Ryanair purchases 500 tons of sustainable aviation fuel from OMV

Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, announced Oct. 19 that it has purchased 500 metric tons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from OMV, the international integrated oil, gas and chemicals company.

This agreement will save over 1,250 tons in CO2 emissions, equivalent to roughly 100 Ryanair flights from Dublin, Ireland, to Vienna, Austria.

This purchase follows the memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreement made between the companies last year, providing Ryanair with unique access to purchase up to 160,000 tons of SAF from OMV up to 2030.

According to Ryanair, this announcement demonstrates the airline’s continued commitment towards its target of 12.5 percent SAF use by 2030, as well as the airline’s and OMV’s ambition to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Ryanair said it has already significantly advanced these commitments by partnering with Trinity College Dublin to open the Ryanair Sustainable Aviation Research Centre, investing $22 billion in its Gamechanger fleet, which reduces CO2 emissions by 16 percent, and a further $40 billion investment for 300 Boeing 737 MAX-10 aircraft, which reduces CO2 emissions by 20 percent while carrying 21 percent more passengers.

OMV is also implementing numerous measures to achieve its ambitious strategic sustainability goals with SAF being an essential contributor to this transformation.

OMV aspires to become a regional leader in the supply of SAF.

“SAF plays a key role in our ‘Pathway to Net Zero’ decarbonization strategy in which we have committed to increasing our use of SAF over the coming years—a commitment that this deal with OMV will help move further forward,” said Steven Fitzgerald, Ryanair’s head of sustainability, speaking from Vienna. OMV is a key partner for Ryanair in Austria, Germany and Romania, and we look forward to growing this partnership as Europe’s largest airline group.”

Martijn van Koten, OMV executive vice president of fuels and feedstock, added, “We are building a growth business for sustainable aviation fuel to support the industry’s journey towards a more sustainable future. We are proud of our partnership with Ryanair that allows both companies to leverage their expertise in promoting the use of SAF. This facilitates the transition towards the application of more sustainable forms of energy and helps reduce the climate impact of aviation.”