ISTANBUL—All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) have said that domestic sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production capabilities are crucial to remaining competitive in the future.

Both carriers welcome Tokyo’s plan to introduce a bill for local aviation fuel production companies to cater at least 10% SAF from 2030.

ANA CEO Shinichi Inoue said the airline hopes Japan can achieve three key factors for SAF: domestic SAF production, realistic SAF pricing in line with conventional jet fuel, and an abundant supply.

“If we cannot realize this, the competitiveness of Japan as a whole will be weakened. Japan is a popular destination for travelers, and there is a lot of demand. But if we cannot realize the ideal production of SAF, people will not travel using Japanese airlines and will use other airlines,” Inoue told ATW at IATA’s annual general meeting in Istanbul June 6.

ANA said it is in communication with government and industry players on SAF production, reporting they are all on the same page.

At the end of May, ANA released a revised sustainability roadmap which adjusted its previous SAF target to 10% SAF usage by 2030 by committing to increase that figure to over 10% SAF usage by the end of the decade.

JAL Managing Executive Officer and SVP for Route Marketing Ross Leggett added that corporate travelers will be requesting SAF to be used to fuel their flights to support their company environment, social and governance (ESG) targets.

Leggett said that JAL has a 1% SAF usage target by 2025, which increases to 10% by 2030 and 100% by 2050.

“We already have contracted for SAF on the U.S. West Coast, which will be 7% of our total fuel consumption. We have already exceeded our 2025 target, and domestic production will help us meet our 2030 target,” Leggett said.

In a government-led initiative to demonstrate local blending and distribution capabilities, the Civil Aviation Bureau—a wing of Japan’s Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry—procured 1,300 gal. of neat SAF from Neste in early 2023.

This was subsequently blended at a Fuji Oil Company facility, before being sold by trading firm Itochu to JAL and ANA at Nagoya Chubu, Tokyo Narita, and Tokyo Haneda airports.