Lufthansa Group and OMV further strengthen partnership on Sustainable Aviation Fuel

The Lufthansa Group and the global energy and chemicals group OMV have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the supply of more than 800,000 tons of SAF for the years 2023 to 2030. The companies intend to expand their existing partnership by adding new locations for SAF production and offtake as well as new technologies. OMV has already been supplying SAF to the Lufthansa Group airline Austrian Airlines at Vienna International Airport since March 2022.

With the expansion of the cooperation, the Lufthansa Group can drive the availability, market ramp-up and use of SAF as an essential element for a CO₂-neutral future of aviation. The Lufthansa Group is continuously reviewing options for long-term purchase agreements and is already the largest SAF customer in Europe. For OMV, the planned SAF supply partnership with the Lufthansa Group is a further step towards reducing the CO₂ intensity of the product portfolio and providing solutions for the sustainable development of the aviation industry.

OMV Refinery Schwechat

SAF available for fuelling Austrian aircraft since March 2022

For the first time ever, Austrian Airlines and OMV are producing and using regional Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in Austria. The two companies agreed on the production and fueling of 1,500 metric tons of SAF in 2022.

The sustainable fuel is produced at the OMV Schwechat Refinery by co-processing Austrian used cooking oil in the fuel production process. This approach makes the entire production chain as regional as possible and keeps transport routes to a minimum. Compared to conventional kerosene, SAF makes for a CO₂ reduction of more than 80% over the entire lifecycle. One technical key advantage of the sustainable aviation fuel is that the existing infrastructure can be used for storage and refueling. With the direct pipeline connection to the Vienna International Airport, SAF available for fueling Austrian Airlines aircraft.

The use of 1,500 metric tons of SAF by Austrian will save around 3,750 metric tons of CO₂. This compares to the CO₂ emissions of 333 Vienna-London flights with a typical short to medium-haul AUA aircraft (Airbus A320).