In a world first, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has announced that, starting from October 1, 2026, travellers flying out of Singapore will be charged a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Fee as part of their flight ticket. This only applies to outbound passengers and not transit passengers.
Don’t worry, the levy isn’t unreasonable, especially if you tend to travel on a budget. The amount charged depends on the distance flown and whether you’re in economy or a premium cabin (business and first class).
This means that if you typically fly economy or premium economy, your lowest levy will be just SGD $1 to fly within Southeast Asia, and the highest will be SGD $10.40 to fly to the Americas. That said, if you fly business or first class, you’ll pay four times more than economy travellers, which means SGD $4.00 to fly within Southeast Asia, and SGD $41.60 to fly to the Americas. This is because longer flights consume more fuel.
The bands and prices are as follows:
- Band 1, Southeast Asia. SGD $1 for economy, SGD $4 for premium.
- Band 2, Northeast Asia, South Asia, Australia, Papua New Guinea. SGD $2.80 for economy, SGD $11.20 for premium.
- Band 3, Africa, Central and West Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, and New Zealand. SGD $6.40 for economy, SGD $25.60 for premium.
- Band 4, Americas. SGD $10.40 for economy, SGD $41.60 for premium.
It’s still extra money out of your pocket, but take heart in the fact that you’re supporting meaningful change for the environment. Mr Han Kok Juan, director-general of CAAS, said that the levy’s introduction “marks a major step forward in Singapore’s effort to build a more sustainable and competitive air hub”. This is part of the Singapore Sustainable Air Hub Blueprint, which aims to help Singapore achieve net-zero domestic and international aviation emissions by 2050.
The money collected from the levy will go into a statutory fund used to purchase sustainable aviation fuel, which is more expensive than regular fuel. Singapore intends to use sustainable fuel for 1 percent of all its fuel needs.
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