Ready for ReFuelEU: Automating document processing

As airlines prepare for the first mandated ReFuelEU reporting cycle, they face a document processing and data organization challenge. After a preparatory reporting year, this is the first cycle where ReFuelEU’s core obligations apply, and penalties can follow if requirements are missed.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) document management has always been complex. Most programs rely on manual workflows and extensive back-and-forth between fuel suppliers, airlines, and auditors. ReFuelEU adds another layer of regulatory pressure to this already fragmented process.

Manual document processing doesn’t scale

For many airline teams, the reality of manual processing is demanding. A single reporting cycle can involve a high volume of supplier-issued documents, including documents like Proof of Sustainability (PoS) and Proof of Compliance (PoC).

Without automation, teams must manually extract data by copying fields into spreadsheets one by one, then link each entry back to the original documents.

The consequences are predictable: significant time investment, higher error risk, and data outputs that may struggle to pass third-party verification. The costs compound quickly.

Automating SAF document processing

Airlines need an automated system to process supplier documents at scale and structure data in an audit-ready location. We built the Chooose platform to centralize running SAF programs — bringing efficiency to workflows, compliance, and verification processes.

Here's how it works:

1. Assisted document intake: AI-powered data capture via an OCR reader can be enabled to read supplier-issued documents, including ISCC and RSB EU templates
2. Structured storage: Our platform automatically creates digital records for relevant SAF data, keeping underlying source documents linked for traceability
3. Supporting audit-readiness: Export completed report templates or structured data extracts in multiple formats to support submissions to regulators, verification bodies, and third-party systems, with clear links to supporting evidence

Three factors making ReFuelEU reporting difficult

This is the first mandated reporting cycle for ReFuelEU. The 2025 cycle — due March 31, 2026 — is the most challenging yet for three reasons:

1. Cross-program complexity: ReFuelEU reporting can't be completed in isolation. Airlines must report SAF uplift at European Union airports while simultaneously indicating claims under the EU ETS or other market-based measures for the same SAF. Effective reporting requires a holistic view of how SAF documents for ReFuelEU tie to other schemes.
2. Variability in supplier documentation: Document formats are inconsistent across the industry. Even when templates are used, variability in units, number formats, and populated fields make manual standardization difficult to perform at scale without introducing errors.
3. A compressed mid-February timeline: ReFuelEU was structured assuming airlines would receive documentation steadily throughout the year. In practice, SAF is frequently loaded toward year-end, leading to delays in documentation. The timeline for supplier-issued documentation often falls behind, with many 2025 batch documents arriving in Q4 or still in process.

When an influx of documents arrives in mid-February 2026, it leaves airlines with just six weeks to:

• Process the documentation
• Structure and store the associated data
• Validate the data (and go back-and-forth with suppliers as needed)
• Generate a report based on the data
• Have the report verified by a third-party
• Upload the report to the EASA Sustainability Portal by March 31st

This crunch hits during peak reporting season, when sustainability teams are already stretched thin by annual ESG and financial disclosures.

The data exercise behind compliance readiness

Meeting the March deadline requires quick action this quarter. But as SAF programs expand in 2026 and beyond, so will the documentation and data behind them. A dedicated SAF management platform provides the structure to manage such volumes.