“The government has missed an opportunity to lead the decarbonisation of air travel,” said Amex GBT president Drew Crawley. “We need sustained, collective action across the public and private sector.”
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt laid out on Wednesday a series of reforms, which he said would set the UK on course for growth, while offering support to businesses and individuals amid the cost of living crisis.
The chancellor confirmed the current household energy price guarantee would be extended for another three months, while expanding free childcare to parents of one- and two-year-olds.
Decarbonisation was a notable absence from Hunt’s Budget speech, though, with the government announcing only a £20 billion investment in “the early development of carbon capture”.
Crawley said the fiscal the package failed to provide “vital support to drive an uptake of sustainable aviation fuel”.
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is considered the main tool at aviation’s disposal to reach net-zero by 2050, with some products reducing emissions by as much as 80%. The government has so far invested £165 million in support for SAF product, and pledged to build eight plants by 2025.
"A turbocharged UK SAF industry would benefit people and the planet: well-established, it could create more than 20,000 jobs and generate £3 billion gross value added by 2035,” Crawley added.
Crawley’s comments were echoed by Airport Operators’ Association chief executive, Karen Dee, who said any additional support “would provide economic and environmental benefits” to the industry.
Hunt’s spring Budget was also criticised by environmentalists. Matt Finch, UK policy manager at environmental pressure group Transport and Environment, told TTG the Budget was another moment “where the chancellor could have taken action to tackle aviation’s addiction to greenhouse gases, but didn’t".
A treasury spokesperson told TTG the government was committed to the UK SAF industry, pledging to build "at least 5 commercial scale SAF plants" by 2025.
