Akasa Air and BPCL Fly a 1 Per Cent Sustainable Aviation Fuel Blend on the Mumbai-Goa Route

🗞️ Why in News On 8 September 2026, Akasa Air operated its first commercial flight on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) blended with 1 per cent Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), supplied by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL). It is the first flight under the Akasa-BPCL supply framework, not India’s first SAF flight: the historic first was AirAsia India flight i5-767, Pune to Delhi, on 19 May 2023, on an indigenous blend from Indian Oil and Praj Industries. The flight departed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), Mumbai at 13:05 IST and arrived at Manohar International Airport (GOX), Goa at 14:30 IST. The operation acts on an Akasa-BPCL memorandum of understanding signed in July 2026 to establish an SAF supply-and-offtake framework at Indian airports. India’s indicative targets are 1 per cent SAF blending by 2027, 2 per cent by 2028 and 5 per cent by 2030, on international flights departing India, not on commercial aviation as a whole.

The Flight in One Table

What Sustainable Aviation Fuel Is

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is a “drop-in” fuel. It is chemically similar enough to conventional jet fuel (Jet A / Jet A-1) that it can be used in existing turbofan engines and airframes without modification, and blended with conventional ATF up to defined limits (currently up to 50 per cent under ASTM D7566, with pathways to 100 per cent under evaluation). The environmental benefit comes not from what happens in the engine (the combustion emissions are similar), but from what happens upstream: the feedstock captures atmospheric carbon while growing, so the net life-cycle emissions are lower.

The Feedstock Pathways

SAF can be produced from several feedstock categories, each with a distinct life-cycle emission profile:

The Akasa-BPCL blend for this flight uses SAF from Indian feedstock sources. BPCL has been building a downstream SAF supply chain across major Indian airports, and HPCL, IndianOil and private refiners are on parallel tracks.

The National Target and the Global Frame

India’s roadmap. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Ministry of Civil Aviation have set an indicative target of 1 per cent SAF blending by 2027 and 5 per cent SAF blending by 2030 for commercial aviation. The target is voluntary but is meant to align with global commitments.

The global frame. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN specialised agency for civil aviation, operates the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), in force since 2021 and now in its mandatory phase for most Member States. CORSIA requires participating airlines to offset international aviation emissions above a baseline, and SAF blending counts towards compliance. **India is not a participant in the pilot or first phases and joins CORSIA from the mandatory second phase in 2027, alongside China, Russia and Brazil.

The EU’s ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation requires 2 per cent SAF blending at EU airports from 2025, rising to 6 per cent by 2030, 20 per cent by 2035 and 70 per cent by 2050, with a separate synthetic-fuel sub-target. Indian carriers flying EU routes must source SAF at EU airports at those escalating percentages.

Why Aviation Is a Hard Sector to Decarbonise

Aviation contributes roughly 2-3 per cent of global CO2 emissions, a share that will rise as passenger and freight volumes grow. Unlike ground transport, aviation has no near-term battery-electric alternative for long-haul flights: the energy density of current lithium-ion batteries is roughly 50 times lower than jet fuel by weight, making full electrification of a long-haul airliner physically infeasible with today’s technology. Short-haul electric aircraft and hydrogen-powered narrow-bodies are in development but decades from scale. SAF is the near-term decarbonisation lever, and its scale depends on feedstock supply.

The Indian Feedstock Question

India’s SAF ambition faces a feedstock-scale problem. The 5-per-cent-by-2030 target implies:

• India’s domestic ATF consumption is roughly 9-10 million tonnes per year and growing.
• A 5 per cent blend requires roughly 500,000 tonnes per year of SAF by 2030.
• Producing that from UCO alone would require the collection and hydroprocessing of a very large share of India’s used cooking oil, which is currently under-collected and largely unregulated.
• Municipal solid waste and agri-residue pathways can supplement but require new biorefinery capacity.

The Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) trajectory as reference. India has already scaled a similar blending programme: the 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol (E20) target was achieved in 2025, ahead of the originally planned 2030 timeline, on the back of a domestic sugar-and-grain feedstock chain. A comparable scale-up for SAF is feasible but is a full biorefinery build-out that has not yet been funded at the same scale.

The Life-Cycle Assessment Caveat

A 1 per cent blend saves 1 per cent of aviation emissions only if the SAF has zero life-cycle emissions, which it does not. The correct read is: a 1 per cent blend saves 0.7 to 0.9 per cent of aviation emissions, depending on the feedstock and process. Scaling to 5 per cent gives a life-cycle saving of about 3.5 to 4.5 per cent. The direction is right; the magnitudes should not be overstated.

The Strategic Read

Three points follow.

1. First flight is symbolic; second-order build-out is the story. The 1 per cent Mumbai-Goa flight is a demonstration. The build-out that matters is the feedstock supply chain, the airport fuelling infrastructure and the regulatory certification stack that lets Indian carriers routinely uplift SAF at every hub.

2. UCO-first is the pragmatic path. Used cooking oil is India’s most immediately available SAF feedstock, and the parallel regulation of UCO collection (through the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and its RUCO initiative, launched August 2018, for Repurposing Used Cooking Oil) is the enabling policy layer.

3. CORSIA compliance is now the pull factor. International aviation emissions above the CORSIA baseline require offsetting. SAF blending directly reduces the offsetting requirement, giving Indian carriers a financial reason to blend beyond the domestic target.

UPSC Relevance

GS Paper 3. Awareness in the field of energy; environmental pollution and degradation; climate change; conservation.

The Mains framing. Frame the Akasa-BPCL flight as a demonstration marker in India’s aviation-decarbonisation trajectory, with the 5-per-cent-by-2030 target and CORSIA compliance as the pull factors, and the UCO feedstock chain (with RUCO) as the enabling policy layer. Contrast against the EU’s escalating ReFuelEU Aviation percentages.

A question worth preparing. “Aviation is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise. Discuss India’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel roadmap, feedstock options and the international framework of CORSIA under ICAO, with reference to the September 2026 Akasa-BPCL demonstration flight. (250 words)”

The counterpoint to hold. A 1 per cent blend is a symbolic demonstration, not a decarbonisation achievement. The 5-per-cent-by-2030 target requires roughly half a million tonnes per year of SAF and a biorefinery build-out that has not yet been fully financed. Life-cycle emissions from SAF are lower than jet fuel but are not zero; the direction is right, the magnitudes should not be overstated.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

Prelims, statement-ready facts:

• Akasa Air operated its first commercial flight on a 1 per cent Sustainable Aviation Fuel blend on 8 September 2026, on the Mumbai (CSMIA)-Goa (GOX) route; departure 13:05 IST, arrival 14:30 IST.
• India’s first commercial flight on an indigenous 1 per cent SAF blend was AirAsia India i5-767, Pune to Delhi, on 19 May 2023, fuelled by Indian Oil with Praj Industries.
• India’s indicative SAF targets are 1 per cent by 2027, 2 per cent by 2028 and 5 per cent by 2030, and they apply to international flights departing India.
• The SAF was supplied by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), acting on an Akasa-BPCL MoU signed on 14 July 2026.
• India’s indicative target is 1 per cent SAF blending in commercial aviation by 2027 and 5 per cent by 2030.
• SAF is a drop-in fuel compatible with existing turbofan engines; ASTM D7566 currently permits blends up to 50 per cent.
• Feedstock categories include used cooking oil (HEFA process), agricultural residues (ATJ or FT), municipal solid waste (FT), algae (developmental) and power-to-liquid e-fuels (green hydrogen + captured CO2).
• Aviation contributes roughly 2-3 per cent of global CO2 emissions.
• India’s 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol (E20) target was achieved in 2025, five years ahead of the original 2030 plan.
• ICAO’s CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) has been in force since 2021 and is now in its mandatory phase for most Member States; India is on the compliance track.
• The EU’s ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation requires 2 per cent SAF at EU airports from 2025, 6 per cent by 2030, 20 per cent by 2035 and 70 per cent by 2050.
• FSSAI’s RUCO (Repurposing of Used Cooking Oil) initiative was launched in August 2018 to build a UCO collection ecosystem.

Prelims, the traps:

• ASTM D7566 permits SAF blends up to 50 per cent; 100 per cent is under evaluation, not currently certified for commercial use.
• CORSIA is an ICAO framework covering international aviation, not domestic flights within a state.
• India’s E20 target was achieved in 2025, ahead of the 2030 plan; SAF is a distinct programme with a separate feedstock chain.
• HEFA (Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids) is the process for used cooking oil and fats; FT (Fischer-Tropsch) and ATJ (Alcohol-to-Jet) are other pathways.
• A 1 per cent blend does not save 1 per cent of aviation emissions; SAF has non-zero life-cycle emissions, and the saving is approximately 70-90 per cent of the blend share.

Mains, arguments and keywords:

• Frame the Akasa-BPCL flight as a demonstration marker in India’s aviation-decarbonisation trajectory, with 5 per cent by 2030 as the domestic pull and CORSIA compliance as the international pull.
• Feedstock question: UCO-first is the pragmatic path enabled by FSSAI’s RUCO; MSW and agri-residues need biorefinery scale-up on the ethanol-blending template.
• E20 (ethanol blending in petrol) trajectory as reference: India scaled 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol from 2013-14 to 2025, achieving the target five years ahead; SAF requires a similar biorefinery build-out.
• Sector-specific decarbonisation limits: aviation’s battery-electric alternative is decades from scale for long-haul; SAF is the near-term lever, hydrogen and electric are the medium-term.
• Keywords: drop-in fuel, HEFA process, CORSIA, RUCO, ReFuelEU Aviation, life-cycle emissions, ASTM D7566.

Interview, be ready for:

• “Why is aviation hard to decarbonise?” Battery energy density is ~50x lower than jet fuel; long-haul electrification is physically infeasible with current technology; SAF is the near-term lever.
• “What is a drop-in fuel?” Chemically similar enough to conventional jet fuel to be used in existing engines and airframes without modification, blended up to 50 per cent under current ASTM certification.
• “What is the difference between CORSIA and ReFuelEU Aviation?” CORSIA is ICAO’s market-based measure for international aviation offsetting; ReFuelEU Aviation is the EU’s regulatory mandate for SAF blending at EU airports.
• “What is the feedstock scale problem for India’s 5 per cent by 2030 target?” Roughly 500,000 tonnes per year of SAF against a domestic ATF market of about 9-10 million tonnes; requires new biorefinery capacity on the ethanol-blending template.

Sources: ANI, Ministry of Civil Aviation, BPCL, ICAO CORSIA

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