Building energy-resilient airports for the future

Escalating tensions in the Middle East brought aviation's fuel vulnerability into sharp focus. But the smartest operators aren't just bracing for the next shock, they're getting ahead of it, racing to lock in SAF supply, renewable capacity and fuel partnerships before rivals do.  

Supply is finite and the airports that move first get the pick of the projects, producers and long-term deals. Energy resilience isn't a sustainability aspiration anymore. It's a strategic differentiator and the airports that treat it that way are already moving. 

The dependency problem

Operators’ exposure isn't just about jet fuel availability. Geopolitical instability, shifting markets and emerging technologies are all adding pressure at once, driving up electricity prices, straining grid capacity and creating new competition for SAF feedstocks, while carbon emissions regulation continues to evolve.  

“And there's a real risk of trading one dependency for another.” 

Europe's current reliance on imported waste feedstocks for SAF production is a good example: the supply chain has shifted, but the vulnerability hasn't gone away. 

Regional production is part of the answer. So is a more deliberate, layered approach to energy sourcing across every vector: conventional fuel, SAF, electricity and in time, hydrogen. Airports can't control commodity markets. But they can control how exposed they are to them. 

SAF: airports as active participants 

The SAF market is small, expensive and constrained. It's also evolving quickly, projected to grow at a compound annual rate of around 41% between 2024 and 2030, with regulatory pressure building alongside commercial momentum.  

The EU's ReFuelEU Aviation regulation mandates SAF blending of 6% by 2030, rising to 70% by 2050. Meeting those targets will take more than facilitating fuelling logistics. 

This is where airports have a choice about how far to lean in. ACI guidance sets out six levels of engagement: policy advocacy, airline incentive schemes, fuel infrastructure investment, offtake aggregation, direct equity stakes in SAF projects and operating as integrated energy hubs. The range matters.  

“Not every airport can write a €15mn cheque like Amsterdam Schiphol did to stimulate SAF uptake and back synthetic kerosene start-ups. But every operator can act at some level of the framework.”  

The examples are already varied. Copenhagen and Aalborg joined the Fjord PtX consortium to support domestic Danish e-SAF production. San Francisco International led a regional fuel-supply coalition and identified around $1bn in infrastructure requirements. Heathrow runs a major airport-funded SAF incentive scheme to guarantee demand. Luxembourg and Hamburg are collaborating in e-fuel consortia, and Adelaide is helping build a local supply chain.  

At policy level, the EU's eSAF Early Movers' Coalition has committed at least €500mn to support large-scale e-SAF projects and give producers long-term revenue certainty. 

The pattern is consistent. Airports that engage early, at whatever level their scale and mandate allow, are shaping the supply chains that will define their fuel security and competitive position over the next decade. 

Electrification and grid independence 

Electric flight is coming, and for some airports this will reshape peak power demand patterns. At the same time, airside vehicle electrification and wider operational decarbonisation are already well underway at many airports. It’s one of the pillars of IATA’s Ground Ops of the Future initiative.  

“Add growing EV use by passengers and public transport and demand increases in every direction.”

The current conditions call for new infrastructure: charging stations, storage for peak loads and space to house it. Some airports are getting creative, using parked vehicle batteries for on-site storage through bidirectional charging.  

These developments can have far-reaching implications, heavily integrated with existing infrastructure and interfacing many stakeholders. But every kilowatt depends on power availability, and grids can't keep up. Data centres compete for the same capacity, prices are volatile and supply isn't always stable. 

The answer is greater self-reliance: on-site renewables like solar where land allows, small or micro-nuclear where applicable and integration with regional energy projects. That takes smart funding, off-take agreements and specialist skills to deliver. 

Treat electrical power as core infrastructure, not a utility bill. This is strategy, not just spend. 

Hydrogen: a longer game 

Hydrogen production's near-term role in aviation is more nuanced than the headlines suggest. As a direct aircraft fuel, it's unlikely to be practical for anything beyond small regional aircraft within the next 15 to 20 years. But as fuel for ground vehicles, or as an input for making e-SAF, it has clear strategic value now. 

That distinction should shape how airports approach hydrogen infrastructure n the short term. The priority isn’t commercial aircraft refuelling. It’s laying the foundations for future adoption: reserving space for storage and distribution, mapping local green hydrogen production potential and identifying regional off-takers who can help make projects economically viable.  

“At the same time, airports can support early use cases that advance technology, build operational familiarity and help shape regulation. Trial programmes are proving out the ground-level logistics.”

Avinor commissioned a feasibility study on alternative fuel storage, distribution and refuelling. Helsinki ran a winter operational trial with a temporary hydrogen refuelling station and a hydrogen-powered snow-removal vehicle. Bristol funded technical designs for a liquid hydrogen refuelling concept.  

These are proof-of-concept investments. They build knowledge and optionality without locking airports into a single technology. 

The connection to renewable energy is direct. Green hydrogen needs large volumes of low-carbon electricity. This means airports that invest in on-site generation aren't just reducing their grid dependency. They're creating the conditions under which hydrogen becomes viable, both as an energy store, a vehicle fuel and as an e-SAF feedstock. 

From energy consumer to energy hub 

The thread running through SAF partnerships, electrification investment and hydrogen trials is a single strategic shift: airports moving from passive energy consumers to active participants in regional energy ecosystems. 

The ACI World and World Economic Forum's Airports of Tomorrow initiative frames this clearly. It sees airports as energy hubs that produce, store and distribute clean energy, not just for their own operations but for surrounding businesses and communities.  

“That vision asks airports to manage more than technical complexity.” 

It asks them to handle procurement complexity too: partnering with energy developers and investors who don't work to traditional airport timelines and building internal capability in energy-sector finance and project delivery. 

The practical approach is to focus on ‘no-regret' actions, reserving space, assessing grid capacity and building internal energy expertise, alongside ‘option-creating' actions such as SAF partnerships and hydrogen feasibility studies. This isn't about picking the winning technology. It's about staying capable of acting on whichever technologies prove out. 

Operators that start this transition now, at whatever scale their constraints and ambitions allow, will be better placed when the next geopolitical shock arrives. But getting there requires more than an energy strategy. It requires sound risk management and capital planning. 

That means assessing which infrastructure investments reduce exposure, which create future optionality and which can be phased to match funding availability. It means stress-testing energy assumptions against regulatory, technology and market risk.  

It means treating energy infrastructure like any other major investment programme. It needs clear governance. It needs realistic timelines. It needs a delivery approach that can stand up to scrutiny. 

The priorities are clear: protect operational continuity, build internal capability and make capital decisions that don't lock you in. We help airports work through exactly that, from risk assessment and feasibility through to procurement, finance structuring and delivery. The window to act is open. The question is how to use it well.