Regulation (EU) 2023/2405 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 October 2023 on ensuring a level playing field for sustainable air transport (ReFuelEU Aviation) (Text with EEA relevance)

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation lays down harmonised rules on the uptake and supply of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

Article 2

Scope

Without prejudice to paragraph 3, this Regulation shall apply only to commercial air transport flights.

An airport managing body for an airport not covered by Article 3, point (1), located on the territory of a Member State, may make a request for that airport to be treated as a Union airport for the purposes of this Regulation, provided that it fulfils the requirements laid down in Article 6(1) at the time of that request. That airport managing body shall notify the Member State whose authority or authorities are responsible for the airport under Article 11(6) of that request. That notification shall be accompanied by a confirmation that the airport fulfils the requirements laid down in Article 6(1).

The Member State concerned shall notify the decision referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph to the Commission and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (the ‘Agency’) at least six months before the beginning of the reporting period from which that decision applies. The Member State decision shall be accompanied by a reasoned opinion showing that it is based on proportionate and non-discriminatory criteria, among airports sharing similar competitive characteristics.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘Union airport’ means an ‘airport’ as defined in Article 2, point (1), of Directive 2009/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹) where passenger traffic was higher than 800 000 passengers or where the freight traffic was higher than 100 000 tonnes in the previous reporting period, and which is not situated in an outermost region, as listed in Article 349 TFEU;

(2) ‘Union airport managing body’ means, in respect of a Union airport, the ‘airport managing body’ as defined in Article 2, point (2), of Directive 2009/12/EC or, where the Member State concerned has reserved the management of the centralised infrastructures for fuel distribution systems for another body pursuant to Article 8(1) of Council Directive 96/67/EC (²), that other body;

(3) ‘aircraft operator’ means a person that operated at least 500 commercial passenger air transport flights, or 52 commercial all-cargo air transport flights departing from Union airports in the previous reporting period or, where it is not possible for that person to be identified, the owner of the aircraft;

(4) ‘commercial air transport flight’ means a flight operated for the purposes of transport of passengers, cargo or mail for remuneration or hire, including a business aviation flight operated for commercial purposes;

(5) ‘route’ means a journey carried out on a flight, having regard to the places of departure and destination of that flight;

(6) ‘aviation fuel’ means drop-in fuel manufactured for direct use by aircraft;

(7) ‘sustainable aviation fuels’ (‘SAF’) means aviation fuels that are either: (a) synthetic aviation fuels; (b) aviation biofuels; or (c) recycled carbon aviation fuels;

(8) ‘aviation biofuels’ means aviation fuels that are either: (a) ‘advanced biofuels’ as defined in Article 2, second paragraph, point (34), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001; (b) ‘biofuels’ as defined in Article 2, second paragraph, point (33), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, produced from the feedstock listed in Part B of Annex IX to that Directive; or (c) ‘biofuels’ as defined in Article 2, second paragraph, point (33), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, with the exception of biofuels produced from ‘food and feed crops’ as defined in Article 2, second paragraph, point (40), of that Directive, and which comply with the sustainability and lifecycle emissions savings criteria laid down in Article 29 of that Directive and are certified in compliance with Article 30 of that Directive;

(9) ‘recycled carbon aviation fuels’ means aviation fuels that are ‘recycled carbon fuels’ as defined in Article 2, second paragraph, point (35), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, which comply with the lifecycle emissions savings threshold referred to in Article 29a(2) of that Directive and are certified in compliance with Article 30 of that Directive;

(10) ‘batch’ means a quantity of SAF that can be identified with a number and can be traced;

(11) ‘lifecycle emissions’ means carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of SAF that take into account carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of energy production, transport, distribution and use on-board, including during combustion, calculated in accordance with the methodologies adopted pursuant to Article 28(5) or Article 31(5) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 or pursuant to relevant Union law;

(12) ‘synthetic aviation fuels’ means aviation fuels that are ‘renewable fuels of non-biological origin’, as defined in Article 2, second paragraph, point (36), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, which comply with the lifecycle emissions savings threshold referred to in Article 29a(1) of that Directive and are certified in compliance with Article 30 of that Directive;

(13) ‘synthetic low-carbon aviation fuels’ means aviation fuels that are of non-biological origin, the energy content of which is derived from non-fossil low-carbon hydrogen, which meet lifecycle emissions savings threshold of 70 % and the methodologies for assessing such lifecycle emissions savings pursuant to relevant Union law;

(14) ‘conventional aviation fuels’ means aviation fuels produced from fossil non-renewable sources of hydrocarbon fuels;

(15) ‘low-carbon hydrogen for aviation’ means hydrogen for use in aircraft the energy content of which is derived from non-fossil non-renewable sources, which meets a lifecycle emissions savings threshold of 70 % and the methodologies for assessing such lifecycle emissions savings pursuant to relevant Union law;

(16) ‘renewable hydrogen for aviation’ means hydrogen for use in aircraft that qualifies as a ‘renewable fuel of non-biological origin’, as defined in Article 2, second paragraph, point (36), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, and which complies with the lifecycle emissions savings threshold referred to in Article 29a(1) of that Directive and is certified in compliance with Article 30 of that Directive;

(17) ‘hydrogen for aviation’ means renewable hydrogen for aviation or low-carbon hydrogen for aviation;

(18) ‘low-carbon aviation fuels’ means synthetic low-carbon aviation fuels or low-carbon hydrogen for aviation;

(19) ‘aviation fuel supplier’ means a ‘fuel supplier’ as defined in Article 2, second paragraph, point (38), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, supplying aviation fuel or hydrogen for aviation at a Union airport;

(20) ‘fuel handler’ means a supplier of groundhandling services that organises and carries out fuelling and defuelling operations, including the storage of fuel and the control of the quality and quantity of fuel deliveries, to aircraft operators at Union airports, as referred to in the Annex to Directive 96/67/EC;

(21) ‘principal place of business’ means the head office or registered office of an aviation fuel supplier in the Member State within which the principal financial and operational control of the aviation fuel supplier takes place;

(22) ‘reporting year’ means a period of one year, in which the reports referred to in Articles 8 and 10 are to be submitted, starting 1 January and ending 31 December;

(23) ‘reporting period’ means a period from 1 January until 31 December of the year preceding the reporting year;

(24) ‘yearly aviation fuel required’ means the amount of aviation fuel referred to as ‘trip fuel’ and ‘taxi fuel’ in Annex IV to Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 (³) that is necessary to operate all the flights covered by this Regulation operated by an aircraft operator, departing from a given Union airport, over the course of a reporting period;

(25) ‘yearly non-tanked quantity’ means the difference between the yearly aviation fuel required and the actual fuel uplifted by an aircraft operator prior to flights covered by this Regulation departing from a given Union airport, over the course of a reporting period;

(26) ‘total yearly non-tanked quantity’ means the sum of the yearly non-tanked quantities by an aircraft operator at all Union airports over the course of a reporting period;

(27) ‘greenhouse gas scheme’ means a scheme granting benefits to aircraft operators for the use of SAF.

Article 4

Shares of SAF available at Union airports

This obligation shall also be deemed to be met where the minimum shares mentioned in the first subparagraph are reached using:

(a) renewable hydrogen for aviation;

(b) low-carbon aviation fuels.

For the purpose of the calculation of the minimum shares in Annex I, when hydrogen for aviation is made available to aircraft operators at Union airport:

(a) the values regarding the energy content of all relevant fuels shall be those referred to in Article 27(2), points (g) and (h) of, and Annex III to, Directive (EU) 2018/2001 or relevant international aviation standards regarding fuels not included in that Annex; and

(b) the energy content of hydrogen for aviation supplied shall be taken into account both in the numerator and in the denominator.

However, that exclusion shall not apply to any feedstock that is included in Annex IX to Directive (EU) 2018/2001, under the conditions set out in that Annex.

Article 5

Refuelling obligation for aircraft operators

Such request shall be made at least three months before the envisaged date of application of the exemption, supported by a detailed and adequate justification. Such exemption should be limited to the following situations:

(a) serious and recurrent operational difficulties in refuelling aircraft at the given Union airport preventing aircraft operators from performing turnarounds within a reasonable time; or

(b) structural aviation fuel supply difficulties stemming from the geographic characteristics of a given Union airport, leading to significantly higher prices of aviation fuels compared to prices applied on average to similar types of aviation fuels in other Union airports due in particular to specific fuel transport constraints or to limited availability of fuels at that Union airport and placing the aircraft operator concerned at a significant competitive disadvantage compared to market conditions existing in other Union airports with similar competitive characteristics.

The exemption granted shall have a limited period of validity, not exceeding one year, after which it shall be reviewed upon request of the aircraft operator.

Article 6

Obligations of Union airport managing body to facilitate the access to SAF

Article 7

Promoting hydrogen and electricity supply at the Union airports

Article 8

Reporting obligations for aircraft operators

By 31 March of each reporting year, and for the first time in 2025, aircraft operators shall report the following information with respect to a given reporting period to the competent authorities and the Agency:

(a) the total amount of aviation fuel uplifted at each Union airport, expressed in tonnes;

(b) the yearly aviation fuel required, per Union airport, expressed in tonnes;

(c) the yearly non-tanked quantity, per Union airport, which is to be reported as 0 (zero) if the yearly non-tanked quantity is negative or if it is lower than or equal to 10 % of the yearly aviation fuel required;

(d) the yearly tanked quantity, per Union airport for reasons of compliance with applicable fuel safety rules pursuant to Article 5(2), expressed in tonnes;

(e) the total amount of SAF purchased from aviation fuel suppliers, for the purpose of operating their flights covered by this Regulation, departing from Union airports, expressed in tonnes;

(f) for each purchase of SAF, the name of the aviation fuel supplier, the amount purchased expressed in tonnes, the conversion process, the characteristics and origin of the feedstock used for production, and the lifecycle emissions of the SAF, and, where one purchase includes different types of SAF with differing characteristics, providing that information for each type of SAF;

(g) total flights operated covered by this Regulation departing from Union airports, expressed in number of flights and in flight hours.

Article 9

Aircraft operator claiming of use of SAF

Together with the report referred to in Article 8, aircraft operators shall provide the Agency with:

(a) a declaration of the greenhouse gas schemes that they participate in and in which it is possible for them to report SAF;

(b) a declaration that they have not reported under more than one greenhouse gas scheme identical batches of SAF; and

(c) information on participation in Union, national or regional financial support schemes that enables aircraft operators to be compensated for the costs of SAF purchased and information on whether the same batch of SAF has received support under more than one financial support scheme.

Article 10

Reporting obligations for aviation fuel suppliers

By 14 February of each reporting year, and for the first time in 2025, aviation fuel suppliers shall report in the Union database referred to in Article 31a of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, the following information relating to the reporting period:

(a) the amount of aviation fuel supplied at each Union airport, expressed in tonnes;

(b) the amount of SAF supplied at each Union airport, and for each type of SAF, as detailed in point (c), expressed in tonnes;

(c) the conversion process, the characteristics and origin of the feedstock used for production, and the lifecycle emissions of each type of SAF supplied at Union airports;

(d) the content of aromatics and naphthalenes by percentage volume and of sulphur by percentage mass in aviation fuel supplied per batch, per Union airport and at Union level, indicating the total volume and mass of each batch and test method applied to measure the content of each substance at batch level;

(e) the energy content for aviation fuel and SAF supplied at each Union airport, for each type of fuel.

Member States shall have the necessary legal and administrative framework in place at national level to ensure that information entered by aviation fuel suppliers in that Union database is accurate, and has been verified and audited pursuant to Article 31a of Directive (EU) 2018/2001.

The Agency and the competent authorities shall have access to that Union database. The Agency shall use the information contained in that Union database, once the information has been verified at Member State level pursuant to Article 31a of Directive (EU) 2018/2001.

Article 11

Competent authority

Such aviation fuel supplier may present to its competent authority a reasoned request asking to be reattributed to another Member State if it has supplied the highest shares of its aviation fuel in that Member State over the two years preceding the request. The reattribution decision shall be made within six months following the request by the aviation fuel supplier, shall be subject to the agreement of the competent authorities of the Member State of reattribution and shall be transmitted without undue delay to the Agency and the Commission. It shall apply from the beginning of the reporting period following the date of adoption of that decision.

Article 12

Enforcement

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, the following rules shall apply to synthetic aviation fuels for the periods from 1 January 2030 until 31 December 2031 and from 1 January 2032 until 31 December 2034:

(a) any aviation fuel supplier which has accumulated a shortfall from the obligation laid down in Article 4 relating to the average shares of synthetic aviation fuels in the period from 1 January 2030 until 31 December 2031, shall supply the market before the end of the period from 1 January 2032 until 31 December 2034 with a quantity of synthetic aviation fuel equal to that shortfall, in addition to the obligations of that period; and

(b) any aviation fuel supplier which has accumulated a shortfall from the obligation laid down in Article 4 relating to the average shares of synthetic aviation fuels in the period from 1 January 2032 until 31 December 2034, shall supply the market in the subsequent reporting period with a quantity of synthetic aviation fuel equal to that shortfall, additional to their reporting period obligation.

Fulfilling the obligations referred to in the first and second subparagraphs of this paragraph shall not exonerate the aviation fuel supplier from the obligation to pay the fines laid down in paragraphs 4 and 5.

Where such revenues are allocated to the general budget of a Member State, a Member State shall be deemed to have complied with the first subparagraph, if it implements financial support policies to support research and innovation projects in the field of SAF, the production of SAF or policies that support mechanisms allowing the price differences between SAF and conventional aviation fuels to be bridged, which have a value equivalent or higher to the revenues generated from fines.

By 25 September 2026, and every five years thereafter, Member States shall make public a report on the use made of the aggregated revenues generated from the fines, and information on the level of expenditure allocated to research and innovation projects in the field of SAF, the production of SAF or policies that support mechanisms allowing the price differences between SAF and conventional aviation fuels to be bridged.

Article 13

Data collection and publication

The Agency shall publish every year a technical report on the basis of the reports referred to in Articles 7, 8 and 10 and forward it to the European Parliament and to the Council. That report shall contain at least the following information:

(a) the aggregated amount of SAF purchased by aircraft operators at Union level, for use on flights covered by this Regulation departing from a Union airport, and per Union airport;

(b) the aggregated amount of SAF and of synthetic aviation fuels supplied at Union level, per Member State and per Union airport. The report shall include the amount and type of feedstock used at Union level, per Member State and per Union airport and an analysis on the ability of aviation fuel suppliers to comply with the minimum shares defined in Annex I;

(c) as far as possible, the amount of SAF supplied, in the third countries with which an agreement regulating the provision of air services has been concluded by the Union, or the Union and its Member States, and in other third countries where such information is publicly available;