Qantas, Airbus to invest up to $200mn to develop Australian sustainable aviation fuel industry

Qantas, Airbus to invest up to $200mn to develop Australian sustainable aviation fuel industry

Qantas Airways and Airbus said on Sunday they would invest up to $200mn to accelerate the development of a sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) industry in Australia to help meet the airline's goal of lowering carbon emissions.

The agreement, announced on the sidelines of global airline industry body IATA's annual meeting in Doha, is in line with Qantas' target of using 10% SAF in its fuel mix by 2030 and comes after it placed a multi-billion dollar order for Airbus narrowbody and widebody planes last month.

The global airline industry, aiming to reach net zero emissions by 2050, is relying on SAF usage to rise from around 100mn litres (26mn gallons) a year in 2021 to at least 449bn litres a year within three decades, a mammoth and costly undertaking.

Qantas is sourcing SAF in London and Los Angeles but not in Australia.

"The problem is there is no sustainable aviation fuel industry in Australia and we would like to buy this in scale," Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce told reporters. "We think the way to do that is to put our money where our mouth is."

The investment, which includes A$50mn ($35mn) of funding previously committed by Qantas, could go to a mix of start-up