Sydney Airport lands nation’s largest import of sustainable aviation fuel amid calls for local industry

Sydney is now home to Australia’s largest ever import of green aviation fuel, as industry leaders ramp up pressure on government to avoid a “tragic” $13 billion missed opportunity.

Qantas pilot Lorcan Young at Sydney Airport. The airline and airport have struck a deal with petroleum giant Ampol to import Australia’s largest ever shipment of sustainable aviation fuel. Picture: Thomas Lisson

Sydney’s decommissioned Kurnell oil refinery is now home to Australia’s largest ever import of green aviation fuel, as industry leaders ramp up pressure on the federal government to avoid a “tragic” $13 billion missed opportunity.

Sydney Airport and Qantas have joined forces to strike a deal with petroleum giant Ampol to import 1.7 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at Kurnell, enough to fuel up to 900 Boeing 737 flights from Sydney to Auckland once blended.

Ahead of The Daily Telegraph’s Future Sydney Bradfield Oration 2024, Sydney Airport CEO Scott Charlton named the Kurnell terminal as an ideal site for the production and distribution of SAF – a catch-all term for fuel blended from a variety of organic feedstocks such as biowaste.

Now Mr Charlton and Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson are urging the federal government to support Australian farmers by assisting the industry in establishing local canola-based SAF production.

“New South Wales is the fourth largest producer of canola, and we export two-thirds of it, most of which gets converted into biofuels by other countries,” Mr Charlton said.

Sydney Airport CEO Scott Charlton and Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson say Australia needs to produce its own sustainable aviation fuel. Picture: Thomas Lisson

“Wouldn’t it be tragic that we’re having to import SAF from other countries that are using our raw materials?”

Globally, SAF is widely viewed as the most viable existing pathway to decarbonising the aviation industry, an opinion shared by both CEOs.

The sustainable aviation fuel tanker arriving at Kurnell on the evening of the 7th May. Picture: Kurt Ams/Supplied

However it is also very expensive, costing anywhere between double and five times the price of conventional jet fuel.

Ms Hudson said the 1.7m litre shipment from Malaysia which arrived at Kurnell last Wednesday is a “small but important step” for Qantas in reaching its goals of using SAF for 10 per cent of its fuel mix by 2030 and 60 per cent by 2050.

Australia has “an amazing opportunity”, with “the right government policy” in place, to establish its own $13 billion SAF industry.

“Sustainable aviation fuel has an 80 per cent lower lifetime emission impact in the environment than fossil fuels,” she said.

One of Qantas’ Airbus A380s being refuelled. Existing infrastructure can be used to pump SAF. Picture: Thomas Lisson

“We are an organisation that is very, very focused on making a pathway towards what are some very ambitious targets.”

Distributing SAF would not require a whole new set of infrastructure to be built, Mr Charlton said, with the latest import blended and tested at Kurnell to be piped directly to the airport and pumped into planes.

The travelling public can be assured the green fuel is “absolutely safe”, Ms Hudson said, with “basically exactly the same chemical construction as fossil fuels” and proven in its use overseas.

“Our aircraft are certified up until a blend of 50 per cent sustainable aviation fuel,” she said.

The Kurnell shipment will be blended to a ratio of approximately 18 per cent with conventional jet fuel before being pumped into Qantas and Jetstar aeroplanes.