IATA’s aviation fuel matchmaker to connect airlines, suppliers

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the release of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Matchmaker platform to facilitate SAF procurement between airlines and SAF producers by matching requests for SAF supply with offers.

When there is a match, airlines and suppliers can connect and take their negotiation offline to agree on specific terms, including price and payment terms.

Specifically, the SAF Matchmaker addresses three critical issues:

Efficiency: The availability of a central platform will simplify SAF procurement by making it easier and faster for all parties to connect without additional fees. It will therefore facilitate further development of the voluntary market for SAF purchasing.

Connectivity: SAF producers and suppliers can post available or planned SAF volumes, while airlines are able to register their interest in purchasing shown or desired SAF volumes. Subsequent trades will take place outside the platform.

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Visibility: The platform carries comprehensive information regarding the available SAF, such as volumes, feedstock used, the location and technology of production, the emissions reductions, as well as compliance with the Carbon Offsetting Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) or the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED).

“To reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, we need an accessible, transparent, liquid, and efficient SAF market. The SAF Matchmaker is another example of the work that IATA is putting in place to create a fully functioning market for SAF. The SAF Matchmaker platform will accelerate the uptake of SAF by reducing the costs and complexity that airlines face when searching for SAF suppliers,” said Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s Senior Vice President Sustainability and Chief Economist.

The SAF Matchmaker supports spot purchases as well as offtake agreements and is initially available to airlines and SAF suppliers only. In due course, other SAF buyers such as non-aviation corporations will also be able to participate.

The SAF Matchmaker is hosted on the Aviation Energy Hub, a centralised digital space designed to provide the aviation industry with access to practical tools that support aviation energy management.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.