Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545155
6 COMMERCIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MAY 2026 Alkagesta participates in IATA Aviation Energy Forum amid SAF market transition WITH European aviation fac- ing a structural overhaul in how jet fuel is sourced, certi- fied, and delivered, the IATA Aviation Energy Forum 2026 became a key meeting point for the industry's leading players. Hosted by the International Air Transport Association from 12–14 May, the three-day fo- rum brought together airlines, refiners, traders, storage oper- ators, and energy policymakers at a moment of accelerating regulatory change. Among the participants was Alkagesta, the Malta-based commodity trad- ing and energy logistics group reflecting the company's activ- ity across European aviation fuel markets in European avia- tion fuel markets. SAF: From policy target to supply chain challenge Sustainable aviation fuel has shifted rapidly from an aspi- rational goal to a regulatory obligation. Under the EU's Re- FuelEU Aviation regulation, mandatory SAF blending re- quirements are now in force, with thresholds rising progres- sively through 2050. But implementation is prov- ing far more complex than anticipated. SAF production remains concentrated among a small number of facilities, and even where volumes exist, the logistics infrastructure needed to move, store, blend, and de- liver compliant fuel at scale is lagging. Storage constraints, limited pipeline access, and fragmented cross-border transport networks were cited as the most pressing near-term obstacles. Geopolitical pressure com- pounds the transition The forum also addressed the broader energy security context within which the SAF transition is unfolding. Geo- political instability, shifting re- finery margins, and tightening emissions targets are simulta- neously affecting the availabil- ity and pricing of conventional jet fuel across Europe and adja- cent markets. For airlines and fuel buyers, the question is no longer simply whether SAF is available — it is whether inte- grated supply chains can guar- antee continuity across an in- creasingly fragmented energy landscape. Forum participants noted that the companies best posi- tioned to play a central role in aviation's energy transition are those that have invested across multiple segments of the logis- tics chain: physical storage infrastructure, blending capa- bility, certified supply agree- ments, and established access to strategic fuel distribution networks. Alkagesta's participation in the forum reflects its expand- ed footprint in this space. The company, which operates across petroleum products, steel, fertilisers, and biofuels trading with activities span- ning 42 countries, has in re- cent months deepened its avi- ation fuel operations through supply arrangements linked to NATO's Central European Pipeline System — one of the region's most strategically im- portant fuel distribution net- works, serving major airports across Germany and Belgium. The company also recently obtained ISCC CORSIA cer- tification, enabling it to trade and supply CORSIA-eligible sustainable aviation fuel under standards established by ICAO. Energy security as the new procurement imperative Alkagesta CEO Orkhan Rustamov said the industry's focus was shifting beyond con- ventional procurement dynam- ics. "For decades, fuel procure- ment was primarily a question of price and volume," Rustam- ov said. "Today, energy security — the ability to guarantee sup- ply continuity through certi- fied logistics infrastructure, in compliance with evolving reg- ulations — has become equal- ly critical. The SAF transition cannot succeed on policy am- bition alone. It requires coor- dinated investment in storage, blending capacity, pipeline ac- cess, and certification systems. Companies that have built depth across these segments are load-bearing parts of the energy transition." The comments reflect a view gaining traction across the industry: that the bottleneck in aviation's decarbonisation pathway is less about produc- tion technology than about the logistics systems needed to de- liver certified sustainable fuel reliably and at scale. As European regulators pre- pare to tighten SAF blending mandates in the years ahead, the Paris forum underscored that the sector's energy tran- sition will ultimately be de- termined not in policy docu- ments, but in the unglamorous infrastructure of tanks, pipe- lines, certification records, and transport networks and in the hands of the traders and logistics operators who control them.