The ‘Last Mile’ for SAF Presents an Achievable Challenge

Companies such as Gulfstream, Daher, and others are working with Neste, Avfuel, and World Fuel Services—even airlines—to connect the business aviation fleet with sustainable aviation fuel.

Julie Boatman

Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at 05:39 PM ET

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The TBM 960 on the aircraft display at EBACE 2023 flew to the show in Geneva on an SAF blend from Daher’s Aircraft Division in Tarbes, France. [Courtesy: Daher]

Key Takeaways:

The business aviation industry is actively implementing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for flights and testing, with many OEMs using it as a direct step toward sustainability, as inadvertently highlighted by climate protesters at EBACE.
Despite its increasing adoption, SAF faces significant challenges, particularly its high cost ("boutique pricing") and the complex distribution process to make it widely available at airports for operators.
Companies like Daher are addressing SAF distribution hurdles by forging collaborations with commercial airlines and fuel providers to ensure a consistent supply at specific airports, demonstrating that persistence and commitment are vital for overcoming "last mile" delivery issues.

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Though a gathering of climate-change protesters managed to steal attention for a moment at the European Business Aviation Conference and Expo (EBACE) this week, they in fact served to highlight the concrete actions toward a sustainable future by those very companies they wished to vilify.

How ironic that the Gulfstream G800 one pair handcuffed themselves to had indeed flown across the Atlantic from Savannah, Georgia, on a blend of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as a regular part of its flight testing—not as a publicity stunt?