Airbus Signs MOU Collaborating To Produce Wood-Based SAF

Airbus, Japan Airlines (JAL), Nippon Paper Industries, Sumitomo Corp., and Green Earth Institute (GEI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on the realization of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using bioethanol derived from Japanese wood.

In February 2023 Nippon Paper, Sumitomo Corp., and GEI launched the “MORISORA project,” seeking to produce Japanese-made SAF. Two years later, in February 2025, an agreement was signed to establish a joint venture to manufacture and sell bioethanol made from woody biomass. Airbus and JAL joined the project in mid-March of this year.

JAL aims to promote Japanese produced SAF and has set a goal of replacing 10% of all onboard fuel with SAF by 2030. Airbus will support the work to obtain the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), a global market-based measure designed to offset international aviation CO2 emissions in order to stabilize the levels of such emissions, certification for the woody biomass of this project and contribute to the industry target to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.