German government plans penalties for airlines over insufficient sustainable kerosene

Planned sanctions and fines

The amount of the penalties and when they will take effect are not yet conclusively known. The exact design of the quota – such as the annual increase levels – is also only to be determined after interministerial coordination. With this, the German government is responding to reports that the industry has missed the previous voluntary targets.

In addition to the sanctions, the Federal Ministry of Transport also plans, according to information from the draft, to expand the permitted feedstocks for SAF. These include certain biogenic residual materials and, in the future, possibly synthetic fuels. This is intended to increase supply and stabilize the price, since sustainable kerosene is currently significantly more expensive than conventional jet fuel.

Monitoring by the Federal Aviation Office

Monitoring is to be the responsibility of the Federal Aviation Office, which is to oversee compliance with the quota for airlines registered in Germany. Violations of the blending obligation would then be prosecuted as administrative offenses. The jurisdiction of the Federal Office is to be clearly regulated when the law comes into force.

For airlines, the regulation means a noticeable intervention in their procurement. Since SAF is scarce and expensive on the market, airlines could try to conclude long-term supply contracts or increasingly rely on biofuels made from residual materials. Observers expect that the additional costs will be passed on to ticket prices, at least in part.

Reactions and outlook

Critics argue that a national penalty regulation could distort competition if other EU countries enforce less strictly. The German government, on the other hand, points to the urgency of achieving the climate targets in aviation and emphasizes that without binding requirements, the EU regulation would come to nothing.

dpa reports that the draft is to go to cabinet coordination in the coming weeks. Only then will it become clear whether the planned quotas and fines will stand in their current form or will still be adjusted.