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Hi Sophie,
Firstly there's basically two types of aviation fuel.
1. Jet fuel. This is designed for jet applications only. It is essentially kerosene. Mostly it is lighter than petrol and it pretty much a waste product from petrol manufacture.
2. Aviation gasoline or Avgas. This is high octane petrol designed for propeller driven planes. It is essentially the old leaded (yes it still has tetraethyl lead in it) fuel, though a higher octane version of it.
Both of these are produced by the same process. Firstly crude oil is "cracked" (wikipedia will have an excellen description of this process), then distilled. After fractionation the various bit are reblended to make the raw fuel, then various additives are added to make the commercial product.
Cheers
Stuart
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