RefuelEU Aviation

RefuelEU Aviation is a regulation of the European Parliament and Council adopted in 2023 as part of the EU's Fit for 55 package, which aims to align EU climate policy with a 55% net greenhouse gas reduction by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. It entered into force on 1 January 2024, with substantive blending obligations applying from 1 January 2025.

The regulation places the core obligation on aviation fuel suppliers, not airlines. Suppliers must ensure that the jet fuel made available at EU airports contains a minimum share of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with the share rising over time. The trajectory begins at 2% SAF in 2025 and increases stepwise — for example to 6% in 2030, 20% in 2035, and ultimately 70% by 2050. A sub-mandate also requires a growing share of synthetic aviation fuels (e-fuels produced from renewable hydrogen and captured CO₂), starting at 1.2% on average in 2030–2031 and reaching 35% in 2050.

Eligible SAF feedstocks include advanced biofuels listed in Annex IX of the Renewable Energy Directive, recycled carbon fuels, and renewable fuels of non-biological origin. Food and feed crop-based biofuels and palm/soy-derived fuels are excluded.

The regulation also imposes a tankering ban: aircraft operators departing from an EU airport must uplift at least 90% of the fuel needed for that flight there, preventing carriers from filling up cheaper, untaxed fuel elsewhere to avoid the SAF mandate. EU airports must facilitate SAF access, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is tasked with monitoring, reporting, and publishing an annual transparency report.

RefuelEU operates alongside the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) for aviation and the global CORSIA scheme administered by ICAO, forming a layered decarbonisation regime for European air transport.