largest and most complex inland refineries in Europe. After the delivery contract was signed at the end of 2021, the first SAF was delivered to Vienna Airport in March 2022 to refuel Austrian Airlines aircraft.

“OMV is implementing numerous measures to achieve its ambitious strategic sustainability goals - sustainable jet fuel plays a key role in our transformation. We plan to increase sales of SAF from our own production from around 2.000 this year to more than 700.000 tons per year by 2030. In this way we contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases. The first milestone has already been reached with the delivery of SAF to our long-standing partner Austrian Airlines. With this cooperation, we are demonstrating the strength of two national champions, OMV and Austrian Airlines, and thus consolidating Austria as a location for innovation,” says Elena Skvortsova, OMV Board Member for Marketing.

Although the chemical composition of the sustainable aircraft fuel produced by OMV corresponds to that of fossil fuels, it is produced using sustainable and regional raw materials, in particular used cooking oil. Compared to conventional jet fuel, sustainable aviation fuel leads to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of more than 80% over the entire life cycle.

“Aviation will continue to connect people and societies around the world in the future. Sustainable aircraft fuels are an important lever for making transport and networking climate-neutral. As the first Austrian airline, we are already fueling our aircraft with SAF and are thus one step closer to our climate goals," says Michael Trestl, Chief Commercial Officer at Austrian Airlines.

“The supply chain for our SAF could not be more 'Austrian'. The cooperation with OMV shows how such innovations can be developed regionally and proves Austrian visionary power,” adds Austrian Airlines Chief Operational Officer Francesco Sciortino.