Clean Air Task Force report shows benefits of concentrating SAF in high impact airports
In Massachusetts, a new report from Clean Air Task Force (CATF) finds that directing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to a small number of high-impact airports, rather than spreading it across the aviation network, could significantly increase the fuel’s climate and public health benefits while global supply continues to build. The report, Maximizing the Climate Co-Benefits of Sustainable Aviation Fuel via Targeted Allocation, analyzed 2024 flight activity at major U.S. and European airports to identify where targeted SAF use would have the biggest impact.
Working with aviation climate data company Estuaire, CATF analyzed 16.6 million flights at major U.S. and European airports in 2024, examining contrail formation as well as particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions during landing and takeoff. The analysis found that just 2% of flights generate 80% of contrail-related warming, meaning a targeted approach can capture most of the climate benefit without requiring a large share of the global SAF supply, which made up just 0.7% of the jet fuel market in 2025.
Based on a combination of contrail impacts and air quality benefits, the report identifies John F. Kennedy International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and O’Hare International Airport as priority U.S. locations for targeted SAF allocation. In Europe, London Heathrow, Istanbul Airport, and Paris Charles de Gaulle were identified for the same reasons. JFK and Heathrow stand out as both operating large numbers of long-haul, internationally distributed flights that regularly cross ice-supersaturated regions over the North Atlantic, where contrails form most readily.
The report models the effect of blending SAF at these six airports at rates from 10% to 100%. At a 50% blend, contrail-related warming fell by 30% to 34% at the U.S. airports studied and 33% to 40% at the European airports, while particulate emissions during landing and takeoff dropped 26% to 28% at all six locations.
Category: Fuels
