Cathay Pacific has launched Asia’s first major Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Programme. It will see the airline working with corporate customers to use SAF for the first time at Hong Kong International Airport
Cathay has eight launch customers for the programme: AIA, Airport Authority Hong Kong, DHL Global Forwarding, HSBC, Kintetsu World Express, PwC China, Standard Chartered and Swire Pacific. It will mean that SAF will be made available for Cathay Pacific and Cathay Pacific Cargo flights from Hong Kong International Airport for the first time.
The programme means that these corporate customers contribute to the purchase of SAF on those flights and the SAF purchased is certified by internationally recognised sustainability standards. Cathay Pacific will then make use of the SAF, instead of standard fossil jet fuel, to power its flights and will issue a verified emissions reduction certificate and proof of sustainability. This goes towards the reduction of the corporate customers’ Scope 3 carbon emissions from business travel or cargo transportation. This includes the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for in-sector emissions reduction for aviation-related indirect emissions.
Chief Executive Officer Augustus Tang said: “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 per cent 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.
“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. Climate change is a global challenge and we need to work together to tackle it.
“We see the launch of this Corporate SAF Programme as an important step for us to engage other like-minded organisations, and a first step in sending an important demand signal to the SAF supply chain that there is firm interest in the region, not only from airlines, but also the aviation value-chain all the way to end users for both passenger and cargo transportation.”
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.
Cathay Pacific aims for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050
