PRESS RELEASE – Planes at Cluj International Airport start using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supplied by OMV Petrom

March 7, 2025 – Planes at Cluj International Airport start using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supplied by OMV Petrom

• With almost 3,3 million passengers in 2024, Avram Iancu Cluj International Airport is the largest regional airport in Romania and the second largest in the country, in terms of passenger numbers.
• From January 2025, planes can refuel at Cluj International Airport with sustainable fuels

 OMV Petrom, the most large integrated energy producer in Southeastern Europe,  supplies sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to Cluj Avram Iancu International Airport in 2025, an important step towards reducing carbon emissions in air transport. Through this partnership, the Airport International Cluj and OMV Petrom reaffirm their commitment to supporting the energy transition and adopting sustainable solutions in the aviation sector.

Since January 2025, aircraft taking off from Cluj Airport, the second largest airport in Romania, have been fueled with jet fuel blended with 2% SAF, thus reducing the environmental impact. Almost 1800 flights were operated in January and February using this fuel, fully covering the airport's takeoffs.

"We are proud to contribute to the introduction of sustainable aviation fuel at Cluj airport. SAF is produced from renewable raw materials such as waste oils and animal fats, transformed, with the help of innovative technologies, into fuels with properties similar to conventional kerosene. At OMV Petrom, we have started construction work on an investment of 750 million euros, so that, starting in 2028, we can also produce such fuels in Romania, at the Petrobrazi refinery. We believe in Romania's potential to become a regional hub for such fuels," he said. Radu Căprău, member of the OMV Petrom management board responsible for Refining and Marketing activities.  

"Together with our supplier OMV Petrom, we have managed to start the process by which aircraft operating flights at Cluj International Airport will be fueled with sustainable aircraft fuels. It is another important objective that we have achieved in fulfilling our commitments to reduce carbon emissions and support less polluting air transport," said David Ciceo, General Manager, Cluj International Airport.

With almost 3,3 million passengers in 2024, Avram Iancu Airport in Cluj is the largest regional airport in Romania and the second largest airport in the country, after Otopeni. As part of its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, in addition to supplying sustainable aviation fuels, the airport has also purchased 2 electric aircraft de-icing/anti-icing trucks and an electric bus to transport passengers from the terminal to the planes.

How sustainable fuels are produced

Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) are fuels produced by processing renewable raw materials, such as waste oils and animal fats. Using advanced refining processes using green hydrogen, these materials are transformed to have characteristics similar to kerosene. SAF can be used directly in existing infrastructure and aircraft. It has the potential to provide a life-cycle carbon reduction of up to 80% compared to the traditional jet fuel it replaces. SAF will play a very important role in achieving the aviation industry’s carbon reduction goals.

The ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation provides for the use of sustainable aviation fuels at airports in the European Union in a proportion of at least 2% starting with January 1, 2025 and a gradual increase in the use of SAF up to 6% from 2030.

About OMV Petrom

OMV Petrom is the largest integrated energy producer in South-Eastern Europe, with an annual group-wide crude oil and gas production of approximately 40 million boe in 2024. The Group has a refining capacity of 4,5 million tons per year and operates an 860 MW high-efficiency natural gas-fired power plant. On the retail distribution market of petroleum products, the Group is present in Romania and neighboring countries through approximately 780 gas stations, under two brands – OMV and Petrom.

OMV Petrom is a company in which, at the end of 2024, Romanian shareholders hold over 43% of the shares (of which the Romanian state, through the Ministry of Energy, holds 20,7%, and 22,5% are held by pension funds in Romania, to which are added almost 500.000 individual investors and other Romanian entities). OMV Aktiengesellschaft, one of the largest listed industrial companies in Austria, holds 51,2% of OMV Petrom shares, and the remaining 5,6% are held by other foreign investors. Of the total OMV Petrom shares, 28,1% are freely traded on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

OMV Petrom is one of the largest contributors to the state budget, with approximately 44 billion euros in taxes, fees and dividends paid between 2005 and 2024. During the same period, the company invested approximately 20 billion euros.

Since 2007, OMV Petrom has integrated the principles of corporate responsibility into its business strategy. Between 2007 and 2024, the company allocated approximately 190 million euros for the development of communities in Romania, focusing on environmental protection, education, health and local development.

On July 29, 2020, OMV Petrom announced its support for the recommendations issued by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the Task Force on the publication of financial information related to climate change on the risks and opportunities associated with climate change. OMV Petrom reports annually on the progress made in implementing these recommendations.

About Cluj Avram Iancu International Airport

Avram Iancu Cluj International Airport is the country's leading regional airport in terms of passenger numbers, with a traffic of 2024 passengers in 3.266.447. Cluj International Airport is the main air gateway to Transylvania and has an important contribution to the economic development of Cluj County and the entire region. 

In June 2019, during the 29th Annual Congress of ACI EUROPE, Avram Iancu Cluj International Airport signed a commitment to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050.

At the end of 2021, Cluj Avram Iancu International Airport was named, for the first time in Romania, the best airport in Europe in the category under 5 million passengers per year, at the 31th edition of the annual ACI Europe Awards Gala, held in Geneva. The event took place on the occasion of the 55st Congress and General Assembly of the Airports Council International – Europe region (ACI EUROPE), which brought together leaders from the air transport industry from XNUMX countries. This prestigious award confirms the successful management of the activity during an unprecedented global crisis and, at the same time, completes the track record of the Cluj airport, appreciated at an international level.