The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has raised an alarm over the slowing growth of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production, warning that current policy mandates are failing to boost supply. Speaking at the Changi Aviation Summit in Singapore on February 2, 2026, IATA Director General Willie Walsh revealed that global SAF output reached only 1.9 million tonnes in 2025, just 0.6 percent of total jet fuel consumption.
This figure represents a significant downward revision from previous estimates, leading IATA to project that SAF growth will further decelerate in 2026, reaching only 2.4 million tonnes and remaining below the critical 1 percent market share threshold.
Walsh criticized “poorly designed” government mandates, particularly in the European Union and the United Kingdom, which he argued have triggered price spikes rather than incentivizing production. Currently, SAF prices are two to four times higher than conventional jet fuel, with some mandated markets seeing premiums as high as five times the fossil-fuel cost.
This price gap added an estimated $3.6 billion in additional fuel costs to the industry in 2025 alone. IATA warned that without a shift toward production-based incentives similar to those used in the U.S. energy sector, many airlines will be “forced to reevaluate” their ambitious commitments to use 10 percent SAF by 2030.
The report also highlighted a new emerging threat: the surge in electricity demand from AI data centers, which is increasingly competing with the aviation industry for limited renewable energy inputs needed to create e-SAF (synthetic fuels). e-SAF currently faces a cost base nearly 12 times that of traditional jet fuel.
As a result of these headwinds, IATA estimates that while airline revenues may top $1 trillion in 2026, net profit margins will remain razor-thin at 3.9 percent, as carriers struggle to balance record-high passenger demand with the escalating costs of the green transition.
 has raised an alarm over the slowing growth of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production, warning that current policy mandates are failing to boost supply.Speaking at the Changi Aviation Summit in Singapore on February 2, 2026, IATA Director General Willie Walsh revealed that global SAF output reached only 1.9 million tonnes in 2025, just 0.6 percent of total jet fuel consumption.){kind=link}