You'll soon have to put your money where your mouth is when it comes to sustainable travel. According to the Singapore Sustainable Air Hub Blueprint developed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), travellers will have to pay more for flights leaving Singapore from 2026 to support the use of greener aviation fuel.
CAAS estimates that the price increase will look something like this: for economy class tickets on a direct flight from Singapore to Bangkok, Tokyo, and London, prices will go up by S$3, S$6, and S$16 respectively. The greater the distance and the higher the cabin class that you fly, the more you can expect to fork out.
Some of us may consider this a small price to pay to make air travel cleaner and greener. After all, the Singapore Sustainable Air Hub Blueprint is all about decarbonising Singapore's aviation sector and helping it to grow sustainably. In the report, CAAS outlines its overarching goal: to reduce domestic aviation emissions from airport operations by 20% from 2019 levels in 2023 and achieve net zero domestic and international aviation emissions by 2050.
Of the 12 initiatives and five enablers it set out to support this goal, one initiative requires flights departing Singapore from 2026 to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). For a start, airlines will have to use at least 1% SAF from 2026, a target that will rise to 3% to 5% by 2033 depending on the widespread availability and adoption of such fuel. This is where your money will be going, as CAAS will be introducing a levy to purchase SAF to meet its green targets. If you're interested to know how CAAS plans to calculate the SAF levy or about the other initiatives within the blueprint, find out more here.
With the current cost of living concerns, this news might be hard to swallow, but it remains to be seen if the avid travellers among us will be turned off by an increase that's a mere fraction of the cost of the total airfare. Some might see it as a step in the right direction for sustainable air travel – now if only someone could tell us if anything's being done about billionaires and their private jets.
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