Singapore Airlines (SIA) is a global company providing passenger and cargo air transportation services. As part of the hard-to-abate aviation sector, SIA faces decarbonisation challenges arising primarily from a heavy reliance on fossil fuels for its flight operations.
The SIA Group is firmly committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 as part of its ongoing journey towards environmental sustainability across its operations. This requires multiple levers, including investments in new-generation aircraft, achieving higher operational efficiency, adopting low-carbon technology such as sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), and sourcing for high-quality carbon offsets. The Group also actively collaborates with like-minded partners in the aviation ecosystem to achieve this long-term goal.
SIA also operates a young fleet with an average age of seven years and eight months as at 31 March 2025. SIA continues to invest in fuel-efficient aircraft such as the Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s, which are approximately 25% more fuel-efficient than older generation aircraft on similar missions. SIA will be taking delivery of new aircraft in the coming years, which include the new Boeing 777-9s as well as the A350F freighters. The A350F freighters are expected to burn up to 40% less fuel compared to SIA’s current freighter fleet.
SIA participates in the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), the first global market-based measure for any sector, established under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). As part of CORSIA, SIA is committed to achieving ICAO CORSIA's baseline of 85% of 2019 emissions level from 2024 annually.
SAF is a key decarbonisation lever for the airline industry, given its potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to 80% on a life cycle basis compared to conventional jet fuel. In November 2023, SIA and Scoot, the two airlines within the SIA Group, announced their target of replacing 5% of their total fuel requirements with SAF by 2030.
The SIA Group has made incremental SAF purchases over the last few years and fostered long-term offtake agreements with suppliers with the aim of building a more robust, resilient, and diversified supply chain. These include an agreement signed with Neste in May 2024 to purchase 1,000 tonnes of neat Neste MY SAF, and an additional agreement in March 2025 to purchase 1,000 tonnes of CORSIA-certified SAF. Neste’s SAF, which is produced entirely from renewable waste and residue raw materials, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%1 over the fuel’s life cycle.
To accelerate and scale up the adoption of SAF in its flight operations, the SIA Group also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Aether Fuels (Aether), a climate technology firm, in February 2025. This agreement outlines the SIA Group’s intention to procure neat SAF for five years when Aether’s plants begin commercial production, with an option for a five-year extension.
The SIA Group recognises that close collaboration with partners and stakeholders is critical to achieving its long-term decarbonisation goals. In June 2024, Cathay and SIA entered into a MoU to collaborate on two key areas, namely advocating for greater use of SAF in the Asia-Pacific region and exchanging best practices to reduce single-use plastics, minimise waste, and improve energy efficiency in ground and cargo operations. This will enable both Cathay and SIA to enhance their sustainability performance and accelerate the development and implementation of sustainable solutions in their operations.
More details on SIA’s decarbonisation journey can be found here.