Austrian Airlines CEO advocates incentive based approach to SAF over mandates

Austrian Airlines CEO Annette Mann, in IATA's Airlines publication, stated (08-Sep-2024) that while Lufthansa Group has been a leader in supporting sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) certification and production, she believes "incentives seem to work better than mandates". Ms Mann highlighted that the US, with its incentive based approach, has "overtaken anything that Europe is doing". She also highlighted concerns that European mandates could disadvantage airlines by affecting transit traffic and driving customers to use hubs in Istanbul or the Middle East. Ms Mann emphasised: "Mandates should be done so that the transfer hub doesn't affect the price the airline can offer the passenger".