Changi Airport Group is committed to building a Sustainable Changi together with our airport partners. Emissions from aircraft operations and ground support equipment form majority of CAG’s Scope 3 emissions, with the former accounting for over 90% of the aviation industry’s total carbon emissions. As such, we are taking active steps to work with our stakeholders, including government authorities and airport partners, to reduce emissions both in the air and on the ground.

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has been widely recognised by the industry to be a critical lever for decarbonising air travel. It is estimated to contribute to approximately 65% of the emissions reduction required to meet the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s long-term aspirational goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

In 2020, CAG initiated and co-funded a multi-party assessment of the operational and commercial viability of SAF in Singapore. In July 2022, the Singapore air hub reached a new milestone with the commencement of Singapore Airlines Group’s one-year SAF pilot, conducted in partnership with CAAS and GenZero, an investment platform wholly owned by Temasek. Under this pilot, 1,000 tonnes of neat SAF was supplied by Neste and blended with refined jet fuel at ExxonMobil’s facilities in Singapore. It marked the first time blended SAF was inducted into Changi Airport’s fuel hydrant system and delivered to Singapore Airlines and Scoot aircraft departing from Singapore. The pilot reduced Singapore Airlines Group’s carbon emissions by approximately 2,500 tonnes.

Building on this momentum, CAG was also pleased to facilitate Cebu Pacific’s maiden global SAF-powered commercial flight in September 2022, as well as SAF uplift pilots by several other airlines including Japan Airlines and China Airlines.

In May 2023, Neste celebrated the official opening of its expanded Tuas refinery, which marked the commencement of local SAF production in Singapore with a capacity of up to 1 million tonnes per annum. The refinery’s launch was accompanied with the establishment of an integrated supply chain to Changi Airport’s fuel hydrant system, which allows blended SAF to be made directly available to our airline partners.

In February 2024, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) announced that flights departing Singapore will be required to use SAF from 2026. Starting with a 1% uplift target, a SAF levy will be introduced for the purchase of SAF. CAAS targets to raise SAF uplift to 3-5% by 2030, subject to global development and availability of SAF.