Airlines to Singapore

IATA/ICAO code

SQ/AIS

Airline type

Full service carrier

Hub(s)

Singapore Changi Airport

Year of foundation

1972

Alliance

star alliance

CEO

Goh Chun Phong

Country

Singapore

Earlier this week, Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced that it would launch the sale of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) credits in July 2022. The move is part of a pilot initiative by the Aviation Authority Civil Society of Singapore (CAAS) and a global investment company. Temasek to advance the use of SAF in Singapore.

The credits will be available for purchase for corporate customers and individual passengers as well as air freight forwarders. A total of 1,000 SAF credits will be offered, corresponding to 1,000 tonnes of clean and sustainable fuel transported from Singapore Changi Airport, to be blended with conventional jet fuel.

Each credit purchased is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 2.5 tonnes, for a total of 2,500. Now that could be just a fraction of the emissions that regular fuel still needed – both for regulatory reasons and a lack of supply – is responsible. However, aviation is not going anywhere, nor is climate change, and the transition to sustainable fuels has to start somewhere. Ms. Lee Wen Fen, Senior Vice President Corporate Planning, Singapore Airlines, said:

“As we move forward with the SAF pilot project in Singapore, we can now provide more opportunities for our corporate customers and travelers to mitigate their carbon emissions using SAF credits, which are recorded and accounted for in the RSB Book & Claim System. This will help accelerate and scale the collective adoption of SAFs, furthering our commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

Singapore hopes to become an SAF regional hub. Photo: Singapore Airlines

By purchasing SAF credits, customers will help stimulate demand for SAF, which in turn will increase supply. As they become more available, while by no means a perfect solution, sustainable fuels will begin to further reduce aviation’s carbon footprint.

Sustainable air hub master plan in preparation

Singapore aims to become an SAF hub in Southeast Asia. As part of its Green Plan 2030, Changi aims to become one of the pioneers in the region, which has so far lagged the United States and Europe in production and adoption. Mr. Han Kok Juan, General Manager of CAAS, said:

“Creating a reliable and vibrant market for the sale and purchase of SAF credits in Singapore will help support the adoption of SAF which is essential for the decarbonisation of the aviation sector and a key component of the Singapore Sustainable Air Hub Blueprint that CAAS is development.”

Singapore Changi Airport has drawn up a “green plan” for the rest of the decade. Photo: Getty Images

Combining offsets and SAF

Starting in the fourth quarter, all SIA customers will be able to purchase a combination of SAF credits and carbon offsets under the SIA Group Voluntary Carbon Offsetting Program, through a partnership with Climate Impact X, a global marketplace and a exchange of high quality carbon credits. . Mr. Mikkel Larsen, Managing Director of Climate Impact X, said:

“SAF credits can help drive adoption by enabling competitive price discovery and channeling finance to projects that can drive the use of sustainable fuels at the scale needed to support decarbonization in the fuel sector. Through CIX’s ongoing efforts to curate verified projects for our platforms, we aim to increase access to quality carbon credits worldwide and drive environmental impact at scale.”

What do you think of the new SAF driver in Singapore? Will this help boost production in the Asia-Pacific region?