The Lufthansa Group and the HCS Group, have joined forces on the production and supply of SAF in Germany.
The two companies signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) on the production and supply of SAF, with plans to begin in 2026.
HCS Group's manufacturing site is operated by Haltermann Carless and is close to the airport, in Speyer.
The SAF will be produced based on waste biomass from the agricultural and forestry sector, and HCS has a planned initial production volume of 60,000 metric
tons per year with an aim to become the first large-scale producer
of biogenic SAF in Germany.
The partnership means the Lufthansa Group could support SAF ‘Made in
Germany’, compliant with Europe’s Renewable Energy Directive RED II,
which aims for at least 32 per cent of Europe’s energy to come from
renewable sources by 2030.
Katja Kleffmann, head of fuel management supply Lufthansa Group said: “We are very pleased to support SAF ‘Made in Germany’, produced near the Lufthansa Group’s main hub Frankfurt. Sustainable Aviation Fuels are a core element of our sustainability strategy.”
Henrik Krüpper, CEO HCS Group said: “We are delighted to partner with the Lufthansa Group to accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Aviation Fuel. SAF is the most important way to defossilise aviation quickly and for decades to come.”
Kleffmann added the partnership: “... reflects our commitment to develop new SAF markets and to increase the availability of SAF – in this case in a logistically particularly favourable location close to the airport.”
The Lufthansa Group is one of the five largest SAF customers worldwide and is investing up to US$250 million in the procurement of SAF for the coming years.
In May, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr warned that European airlines may be
forced to increase fares and risk losing traffic to non-EU carriers
because of the new mandate for the use of sustainable aviation fuel.