Airline group IAG has  announced a new Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) purchase agreement with e-SAF producer Infinium

The deal was announced on the sidelines of the Aviation Carbon event, currently underway in Heathrow.

Under the ten-year agreement, Infinium will  supply the UK market with power-to-liquid e-SAF from late 2026, covering IAG’s five airlines, Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, LEVEL and Vueling. 

READ: City Insider: Scalable SAF solutions will see obstacles to adoption overcome

Produced from water, waste CO₂ and renewable energy, e-SAF is expected to reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 90% compared to today’s conventional jet fuel. The fuel will be produced in ‘Project Roadrunner’, a newly converted former gas extraction facility in West Texas.

This new class of fuel is not encumbered by feedstock limitations, has a higher degree of emissions reduction versus conventional jet fuel and has a relatively low land and water-use footprint. It is also a “drop-in” replacement for aviation fuel that requires no changes to existing aircraft engine designs.

Jonathon Counsell, IAG’s Group Sustainability Officer, said: “So far, we’re on track to deliver our 10% 2030 SAF goal and agreements with innovators like Infinium, are key to reaching this target. Aviation as an industry is working hard to decarbonize and policy should focus on solutions such as SAF, rather than only increasing costs which risk affecting the competitiveness of the European aviation industry. What the industry needs is additional policy support to attract funds to construct SAF plants and reduce aviation’s reliance on fossil fuels.”