Turkey to set sustainable aviation fuel mandates for airlines, suppliers

Turkey will set mandates for airlines and jet fuel suppliers to boost uptake of sustainable aviation fuel, with a goal of reducing aviation emissions by 5% by 2030, its civil aviation authority said on its website.

The move is aimed at complying with the U.N. International Civil Aviation Organization's emission reduction scheme that will become mandatory in 2027.

The new rules will oblige airlines to use sufficient SAF in international flights involving Turkey to meet the 5% emissions reduction goal. They will also require jet fuel suppliers in the country to procure SAF to meet that target, and domestic oil refiners Tupras and Socar to start producing SAFs.

The authority will publish minimum emission reduction targets before the end of the third quarter each year, it said, adding it would penalise airlines and jet fuel suppliers for any non-compliance.

Airline operators must load 90% of the SAF they need for international flights in Turkey, the authority said.

Aviation is responsible for 2.5% of global energy-related CO2 emissions, according to the International Energy Agency.

Tupras, Turkey’s largest oil refiner, aims to produce 20,000 metric tons of SAF at one of its major plants in 2026, the company said earlier this year.

It aims to lift production up to 400,000 tons by building a new unit at its Izmir refinery, pending a final investment decision.

DB Tarimsal Enerji, a local biofuel firm, also aims to produce 100,000 tons of SAF at a new plant.

Turkey’s jet fuel demand fell 4% last year to 6.26 million tons, or 135,000 barrels per day, according to the country’s energy regulator.