Farnborough Airport, the birthplace of British aviation and Europe’s leading luxury airline hub, announced yesterday that it has signed a landmark deal with Hydrogen Refinery for 12.5 million litres or 10,000 tonnes per annum of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), produced locally from waste. The airport is already one of the largest single-site suppliers of SAF to the corporate aviation community, having sold over 2 million litres of 38% blended fuel since 2021. With the introduction of SAF mandates earlier this year, domestic sales of sustainable fuel are increasingly under threat from a lack of UK production and investment.

The UK and EU have legislative obligations on both the amount of SAF that must be used from January 2025, and how this fuel must be produced in the future. This is to ensure that over time advanced fuels can be developed to support the required growth in the production of this type of propellant, without incentivising farmers to switch from growing food to growing feedstock SAF, which today is almost entirely produced from waste cooking oil or HEFA (Hydro processed Esters and Fatty Acids); however Hydrogen Refinery’s innovative technology can produce carbon negative SAF from a variety of mixed waste products, sourced locally or from landfill.

Simon Geere, CEO of Farnborough Airport, commented: “The patented technology from e-fuel developer Hydrogen Refinery has the potential to provide Farnborough Airport with sufficient proprietary supplies of SAF to become the first and only airport in the world to offer 20% blended fuel across its entire supply by 2028, well ahead of the UK Government’s target of 10% by 2030. Furthermore, this is entirely consistent with our ambitions to be an incubator for the advancement of sustainable technologies, as well as being a key commercial enabler to kick-start domestic refining of SAF at scale, right here in the UK".

He continued: “The transition to new refuelling technologies like this requires markets like ours that can support the higher upfront investment costs needed to make things happen. Farnborough Airport is uniquely positioned to advance this technology, given the smaller, more modern aircraft we operate and the significant economic value of the flights we support. As a local business, Hydrogen Refinery exemplifies the deep-rooted technological capabilities of companies that are part of Farnborough Airport’s aviation research heritage, and this is a fantastic example of a partnership that will generate significant local inbound investment and reinforce our ambitions to become a global sustainability showcase for airports around the world".

The announcement follows a series of milestones achieved by the airport in recent years. In 2024, it achieved Level 4+ carbon accreditation from Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA), a distinction reserved for few airports in the UK, and one of the largest light-duty solar installations in the South East was completed, allowing it to self-produce 25% of its energy. Already in 2022, during a trial in preparation for the Farnborough International Airshow, the airport offered SAF at the same price as the traditional Jet A1, thus anticipating the adoption of the sustainable fuel by customers and setting the goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030.