Airbus, Air Canada to leverage Canada’s SAF potential in joint $10M project

Airbus and Air Canada will work together on a jointly funded $10 million Canadian SAF project. While the exact nature of the enterprise has yet to be confirmed, Airbus has issued a call for projects to apply for funding, Catherine Guillemart, head of public affairs for Airbus Canada, told Cargo Facts . [caption id="attachment_57298450" align="aligncenter" width="2100"] Canada could become a major bio-SAF production center. (Courtesy/Environmental Defence)[/caption] Multiple projects already are being evaluated for investment, she said. The two companies signed the deal at the Farnborough International Airshow last week. Thirty-nine SAF-producing facilities have been announced in Canada, according to ICAO’s SAF facilities tracker. Of those, five are in service and only one is producing at a commercial scale. SAF could account for 40% of Canada’s total jet fuel use by 2040 if the proper policy frameworks are in place, according to a study authored by Airbus and consultancy ICF ahead of the launch of the co-investment platform. SAF policies A lack of policies is one of the most significant barriers to investment, Geoff Tauvette, executive director for the Canadian Council for SAF (C-SAF), told Cargo Facts . There are two main levers to quickly and efficiently scale SAF in Canada, Airbus’s Guillemart said. “The first one is with price-parity mechanisms. That would get the cost of SAF as close as possible to the cost of jet fuel,” she said. “The second one is with price-stability mechanisms. “Because feedstock commodity markets are volatile by nature, having a stable price over time is crucial to enable long-term offtakes.” Price-stabilizing mechanisms could include brokering offtake agreements or governmental financial incentives for long-term feedstock production strategies, according to the Airbus/ICF study. Having strong policies in place has led to investment in SAF production abroad , Tauvette said. “If we are to grow a Canadian SAF industry, we need policies that help address the SAF price gap, de-risk investments and provide certainty over the long term.” Growing SAF on trees Canada is uniquely positioned to produce high quantities of SAF from trees, which fits under the broader category of bio-SAF, according to the Airbus/ICF study. Like other SAF types, bio-SAF is created by converting biomass — in this case, woody biomass — into a synthetic gas that is converted into jet fuel, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Agroforestry residues are expected to be a dominant bio-SAF feedstock that could contribute as much as one-quarter of total SAF by 2050, according to IATA’s September 2025 assessment of global SAF production. IATA also said Canada could produce as much as 78 tonnes of SAF by 2050, placing it within the top ten SAF-producing regions included in the survey. “All things being equal, there is enough feedstock in Canada to produce enough SAF to meet industry targets,” Tauvette said. “Canada has the customers, the raw products and the expertise,” he said. “All that is needed is policy and investment certainty to see the SAF industry take ﬂight.” Cargo Facts Symposium 2026, the premier event for the freighter aircraft and air cargo industries, will take place in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 21-23. Find out more and register by Sept. 4 to take advantage of early-bird pricing.

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