Indonesia Launches SAF Action Plan at Bali Airshow; Implementation Still Ahead

Badung — Indonesia launched an action plan to develop sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at the Bali International Airshow on 18 September 2024. Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan linked the announcement to the country's emissions goals. Launching a plan, however, is not the same as imposing a SAF-use mandate or demonstrating commercial production.

According to ANTARA's report from Badung, Luhut said the government would convene a meeting to develop a roadmap for SAF implementation and examine potential resources. A release from the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment described the unveiling of a national roadmap at the airshow. Those accounts can be read together without treating the unveiling as completed implementation: the strategic direction was presented, while the practical roadmap and examination of feedstocks were still among the next steps Luhut outlined to ANTARA.

A launch, not a completed rollout

ANTARA quoted Luhut describing the action-plan launch as part of Indonesia's commitment to net-zero emissions. He also said a meeting would follow to work out how a SAF roadmap should be made. Announcing a direction for the sector therefore should not be confused with settling the operational details for airlines and fuel suppliers.

The ministry's 18 September release called the national SAF roadmap's unveiling a milestone and placed the effort within an ambition for net-zero aviation by 2050. That is a stated target, not a report that the aviation sector has already reached net zero or that SAF can already supply its fuel needs.

Neither of the two accounts provides a new domestic blending mandate, an effective date for compulsory use, or a verified volume of SAF produced at commercial scale. The Bali announcement is best understood as a planning step, with implementation details to be clarified later.

Potential feedstocks need further study

Luhut identified coconut oil, seaweed and rice bran as potential resources to explore for SAF, ANTARA reported. Their inclusion in the discussion does not establish that each feedstock has passed technical assessment or entered commercial supply. The news agency also reported that Luhut intended to ask Pertamina to work with several airlines on further studies of those resources.

A proposed study is distinct from its results. The report does not announce a completed fuel-supply agreement, regular flights using SAF made from those resources, or production capacity attributable to them. Their practical role will depend on the subsequent assessment rather than the announcement alone.

SAF on the Bali aviation agenda

The ministry said the Asia Pacific Air Transport Forum 2024, held as part of the airshow programme, would discuss expansion of SAF production and use alongside integrated airspace solutions. ANTARA likewise described the shift from fossil-based jet fuel to cleaner alternatives as a major subject of discussion at the event.

ANTARA connected that discussion to the International Civil Aviation Organization's focus on SAF and lower-carbon aviation fuels in reducing carbon dioxide emissions. That international context helps explain the prominence of the topic at Bali, but it does not itself create a new Indonesian requirement for airlines. What happened on 18 September was the launch of an action plan. Choices about resources, the proposed industry studies and the implementation of a roadmap remain separate steps.