IATA backs call by European airlines to soften green fuel mandate

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The head of global airlines body IATA has welcomed a call by Europe's top carriers for a delay to a 2030 target for sustainable aviation fuel use in Europe, saying Brussels policymakers need to face reality.

"We can't just stand back and pretend that these targets are meaningful and can be achieved. They were never going to be capable of being achieved," Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association, told Reuters.

Under European Union rules, suppliers must ensure that 2% of fuel available at EU airports is SAF in 2025, rising to 6% in 2030 and gradually to 70% in 2050.

Airlines say SAF is barely available and that they are being blamed for shortfalls in availability from the energy industry, while insisting they remain committed to a broader industry goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

"There's fantastic ambition, but you can only achieve it if everybody plays their part and others aren't playing their part," Walsh said on the sidelines of an annual event hosted by the A4E European airline association.

European airline leaders earlier issued their bluntest warning yet that the near-term EU fuel mandates, which IATA has opposed, were beyond reach and urged the new European Commission to focus on the sector's competitiveness.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher and Joanna Plucinska. Editing by Mark Potter)