Emirates, Etihad and Boeing Aviation have joined forces with major energy firms, governmental institutions, and academics with the aim of accelerating sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  

This Air-CRAFT initiative, short for UAE Centre for Renewable and Advanced Fuel Technologies for Aviation, was presented during the third ICAO Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3), which is taking place in Dubai from November 20 to 24, 2023.  

Air-CRAFT has gathered prominent members from the UAE aviation ecosystem among its members, including Emirates, Etihad Airways, Boeing, and Honeywell in addition to the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Masdar, a major Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy firm. 

Academia is also represented through Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa University, a center that also runs several research programs aimed at the development of decarbonization technologies. 

Air-CRAFT also has the official backing of the UAE government, which has a goal to reach net zero emissions by 2050. 

This consortium’s main task appears to be coordinating the different players operating in the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) value chain in the UAE to accelerate the development and production of SAF at scale in the UAE.