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Singapore green jet fuel levy on travellers sparks funding dispute

Singapore on Monday said visitors would need to pay of the shift toward green jet fuel, announcing prepare for a levy that would raise ticket rates on leaving flights as the aviation market look for a practical funding design.

Presented by Singapore's transportation minister at an industry top on the eve of the Singapore Airshow, the city-state stated it went for all leaving flights to use 1% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from 2026 and prepared to raise that to 3-5%. by 2030, subject to international advancements and the broader. availability and adoption of SAF.

It will hurt our air center and our economy, and raise the. cost of travel for guests if we are extremely enthusiastic with. our sustainability objectives, Transportation Minister Chee Hong Tat stated. of the requirement to give modest targets initially.

Air travel produces about 2% of the world's emissions but is. thought about one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise.

European regulators need to date been the most active in. attempting to increase making use of SAF, presenting guidelines that force. airlines to meet minimum requirements for its usage such as 2% in. France by 2025 and 5% by 2030.

Under the European model, the provider pays for the SAF and. decides whether to pass the expense onto guests in the ticket. rate.

Singapore's levy will differ based upon elements such as the. flight's range and travel class.

For example, in 2026 the price of an economy class ticket on. a direct flight from Singapore to Bangkok, Tokyo and London by. an approximated amount of around S$ 3 ($ 2.23), S$ 6 and S$ 16. respectively to spend for the SAF, said the Civil Air travel. Authority of Singapore, which developed the strategy in consultation. with market and other stakeholders.

SAF, which can be made either through artificial processes or. from biological materials like utilized cooking oil or wood chips,. currently accounts for 0.2% of the jet fuel market and costs up. to five times more than traditional jet fuel.

A big difficulty that we are facing that is contributing to. the high costs is really securing bio-derived feed, stated Ong. Shwu Hoon, Asia Pacific fuels vice president at ExxonMobil. Asia Pacific.

HIGH EXPENSES

Singapore's only existing SAF manufacturer Neste has. the capacity to produce up to 1 million metric lots of the fuel. annually at its refinery in the nation that began operating. last year, a company agent said, more than 10 times the. volume needed for the target of 1% by 2026. Neste produced. 251,000 lots of SAF worldwide in 2023, according to its many. current monetary report.

The aviation market states SAF utilize needs to rise to 65% by. 2050 as part of a plan to reach net no emissions by then,. though that will need an estimated $1.45 trillion to $3.2. trillion of capital spending.

There will be an expense associated with transitioning to web. zero. And eventually, that cost will have to be shown in the. ticket costs that we charge our clients, which will have a. moistening impact on the level of development, IATA Director General. Willie Walsh stated at the Singapore top.

IATA, which represents about 320 airlines, estimates the. worldwide airline market will grow at about 3.3% a year over the. next 20 years, considerably lower than between 2010 and 2019,. due to the fact that of ecological obstacles and supply chain concerns. Walsh said.

He stated there were dangers that taxation to spend for aviation. sustainability measures would not minimize the variety of flights. It could price some people out of flying and lead to empty. seats, which is bad for the environment.

It's got to be a discussion: economics and practicality, and. environment sustainability, Walsh said.

Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general of Airports. Council International, said governments needed to buy brand-new. SAF refineries to help lower the expense.

The solution is not capacity restrictions, the service is. not taxation, the service is discovering ways that you can work. together to increase production which then will be used by the. airline companies in the system, he said.

Sustainability will be an essential theme of occasions at Asia's. largest air travel gathering, the Singapore Airshow, which opens. on Tuesday.

During the show, Airplane will fly its A350-1000. widebody aircraft with a 35% blend of SAF provided by Shell. Aviation from used cooking oil and tallow.

Singapore Airlines Chief Sustainability Officer. Lee Wen Fen said while the market waits on SAF production to. ramp up, utilizing effective modern-day airplanes to change older ones. that utilize more fuel is the most efficient alternative. ($ 1 = 1.3446 Singapore dollars)

(source: Reuters)