Trial to aggregate corporate demand for green jet fuel to be launched at Changi Aviation Summit

SINGAPORE – The Republic will trial its first voluntary initiative allowing companies to pool demand for sustainable aviation fuel, as it prepares to roll out a mandatory

green jet fuel levy on all departing flights from Singapore

from Oct 1.

The trial will be launched at the third Changi Aviation Summit, with the signing of an agreement between the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), the Singapore Sustainable Aviation Fuel Company and companies seeking to reduce their carbon footprint.

This voluntary sustainable aviation fuel demand will complement regulatory demand – as mandated by the upcoming levy – and help develop a scalable and integrated ecosystem for such fuel in Singapore, CAAS said on Jan 29.

Sustainable aviation fuel, mostly made from waste materials such as used cooking oil, can be blended with jet fuel and used on and with existing aircraft and refuelling infrastructure without any costly modifications. The use of sustainable jet fuel to decarbonise international aviation is expected to contribute around 65 per cent of the carbon emission reduction needed to achieve net zero by 2050, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Through the levy, Singapore is targeting sustainable jet fuel to constitute 1 per cent of all jet fuel used at Changi and Seletar airports in 2026, with the goal to be raised to 3 per cent to 5 per cent by 2030.

More details of the trial will be given on Feb 2.

This is one of nine agreements that will be signed at the summit, which will run from Feb 1 to 2.

Another is between the UN aviation agency International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and CAAS for a new global leadership programme on air navigation services for directors-general of civil aviation, to be jointly conducted by ICAO and the Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA), CAAS’ training arm.

The programme will bring directors-general from different ICAO member states together to collaborate and discuss how to work together to build capacity and capabilities in the skies because aviation is “fundamentally cross-border”, said CAAS director-general Han Kok Juan at a media briefing on Jan 29.

One thing that they have to work together on is to make air travel through different air spaces “a lot more seamless” than it is today, in order for the sector to fully maximise the capacity of the skies, he added.

CAAS will also sign two training cooperation agreements with Kenya and North Macedonia, and another with the Aviation Authority of Thailand for staff attachments and exchanges.

SAA and France’s Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile – or the National School of Civil Aviation – will also sign a pact to start a joint Advanced Master’s in Air Transport Management course, to develop aviation leadership and regulatory capabilities in Pacific Small Island Developing States.

On the innovation front, CAAS said it will sign four agreements to develop and trial “game-changing technologies” and establish Singapore as a hub for aviation innovations.

One partnership will develop an end-to-end readiness framework for airlines, airports, and maintenance, repair and overhaul operations, to ensure the preparedness to adopt propulsion technologies for new aircraft.

Another partnership will develop a large physics foundation model – an artificial intelligence model used to run simulations – to improve the Changi air hub’s performance, productivity and capacity.

Held in conjunction with

the Singapore Airshow 2026

, the Changi Aviation Summit is expected to see about 350 government and industry leaders from over 50 countries in attendance.

These attendees will discuss how to create growth amid a volatile environment, reimagine air travel and redesign air connectivity to capture rising global air travel demand.