Aviation Fuel Supply: Ukraine Sets Course for European Standards
A round table held in both offline and online format, organised by the Association of Civil Aviation "Airports of Ukraine" and the Kyiv Aviation Institute with the participation of ACI EUROPE, set out the key question of the industry's reconstruction: bringing national aviation fuel quality control standards into line with European ones.
Viktoriia HrechukhaFounder and journalist at Aviaedge, member of the AAUCA committee
European aviation is transforming along three fronts at once: security, the fuel transition, and regulatory convergence. Ukraine approaches this period in a particular situation. Civil air traffic is suspended, so during reconstruction the industry has the chance to align directly with the European system rather than restore the state it was in before.
These were the questions examined at the round table held on 29 May by the Association of Civil Aviation "Airports of Ukraine" (AAUCA) and the State University "Kyiv Aviation Institute" (SU KAI). The event brought together representatives of state authorities, airports, aviation enterprises, international organisations, the academic community, and specialists from across the industry. Representatives of ACI EUROPE, the association of European airports of which AAUCA has been a member since 2014, also joined remotely, delivering two presentations, one on security and one on sustainable fuel. Participants focused on how to rebuild the industry to European standards, and the first practical question was the regulation of aviation fuel quality.
Regulating Aviation Fuel Quality
In the assessment of AAUCA President Petro Lypovenko, Ukraine currently lacks a systematic approach to updating the regulatory framework in this area. He noted that AAUCA's leadership has been appealing to the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine (SAAU) for ten years already on bringing the legal and regulatory framework of this important field into line with international standards. Previously the SAAU had annual and five-year plans for introducing regulatory documents, whereas today there is no clear plan and no allocation of responsibility. According to him, more than 20 percent of aviation occurrences worldwide are linked to fuel, lubricants, and refuelling, which places the matter among flight safety priorities.
Participants set out the following state of affairs. Aircraft refuelling is still governed by a departmental instruction from 2006, Order No. 416 of the State Aviation Administration, which in places refers to Russian GOST standards. Fuel supply companies attempt to follow international JIG practices, yet according to participants these practices carry no legal force in Ukraine. The state enterprise that previously developed the relevant standards has, as was noted at the meeting, ceased operations, and no new responsible body has been designated. The result is that requirements for the quality of automotive fuel in the country are clear, while for aviation fuel a single point of national responsibility is missing.
The legal grounds for change already exist. The Common Aviation Area Agreement with the EU was agreed in 2013 and signed on 12 October 2021. It obliges Ukraine to transpose European standards into national legislation without waiting for membership.
Security: Cyber Threats, Drones, and Ukrainian Experience
Sébastien Colmant, Director of Aviation Security and Cybersecurity at ACI EUROPE, who joined the meeting remotely from Reykjavik, presented the current threats facing European airports. Showing a slide with counter-drone equipment, he noted that the solution displayed had been developed in Ukraine to counter the drones attacking the country.
Colmant gave recent examples. In September 2025 a cyberattack on Collins Aerospace, a supplier of passenger check-in systems, affected the operations of a number of major airports for several days, among them Heathrow, Brussels, Berlin, Dublin, and Cork. Brussels was asked to cancel around half of its departures, and ENISA confirmed that ransomware was involved. At the same time the number of drone incidents has risen. According to Euronews, drone-related disruptions at European airports increased roughly fourfold between the beginning of 2024 and November 2025. By comparison, in 2018 a drone incident at Gatwick halted operations for almost two days and affected approximately 140,000 passengers.
In response, the European Commission presented a counter-drone action plan in February 2026. It provides for a trusted label for safe drones, joint procurement of countermeasures for critical infrastructure, and the creation of a centre of excellence. In this context a KAI representative reported that the university has three faculties working on drone design and countermeasures, that its specialists take part in international working groups, and proposed cooperation with the European centre. Colmant replied that he would return to the question separately.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel: European Mandates and a Supply Shortfall
In ACI EUROPE's second presentation, from Brussels, Director of Sustainability Alexandre de Joybert set out the key figures on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Today SAF accounts for less than 1 percent of global aviation fuel, while according to IATA's estimate it is expected to deliver around 65 percent of the emissions reduction the industry needs by 2050.
The European ReFuelEU mandate provides for a gradual increase in the SAF share: 2 percent in 2025, 6 percent in 2030, 20 percent in 2035, and 70 percent in 2050. The obligation falls on fuel suppliers, not on airports, which need only avoid obstructing access. According to the speaker, SAF is chemically almost indistinguishable from conventional kerosene and requires no new infrastructure. The emissions reduction of up to 80 percent is counted across the full life cycle, above all through the carbon cycle of the feedstock, since SAF also releases CO2 when burned.
At the same time supply lags behind the mandate. According to EASA's technical report for 2024, SAF was supplied to only 33 airports in 12 EU member states, and five states accounted for 99 percent of the volume. The cost of SAF was almost three times higher than conventional fuel, more than 2,000 euro per tonne against 734. Around 80 percent of today's SAF comes from the biomass-based HEFA technology, which will approach the limit of available feedstock shortly after 2030. The next generation, synthetic e-SAF, is a field where Europe holds a technological advantage but lacks investment. In this context de Joybert made the case for strategic autonomy, since domestic fuel production reduces dependence on imported oil and gas. Ukrainian airports were invited to join the ACI EUROPE working group on SAF and the Environmental Strategy Committee.
Hydrogen and Hybrid Aircraft, and Infrastructure Readiness
A separate presentation was given by a speaker representing the Institute of Aviation in Warsaw and the European research project EFACA under the Horizon Europe programme. Within the project, the Ukrainian enterprises Antonov and Ivchenko-Progress are working with European partners on concepts for regional aircraft, one hydrogen-powered and one hybrid-electric. Hydrogen engines are already undergoing bench testing at Rolls-Royce and GE. The industry plans to fly the first such aircraft in the mid-2030s, although those timelines may shift.
In the speaker's assessment, airport infrastructure for hydrogen aviation will not be ready for at least ten years, closer to 2040, and it is the infrastructure, not the aircraft, that will hold back the transition. In the near term, therefore, biofuel remains the principal means. The speaker described the airport of the future as an energy hub that generates and stores energy on its own. Vienna Airport was cited as an example, covering around one third of its electricity needs with its own solar generation. For Ukraine this means that the infrastructure laid down during reconstruction will determine the industry's readiness for new types of aviation.
Conclusions
The suspension of civil air traffic creates an opportunity for Ukraine to bring its rules into line with European ones before flights resume. Participants stressed that it makes sense to align with European standards straight away rather than restore the state of 2021. The event also showed that Ukraine has expertise of its own, from counter-drone technologies to participation in European aviation projects, which it can offer partners. The next steps identified through the discussion include proposals for a change in how the responsible management of the Ministry and the State Aviation Administration approaches these important questions, and the continuation of cooperation with ACI EUROPE.
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