The aviation sector has started to significantly recognise the importance when it comes to embracing sustainable practises so as to mitigate the environmental impact. In a panel discussion that was nothing short of thought-provoking, sector leaders at the AviaDev Africa event that was held in Nairobi went on to shed light on the issues that are faced by African airlines when it comes to adopting Sustainable Aviation Fuel- SAF. The panellists went on to stress that there is indeed an urgent need to overcome hurdles concerning affordability as well as access to SAF, highlighting the sector’s collective ownership to give importance to environmental sustainability while at the same time addressing financial challenges.
African airlines condemn the surging cost of SAF
A persistent sentiment among the African airlines happens to be concern about the costly nature of the SAF. The CEO of Ugandan Airlines, Jennifer Bamuturaki, remarked that the sector has a shared concern. She added that the African airlines say SAF happens to be expensive; it is, as a matter of fact, three times the cost of Jet A1 fuel. The financial issues faced by the African carriers happen to pose a major obstacle to their shift to varied, sustainable fuel choices. Balancing the compulsion of sustainability while taking into consideration the economic viability of the airlines is a big challenge that requires joint solutions.
The CEO of TAAG Angola Airlines, Eduardo Fairen, drew attention to the limited availability of new aircraft, saying that if one needs 1000 aircraft in Africa, he actually wonders where they would be coming from; they would probably be second-hand ones with old engines that would burn fuel and also pollute. The dearth of new aircraft goes on to put African airlines in a state where they have to keep their hopes on older planes that are less fuel efficient, thereby hindering their growth when it comes to sustainability. Coming through this issue requires innovative thinking and partnerships among industry players.
The head of communications at Airlink, Linden Birns, put stress on the requirement for enhanced partnership as well as thinking within the sector’s stakeholders. He underscored the imperativeness of making use of existing solutions as well as expertise and remarked that they need to be laying more stress on those areas where the solutions happen to be readily available but at the same time need more thinking. He added that one cannot have environmental sustainability unless there is commercial as well as financial sustainability. Collaborations like these, as per him, can indeed drive advancements when it comes to the production of SAF, its affordability, as well as distribution.
Policy support, financial incentives are significant
The CEO of Kenya Airways, Allan Kilayuka, has asked for policy support as well as financial rewards to aid the aviation industry in Africa. He asked if they could get subsidies. They do not have the scale, and that is indeed a fact. Bigger emitters, according to him, ought to be penalised at their expense.
He added that putting stress on the need for policies that make everything balanced and offer support to African airlines is the need of the hour. This will go on to make sure that a fair and sustainable transition takes place towards SAF while also making sure to recognise the distinctive challenges that are faced by African carriers.
The panel discussion also went on to highlight the never-ending requirement to address access as well as affordability for SAF across Africa. African airlines put major stress on expensive SAF, which goes on to hinder their capacity to embrace sustainable fuel choices.
Collaborative choices, a thinking that’s innovative as well as policy support are imperative when it comes to accessing the SAF. The panellists also went on to voice their unanimity on being actively involved in the overall SAF value chain so as to exert influence, discover alternate plans, and also look out for financial incentives. By overcoming such barriers in a collective manner, the African aviation sector can ride the sustainable path, thereby making sure of a greener as well as a responsible future.
