The AST launches the White Paper on Sustainable Fuels for Aviation (SAF)

• During the presentation it has been called to promote a national strategy to lead the production of SAF in Spain
• The report highlights that the development of the SAF could contribute more than 13 billion euros to GDP and generate more than 250,000 jobs by 2050.
• The Alliance, of which AESA is a part, underlines that Spain has resources, industrial capacities and the opportunity to capitalise on REFuelEU Aviation's binding targets to become a European benchmark for SAF.

Madrid, 7 October 2025 (AESA)

The Alliance for the Sustainability of Air Transport (AST) today presented its SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) White Paper at the ‘SAF in Spain: strategic autonomy, industry and sustainability’, held at the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE). AESA, as a member of the Governing Council of the AST, attended the presentation of this document, which presents a comprehensive analysis of the role and benefits that the production in Spain of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) would bring for the decarbonization of air transport, reindustrialization, socio-economic growth and strategic autonomy.

According to the report, domestic SAF production could reduce the country's energy dependence, encourage innovation and create jobs. It estimates an impact on GDP of more than 13 billion euros and the creation of more than 250,000 jobs by 2050. Spain has competitive advantages to boost its production, including the availability of biomass, renewable electricity and advanced logistics infrastructure. However, the AST underlines the need for financial incentives, support programmes and stable regulatory frameworks that facilitate technological development, plant construction and the competitiveness of SAF against conventional kerosene.

Carlos Martín and Florencio Michelena, coordinators of the SAF Working Group of the AST, presented the conclusions of the White Paper, contextualizing the commitment of aviation to achieve CO2 neutrality by 2050 and that the forecast is that SAF will be responsible for a reduction of more than 60% of the sector's emissions. They have stressed the importance of developing mechanisms to stimulate their production in Spain, from regulatory aspects that provide stability and clarity, to processing processes for the technical qualification of FAS, aid for R&D, bureaucratic acceleration or incentives to consumption and / or production, among other aspects that the document contains.

The president of the Alliance, Margarita de Gregorio, stressed that ‘the AST brings together 31 members, including administrations, energy companies, airlines, aeronautical manufacturers, airport managers, universities, research centres and social organisations with the common purpose of moving towards the defossilisation of air transport and contributing to making it climate neutral, competitive and responsible, promoting strategic autonomy, sustainable industrialisation, competitiveness and the technological leadership of Spain and Europe in sustainable aviation’. According to the President, "it is only through shared, inclusive and cooperation-based action that it will be possible to move towards a model of air mobility that responds to the climate, economic and social challenges of the future".

Margarita de Gregorio, president of the AST

‘SAF in Spain: innovation, industry, autonomy and global competitiveness’

The White Paper identifies as an opportunity the REFuelEU Aviation Regulation, which sets binding targets for the use of FAS in Europe. The AST considers that Spain can capitalise on this opportunity through a coordinated institutional action that encourages industrial investment and guarantees the competitiveness of the SAF against conventional kerosene, something in which the rapporteurs of this event have agreed.

Coinciding with the presentation of the White Paper, the Alliance has launched its new website, a space designed to give visibility to the initiatives, projects and actors that drive the transition towards the sustainability of air transport. 

*The AST SAF White Paper and its executive report are available on the AST website.

 Alliance for the Sustainability of Air Transport (AST)

Founded in April 2023, the Alliance for the Sustainability of Air Transport (AST) was born as a space for cooperation and dialogue between the different public and private actors involved in the transformation of air transport. The AST brings together all the actors involved in the transformation of air transport – administrations, industry, energy, R&D&I, tourism and society – creating a space for collaboration and multisectoral integration. It facilitates dialogue and public-private cooperation as a basis for coordinated progress towards more sustainable air transport. 

Entities belonging to the Alliance