Airbus and Mexican aviation leaders pave way for SAF development acceleration

Airbus is partnering for the second time with leading aviation companies and associations in Mexico to launch a competition for academia and research institutions to submit proposals on how to accelerate the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) in the country.

This unique competition in the Americas is designed to attract projects to develop SAF in a scalable and affordable manner in Mexico, which has tremendous potential to become a leader in SAF production with a focus on second and third generation biofuels.

Mexico has a wide availability of raw materials for the production of SAF, such as: jatropha, palm oil, beets, sugar cane, among others, and in this sense, Mexico's leading educational institutions, research centers and human talent can be key in developing sustainable growth solutions for the aviation industry.

In the last edition, 23 universities from all over Mexico submitted 39 projects, 18 of which advanced to the mentoring phase. The top three defended their projects before a panel of experts during the Mexico Aerospace Airshow (FAMEX) 2023, an event that served to announce the three winning projects. 

The competition demonstrated the potential of Mexican academic and research institutions to scale up SAF production. SAF can reduce CO2 emissions by an average of 80% over its lifecycle, and as of today, Airbus aircraft can fly with up to 50% SAF. Airbus recognizes SAF as a key pillar of its short, medium and long term roadmap to decarbonize aviation.

Applications will be evaluated through March 2025, and winning projects will be announced during the FAMEX Airshow in April 2025.

For more information contact:
Rodrigo Martínez
Communications Manager Airbus Mexico
rodrigo.martinez@airbus.com