OMV, Ryanair sign MOU to supply 160K tons of sustainable aviation fuel

OMV, the international integrated oil, gas and chemicals company headquartered in Vienna and Ryanair, have today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to supply sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at Ryanair airports across Austria, Germany, and Romania. While the limited production of SAF remains a global aviation issue, this MOU agreement gives Ryanair unique access to purchase up to 160,000 tons (53 million gallons) of SAF from OMV over the next eight years (starting in 2023). This would account for a total CO2 reduction of over 400,000 tons, equivalent to approx. 25,000 Ryanair flights from Dublin to Vienna.

This landmark MOU demonstrates Ryanair’s continued progress towards its target of using 12.5 per cent SAF by 2030 and the airline and OMV’s wider shared ambition to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Ryanair has already significantly advanced these commitments by partnering with Trinity College Dublin to open the Ryanair Sustainable Aviation Research Centre and investing USD 22bn in its ‘Gamechanger’ fleet, which offers four per cent more seats while burning 16 per cent less fuel.

OMV is implementing numerous measures to achieve its ambitious strategic sustainability goals, and SAF makes an essential contribution in this transformation. Based on the strategic outlook for the aviation sector, OMV sees sustainable aviation fuel as an important addition to its future jet fuel range. This portfolio upgrade is in line with OMV’s commitment to becoming a net-zero company by no later than 2050 (for Scope 1,2 and 3). Clear medium and long-term emission reduction targets have been defined for this purpose as part of the OMV Strategy 2030. The planned scale up of SAF production to 700,000 tons in 2030 will play an important role in achieving these goals.

Nina Marczell, OMV vice-president aviation, fuels distributors & public sector: “We are committed to reducing our own carbon footprint as well as supporting our customers in reducing theirs. This Memorandum of Understanding is a great opportunity to accelerate both companies’ sustainability efforts. Sustainable aviation fuel significantly reduces CO2 emissions, and we are delighted to collaborate with strong partners like Ryanair and to provide solutions for the sustainable development of the aviation industry.”

Speaking in Vienna, Ryanair’s director of sustainability, Thomas Fowler said, “SAF is a cornerstone of our Pathway to Net Zero decarbonization strategy and we are committed to increasing our use of SAF over the coming years, a commitment that this agreement will play an instrumental role in. We are delighted with the investment and scaling of OMV’s innovative SAF production across Europe. OMV is a key partner for us in Austria, Germany and Romania and we look forward to growing this partnership as Europe’s largest airline.”