Cathay Pacific Launches Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel Programme

(21 April 2022, 11:05 +07)  Cathay Pacific has launched a Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Programme, one of the first major programmes of its kind in Asia.

The programme provides corporate customers the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint from business travel or airfreight by contributing to the use of SAF uplifted from Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) on Cathay Pacific flights.

The airline is kick-starting the programme with the following eight corporates as launch customers: AIA, Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK), DHL Global Forwarding, HSBC, Kintetsu World Express (KWE), PwC China, Standard Chartered and Swire Pacific.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 at HKIA. Picture by Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com

“We continue to pioneer our industry’s move towards more substantial use of SAF, especially in Asia. Last year, we were among the first carriers in the world to announce a target of 10% SAF for our total fuel use by 2030. We have made significant progress since then and are pleased that uplifting SAF from HKIA is now a reality with the strong support of the local authorities and fuel suppliers,” said Augustus Tang, Chief Executive Officer. “In addition to our launch corporate customers, we have received a very enthusiastic response from other corporates and we welcome other interested companies to sign-up to reduce their indirect emissions from flight-related activities.”

SAF is considered one of the most important ways to decarbonise airline operations in the next few decades, before alternatively powered aircraft can be widely deployed in commercial operations.

Compared to conventional jet fuel, SAF can reduce up to 100% carbon emissions on a lifecycle basis, depending on the SAF technology used.

The SAF used for the launch of this programme is made from used cooking oil and animal fat waste. It is made available to Cathay Pacific by the Corporate SAF Programme fuel suppliers PetroChina and Shell.

SAF used in this programme will go through the normal aviation-fuelling infrastructure, which provides important learning for developing ongoing regular SAF supply from HKIA in the future.

Apart from its increased usage of SAF, Cathay Pacific’s carbon reduction roadmap includes fleet modernisation, operational efficiency improvements, leveraging on emerging technology breakthroughs to decarbonise aviation, and offering carbon offsets through its Fly Greener programme.

See also: Etihad Working with SATAVIA to Enable Contrail Prevention.