European Union Implemented New Rules Concerning Palm Oil Biodiesel Fuel

The Indonesian government may ban the import of Airbus airliners in an ongoing dispute over the use of palm oil as a biodiesel stock.

CH-Aviation relays a report from Bloomberg reports which indicated that in June of this year, the EU agreed to new rules that would lead to the end of the use of palm oil as a biocomponent in fuels by 2030. Indonesia and Malaysia account for 85 percent of the world's palm oil production. Both countries have already begun retaliatory measures, including a ban on products labeled "palm oil-free" from sales. They have also threatened tariffs on EU products.

Now, the Indonesian government may be raising the stakes by considering a ban on the import of Airbus airliners by Indonesian-flagged carriers. Three such carriers have orders for 219 airplanes on the books with Airbus, the majority of which are scheduled for delivery to Lion Air. That airline has 113 A320-200neo and 65 A321-200neo airliners in the pipeline Garuda Indonesia and Citilink account for the remainder of the orders.

Palm oil production is viewed as being very damaging to the environment, and is named as a leading cause of deforestation in Borneo.

Airbus did not comment on the threatened ban on its airplanes.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report