FlyingGreen

The NetZero pillar supports aviation stakeholders in analysing emissions, traffic scenarios and decarbonisation pathways. It helps aviation stakeholders explore how different assumptions on traffic growth, operational improvements, aircraft technologies, sustainable aviation fuels and future propulsion pathways may affect aviation emissions and related costs over time.

The pillar provides scenario-based analytical capabilities to support strategic discussions on aviation decarbonisation. Users can assess different pathways and compare the potential contribution of different in-sector measures, including ATM improvements, SAF, aircraft and engine innovation, and future hydrogen and electric aircraft pathways.

The latest release strengthens NetZero with advanced traffic modelling capabilities, including simulations based on customised traffic growth assumptions and traffic capacity-constrained scenarios. The reference year has also been updated to 2025 traffic. The release expands operational and aircraft what-if analyses, including hydrogen and electric aircraft pathways. It also adds LTO emissions, with a link to the LTO Emission Estimator, and enables users to define custom economic assumptions and cost inputs. Expanded data export capabilities provide users with greater flexibility to further analyse platform outputs.

A major addition is the new Airport Zero Emission Infrastructure Planning module, AZIP. This module supports airport energy transition planning by providing indicative CAPEX and OPEX assessments linked to airport energy and infrastructure needs. It helps airports better understand potential investment implications of future technology transitions.

Services

Direct and Estimated Emissions:

• Display of historical and estimated emission values, exhaust and net, at different aggregation levels depending on the stakeholder’s perspective.
• Emissions calculated out of different pre-defined scenarios aligned with the EUROCONTROL Aviation Outlook 2050, and specified to the different in-sector categories, including ATM improvements, SAF, aircraft and engine innovation.
• Updated reference year using 2025 traffic.
• Advanced traffic modelling, including customised traffic growth assumptions and traffic capacity-constrained scenarios.

Environmental Costs to Operations:

• Assessment of the cost-impact of market-based measures to aviation, deduced from in-sector emission reduction results.
• Assessment of the additional fuel costs required to align with the SAF requirements as part of ReFuelEU. The output of this service may serve as input to the DecarbFin pillar to identify potential funding opportunities.

What-If Analysis:

• Input of stakeholder specific/local parameters to simulate their impact on fuel burn, net emissions and associated costs.
• Sensitivity analysis to support decision making and the assessment of different local strategies.

Fuel Volume Requirements:

• Support to assess stakeholder specific fuel requirements by determining the volumes required based on EUROCONTROL traffic estimations, which are further refined with the outcomes from the Green Fuels calculator of the Fuelling Decarb pillar.
• Specific focus on fuel-blending and fuel-pathways requirements for SAF.

LTO Emissions:

• Addition of Landing and Take-Off emissions to improve transparency on airport-related emissions.
• Link to the LTO Emission Estimator for more detailed LTO emissions assessment.

Airport Zero Emission Infrastructure Planning (AZIP):

• New module supporting airport energy transition planning.
• Indicative CAPEX and OPEX assessments linked to airport energy and infrastructure needs.
• Support for airports in understanding potential investment implications of future technology transitions, including zero-emission aircraft infrastructure needs.

The decarbonisation of the aviation sector from 2030 to 2050 will require the deployment of electricity, biomass feedstocks and investments. The Fuelling Decarb pillar aims at providing a centralised source of information regarding the transition from fossil fuel to sustainable propulsion modes.

The pillar provides tools to assess fuel transition pathways, energy demand and SAF deployment challenges. It supports aviation stakeholders in understanding the scale of the transition from conventional aviation fuels to sustainable fuels and alternative energy sources.

The pillar helps users analyse SAF production potential, electricity requirements, energy availability and the potential gaps between projected aviation needs and production capabilities. It supports strategic discussions around energy availability, infrastructure readiness and long-term fuel transition feasibility.

The latest release strengthens FuellingDecarb with improved SAF production and cost modelling, expanded electricity modelling covering both EU and non-EU ECAC regions, new airport-focused views and new SAF pricing indicators.

Services:

Green Fuels Calculator:

• Assesses SAF, hydrogen and battery-electricity production potential by country or selected geographical scope.
• Supports analysis of fuel transition pathways by considering production routes, energy input and feedstock availability.
• Helps stakeholders understand the potential contribution of sustainable fuels and alternative energy sources to aviation decarbonisation.
• Supports the assessment of SAF deployment challenges and long-term fuel transition feasibility. The latest release improves SAF production and cost modelling, allowing users to better understand potential production pathways and associated cost implications.

Market Check Calculator:

• Evaluates potential gaps between projected aviation fuel and energy needs for and expected production capabilities.
• Supports comparison between green fuel requirements and production potential across different time horizons.
• Helps users assess whether planned or available production capacity is sufficient to meet aviation demand.
• Supports strategic discussions around energy availability, fuel supply constraints and infrastructure readiness.

Electricity Estimator:

• Estimates the electricity required to support future aviation fuel and energy pathways.
• Supports assessment of electricity needs linked to SAF, hydrogen and battery-electric aircraft assumptions.
• Helps stakeholders understand the scale of renewable or low-carbon electricity required to support aviation’s energy transition.
• The latest release expands electricity modelling to cover both EU and non-EU ECAC regions.

Airport-Focused Views:

• Provides new airport-focused functionalities to support more targeted analysis of fuel and energy transition challenges at airport level.
• Helps airports and related stakeholders better understand potential implications of SAF deployment, energy and infrastructure demand.
• Supports local strategic discussions on energy availability and long-term fuel transition feasibility.

SAF Pricing Indicators:

• Provides new indicators to improve understanding of SAF production, market and delivery cost dimensions.
• Supports more informed analysis of SAF affordability, market readiness and long-term deployment challenges.
  The latest release introduces the following SAF pricing indicators:
• SAF Minimum Selling Price: the minimum price per tonne of SAF required to cover all production costs after accounting for revenues generated from co-product sales.
• SAF Market Price: the price at which SAF is sold in the market, including taxes and expected benefits or margins.
• Bio SAF Delivered Price: the price at the destination airport, including the transport cost for delivery.

ECAC-EUROCONTROL SAF map:

• Provides a map-based overview of SAF availability and production-related information across ECAC. Supports users in identifying current and future SAF availability, relevant locations and production-related developments.
• Helps stakeholders understand the geographical dimension of SAF deployment and availability. It displays the quantities, locations, feedstock used, pathways such as HEFA, ATJ, etc., and future production of hydrogen, bio-methane and e-methane.
• It provides reference information on the current and projected blending shares for each State, and on the ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation mandates.

SAF News Corner:

• Provides publicly available information, updates and references related to SAF and aviation fuel transition.
• Supports stakeholder access to relevant examples, developments and policy or market information.
• Helps users remain informed about SAF-related developments and initiatives.

The main purpose of DecarbFin is to facilitate and support the acceleration of the aviation industry's access to sustainable finance opportunities, while enhancing the sector’s reporting Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) capabilities.

Sustainability reporting, regulatory expectations and access to finance are increasingly interconnected. The EU aviation sector is facing evolving reporting requirements linked to the EU Taxonomy and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Companies subject to the CSRD are required to report according to European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), covering environmental, social and governance information and double materiality assessment. Besides that, EU Taxonomy reporting also provides information in the alignment of CapEX, OpEX and revenue KPIs with sustainable finance criteria.

Investors and financing institutions are increasingly considering the quality of sustainability. Stronger reporting practices and clearer sustainability indicators can therefore support aviation stakeholders in building more robust business cases for decarbonisation and climate adaptation projects.

DecarbFin increased awareness of sustainable finance opportunities for aviation stakeholders dealing with decarbonisation and climate adaptation. Users can navigate Fund Pathfinder and Funding Booster to identify EU and private funding opportunities covering a wide array of financing options and eligible projects. To bolster financing and performance monitoring, DecarbFin also provides sustainability indicators, aviation decarbonisation roadmaps, ESG reporting frameworks and market intelligence. Users can build knowledge (via the Booster Catalogues), benchmark and plan (via FLYnance! Market trends and Indicators) to support knowledge building and inform decision-making.

Services

Fund Pathfinder:

• Interactive tool assisting stakeholders in identifying EU funding opportunities tailored to the purpose of a decarbonisation initiative or climate adaptation measure.
• Best practices and examples of successfully funded EU projects.

Funding Booster:

• Interactive tool assisting stakeholders in identifying financing opportunities offered by private financing institutions.
• Catalogues of customised financing mechanisms, aviation decarbonisation roadmaps, ESG reporting frameworks and sustainable finance indicators. These repositories contain educational material on the most indicative ESG frameworks, aviation decarbonisation roadmaps and sustainable finance indicators which are used to build a competitive business case in order to access funding opportunities.

FLYnance!:

• Market trends: Provides market insights into recent transactions related to financing sustainable aviation, covering the ECAC area and beyond. Includes information on volume allocation by aviation stakeholder group, indicators used, types of projects, States, financial instruments and sectoral trends.
• Sustainable Indicators: Provides an indicators dashboard combining emissions and operational forecasts with policy intelligence by market segment. Supports benchmarking, identification of market trends and investment decision-making.

Bluebook:

• New online interface provides information on the EU sustainable finance regulatory framework:
  • Bluebook: guidebook to introduce EU Taxonomy and CSRD and relevant aviation provisions to support compliance with regulations.
  • Bluebook Omnibus: a short handbook introducing changes anticipated by the Omnibus Directive on sustainability reporting simplification applied on the scope, content and timings of the EU Taxonomy and CSRD.
  • Visual guidance helping stakeholders better understand the steps towards a timely and effective regulatory response.