Singapore SAF levy to start soon

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) will start the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) levy for all origin-destination passengers and general- and business-aviation flights departing Singapore from Jan. 1, 2027, for tickets or services sold from Oct. 1, 2026.

The SAF levy must be reflected as a distinct line item in the fare breakdown, like for other taxes and charges.

Treatment of SAF environmental attributes

All SAF levies collected will be channeled to a statutory SAF fund and used to purchase SAF and/or related environmental attributes (EAs) and to cover associated administrative costs.

The Singapore Sustainable Aviation Fuel Company Ltd. (SAFCo), a nonprofit company wholly owned by CAAS, will be the designated collection agent for the SAF levy and will also procure, manage, account for and allocate SAF and SAF EAs.

SAFCo has been working with airlines and industry stakeholders to develop the operational processes and systems needed for levy returns and collection.

SAFCo will aggregate the SAF demand arising from the SAF levies collected and voluntary SAF demand and procure the SAF and associated EAs.

Under SAFCo’s framework for SAF levy collection, procurement and EA management, the EAs associated with SAF will be managed separately from the physical fuel and allocated to eligible users.

This will be done in a transparent, traceable and verifiable manner while safeguarding environmental integrity, and in compliance with sustainability requirements, including the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation-eligible fuels-certification standards.

The SAF EAs procured by SAFCo will have two components: covering scope 1 and scope 3 emissions, respectively.

SAFCo will allocate scope 1 EAs to aircraft operators to support requirements under ICAO’s CORSIA and ICAO’s long-term aspirational goal (LTAG) of net-zero carbon emissions for international aviation by 2050.

Allocations will be made in proportion to the aircraft operators’ relative SAF levy contributions, for operators with material volumes above a minimum allocation threshold of 0.01 percent of total SAF levies collected.

This is expected to cover more than 80 passenger-aircraft operators.

SAFCo will centrally manage all scope 3 EAs as well as any scope 1 EAs that are not allocated to aircraft operators.

These EAs will be made available to organizations seeking to reduce emissions associated with business-travel and air-freight activities.

Proceeds from the sale of these EAs will be used to purchase more SAF and facilitate greater SAF uptake.  

Procurement for 1st voluntary SAF trial

To validate the operational, commercial and accounting processes for SAF procurement and EA allocation, in August, SAFCo, with support from CAAS, successfully completed procurement for its first voluntary SAF trial.

Nine companies participated in the trial:

• The Boston Consulting Group.

• Changi Airport Group.

• DBS Bank.

• GenZero.

• Google.

• OCBC.

• Temasek.

• Singapore Airlines.

• Scoot.

The trial also demonstrated how companies and airlines can work together to support aviation decarbonization, leveraging SAF EAs to expand the voluntary demand for SAF.

SAFCo plans to launch a request for proposal for SAF procurement from the SAF levy by the end of this year.

The procurement will be conducted in a manner that is transparent, competitive and cost effective, with the first batch of SAF expected to be delivered and uplifted in mid-2027. 

Deferment of SAF levy for cargo shipments

CAAS will defer the implementation of the SAF levy for air-cargo shipments by one year, to apply to services sold from Oct. 1, 2027, for flights departing Singapore from Jan. 1, 2028.

Compared to airlines’ passenger operations, cargo operations are more diverse and involve a wider range of stakeholders—such as airlines, air express companies, freight forwarders and shippers—and varying commercial arrangements.

Taking into account industry feedback, the one-year deferment will allow more time for CAAS to work with industry to develop and implement a robust SAF levy-collection mechanism for cargo shipments on departing flights.

“CAAS has worked closely with airlines and other global industry partners to set up a robust regime for SAF levy collection, procurement and environmental attributes management,” said CAAS Director-General Han Kok Juan. “In doing so, CAAS seeks to lay the foundation for Singapore to serve as a trusted hub for SAF-related economic activities in the region.”