European Commission allocates €430M in EU ETS allowances to airlines for SAF in 2025

Decision and allocation

On 8 September 2026 the Commission adopted a Decision allocating about 5.2 million EU ETS allowances to airlines for using sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) in 2025. The allowances are valued at approximately €430 million and are distributed among 130 commercial operators.

Scale and impact

Claimed SAF volumes in 2025 exceeded 530,000 tonnes, composed of biofuels and advanced biofuels, and contributed to roughly 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 abatement. Together with a €135 million incentive from zero rating of SAF on ETS-covered routes, total ETS support for SAF in 2025 amounts to around €565 million.

Mechanism and context

The dedicated support system was introduced by the EU ETS Directive in 2023 to accelerate SAF uptake by granting free allowances. From 2024 a pool of 20 million allowances—worth around €1.5 billion—is being used for this purpose. The mechanism covers all or part of the price difference between fossil kerosene and eligible SAF and means operators are not required to surrender allowances when using these fuels.

Next steps

In July 2026 the Commission proposed increasing the mechanism with an additional 110 million allowances reserved from wider application to aviation emissions; this additional support is expected to amount to around €15 billion and to also back electrification and efforts to address aviation’s non-CO2 climate impacts. The Commission publishes ETS SAF support prices and requires airlines to give visibility to the support under Regulation (EU) 2025/723.