The Austrian mineral oil company OMV and the Lufthansa Group intend to expand their cooperation in the field of Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Around 2023 tons of SAF are to be delivered to the airlines of the Kranich Group between 2030 and 800.000.

The Lufthansa Group and the global energy and chemicals group OMV have signed a letter of intent (MoU) for the delivery of more than 800.000 tons of sustainable aviation fuel for the years 2023 to 2030. The companies intend to expand their existing partnership to include new SAF production and offtake sites and new technologies. OMV has been delivering SAF to the Lufthansa Group airline Austrian Airlines at Vienna Airport since March 2022.

AUA recently received a reprimand in connection with SAF, because the airline advertised flights to Venice as particularly environmentally friendly. Among other things, it was claimed that 100 percent SAF was flown. For technical reasons, this is currently not possible at all, because the engine manufacturers have only approved the admixture. Combustion of SAF also produces carbon dioxide, as this is unavoidable for physical and chemical reasons.

SAF is the generic term for all aviation fuels that are produced without using fossil energy sources such as oil or natural gas. There are different manufacturing processes and different starting materials are available as energy carriers. The current generation of SAF, which saves 80 percent of carbon dioxide compared to conventional kerosene, is mainly made from biogenic residues, for example from used cooking oils. Today, before being transported to the airport, the SAF is mixed with fossil kerosene. In the future, SAF can enable almost CO2-neutral aviation. The Lufthansa Group has been involved in SAF research for many years, has built up an extensive network of partnerships and, in particular, is driving the introduction of next-generation sustainable aviation fuels. A special focus is on the future-oriented power-to-liquid and sun-to-liquid technologies that use renewable energies or solar thermal energy as energy carriers.