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

An Airbus A350-1000 check airplane arrives at Sydney Airport because the backdrop for Qantas saying an order for 12 of the planes in Sydney, Australia Might 2, 2022. REUTERS/Jamie Freed/File Picture

DOHA, June 19 (Reuters) – Qantas Airways (QAN.AX) and Airbus (AIR.PA) mentioned on Sunday they’d make investments as much as $200 million to speed up the event of a sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) business in Australia to assist meet the airline’s purpose of decreasing carbon emissions.

The settlement, introduced on the sidelines of world airline business physique IATA’s annual assembly in Doha, is consistent with Qantas’ goal of utilizing 10% SAF in its gas combine by 2030 and comes after it positioned a multi-billion greenback order for Airbus narrowbody and widebody planes final month. learn extra

The worldwide airline business, aiming to achieve internet zero emissions by 2050, is counting on SAF utilization to rise from round 100 million litres (26 million gallons) a 12 months in 2021 to at the very least 449 billion litres a 12 months inside three many years, a mammoth and expensive endeavor.

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

“The issue is there is no such thing as a sustainable aviation gas business in Australia and we wish to purchase this in scale,” Qantas Chief Government Alan Joyce advised reporters. “We predict the way in which to do this is to place our cash the place our mouth is.”

The funding, which incorporates A$50 million ($35 million) of funding beforehand dedicated by Qantas, may go to a mixture of start-up companies and extra established operators and will embody fairness investments, Joyce mentioned.

The funding will probably be cut up between Qantas and Airbus with a smaller contribution from Raytheon Applied sciences-owned (RTX.N) engine maker Pratt & Whitney, he added. Qantas has ordered Pratt & Whitney engines for its new Airbus narrowbody fleet.

Airbus chief government Guillaume Faury mentioned the cope with Qantas was “distinctive” because of its current airplane order and Australia’s remoted location and was not anticipated to be replicated with different airways.

The SAF funding partnership will final for an preliminary 5 years with an possibility to increase, the businesses mentioned.

Joyce mentioned he hoped it might encourage the Australian authorities to enhance the coverage framework and assist fund the event of an area SAF business.

He mentioned Qantas had held promising preliminary talks with the brand new centre-left authorities elected final month.

($1 = 1.4430 Australian {dollars})

Reporting by Jamie Freed in Doha; Enhancing by William Mallard and Louise Heavens

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