Planes at Cluj International Airport in Romania using 2% SAF provided by OMV Petrom

Photo: Cluj International Airport

​OMV Petrom, the largest integrated energy producer in Southeast Europe, announced March 7 that it has been supplying Cluj International Airport Avram Iancu with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) since January.

Starting two months ago, aircraft taking off from Cluj airport, the second largest airport in Romania, have been fueled with aviation fuel mixed with 2 percent SAF, thus reducing the environmental impact.

Nearly 1,800 flights were operated in January and February using this fuel, covering all departures from the airport.

“We are proud to contribute to the introduction of sustainable aviation fuel at Cluj International Airport,” said Radu Căprău, member of the OMV Petrom executive board responsible for refining and marketing. 

“SAF is produced from renewable raw materials such as vegetable oils and animal fats, transformed into fuels with properties similar to conventional kerosene using innovative technologies,” Căprău said. “At OMV Petrom, we have started construction works on a 750-million euro (USD$812.5 million) investment so that starting 2028 we can produce such fuels in Romania, at the Petrobrazi refinery. We believe in Romania’s potential to become a regional hub for such fuels.”

David Ciceo, the general manager of Cluj International Airport, added, “Together with our supplier OMV Petrom, we have managed to initiate the process by which the aircrafts operating flights at Cluj International Airport will be fueled with sustainable aviation fuels. This is another important goal we have achieved to fulfill our commitments to reduce carbon emissions and support less polluting air transport.”

With nearly 3.3 million passengers in 2024, Avram Iancu Airport in Cluj is the largest regional airport in Romania and the second largest airport in the country, after Otopeni.

As part of efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, in addition to supplying sustainable aviation fuel, the airport has also acquired two electric aircraft deicing/antiicing vehicles and an electric bus to ensure passengers’ transport from the terminal to the planes.

SAF can be dropped straight into existing infrastructure and aircraft.

It has the potential to provide a lifecycle-carbon reduction of up to 80 percent compared to the traditional jet fuel it replaces.

SAF will play a really important role in meeting the aviation industry’s carbon-reduction targets.

Starting Jan. 1, the ReFuelEU aviation regulation mandates the use of SAF at European Union airports in a minimum proportion of 2 percent, with a gradual increase in the use of SAF up to 6 percent by 2030.