Flights from UK airports must use a minimum amount of lower-carbon jet fuel from Wednesday, with the introduction of the sustainable aviation fuel (Saf) mandate. By law, Saf must make up at least 2% of all jet fuel used in flights in 2025. The percentage will rise annually, reaching 10% in 2030 and 22% in 2040. The Department for Transport described the requirement – which applies to all aviation fuel suppliers – as “ambitious but achievable”. Where suppliers cannot directly provide the required amount of Saf, they can purchase certificates from other companies which have provided more than needed. Alternatively, they can pay the Government £4.70 per litre provided under the required level. Non-compliance risks civil penalties being imposed. Saf is seen as vital to reduce the aviation industry’s carbon emissions. The fuel is made from sources such as agricultural waste and used cooking oil, meaning its production involves using about 70% less carbon than conventional jet fuel, which is a type of kerosene. It can be blended with kerosene at up to 50% without the need for aircraft engine modifications.<br/>
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U.S. planemaker Boeing is on track to be the biggest loser of 2024 in the Dow Jones Index, tumbling 32% as it bounced from one crisis to another. Rival Airbus rose more than 11% for the year, and the benchmark S&P 500 gained more than 23% during 2024. Boeing's shares opened the year at $257.50. However, a mid-air cabin panel blowout on Jan. 5 aboard a recently-delivered 737 MAX operated by Alaska Airlines triggered investigations and a temporary grounding of the popular single-aisle airplane. By the end of the month, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, citing safety and quality concerns, capped 737 production at 38 airplanes a month and the company's share price hovered around $211. The FAA has not lifted the cap. Regardless, Boeing has struggled to produce close to its maximum-allowed 737 planes per month due to supply-chain problems, quality issues and a seven-week-long strike that temporarily shut down most of its commercial aircraft production, including the 737 program. Boeing also continued to post massive losses from its commercial, military and space programs throughout the year. In July, the company announced a $4.7b deal to buy money-losing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which makes 737 fuselages. Spirit has been plagued by production quality problems as well. In August, aerospace veteran Kelly Ortberg joined Boeing as CEO, replacing Dave Calhoun.<br/>
China is stepping up its push to break the grip of Boeing and Airbus on the aircraft market, as the state-run maker of the country’s first homegrown passenger jet seeks certifications for it to fly beyond the country’s shores. Comac’s heavily subsidised C919, which made its maiden commercial flight in 2023, is already flown on domestic routes by China’s three big state-owned carriers: Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines. From this month, China Eastern will fly the C919 between Hong Kong and Shanghai, its first regular commercial route outside China’s mainland. Yang Yang, the company’s deputy general manager of marketing and sales, told the Financial Times the company was aiming for the single-aisle plane to be flying in south-east Asia by 2026 and to gain European certification as early as this year. “We hope to operate more of the jets domestically in China and to thoroughly identify any issues before . . . bringing them to south-east Asia,” he said. The C919 is a pivotal project in President Xi Jinping’s drive for China to move up the technology value chain, with the ultimate aim of challenging the western duopoly of Boeing and Airbus. Boeing’s financial woes and delivery delays, as well as wider supply chain problems in the industry that have left it and Airbus facing engine and component shortages, have weighed on the global aviation sector and offered hope for newcomers. The world will need 42,430 new aircraft over the next two decades, roughly 80% of which will be single-aisle aircraft, according to an Airbus forecast in 2024. Aviation consultancy IBA predicts that Comac can raise its output of C919s — 16 of which have been delivered to Chinese airlines as of December — from one to 11 a month by 2040, by which time it can deliver almost 2,000 units of the aircraft.<br/>