Singapore's Civil Aviation Authority Announces Postponement of Air Cargo SAF Levy to 2028

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 3, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) decided to postpone the implementation of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) levy for air cargo by one year. The levy will apply to origin-destination air cargo sold from October 1, 2027, and carried on flights departing from Singapore from January 1, 2028. Previously, the cargo levy was originally scheduled to apply to relevant transport services sold from October 1, 2026, and departing from January 1, 2027. This adjustment applies solely to air cargo, while origin-destination passengers, as well as general and business aviation, remain on the original schedule for flights departing from January 1, 2027.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore stated that air cargo operations involve more stakeholders, including airlines, air express companies, freight forwarders, and shippers, each with differing commercial arrangements. Taking industry feedback into account, the additional one-year preparation period will be used to develop and implement the collection mechanism for the air cargo SAF levy in collaboration with the industry.

The air cargo SAF levy previously announced by Singapore is calculated based on cargo weight and destination distance. The rates are SGD 0.01 per kilogram for Southeast Asian routes, SGD 0.04 per kilogram for Northeast Asia, South Asia, Australia, and Papua New Guinea, SGD 0.09 per kilogram for Africa, Central and West Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Pacific Islands, and New Zealand, and SGD 0.15 per kilogram for routes to the Americas. The levy applies to origin-destination cargo departing from Singapore, is collected by aircraft operators, and is required to be itemized separately in air cargo contracts.

The implementation schedule for this levy has been adjusted twice. In November 2025, Singapore initially planned to levy passenger, cargo, and general and business aviation services sold from April 1, 2026, and departing from October 1, 2026. In March 2026, due to the Middle East conflict and aviation operating costs, the overall implementation was first postponed to sales from October 1, 2026, and departures from January 1, 2027. The September adjustment further delays air cargo alone by one year, while passenger and general and business aviation are no longer postponed in tandem.

The funds collected will be channeled into a statutory SAF fund managed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, with its wholly owned non-profit entity, Singapore Sustainable Aviation Fuel Company (SAFCo), responsible for levy collection as well as the procurement, management, and allocation of SAF and related environmental attributes. SAFCo plans to launch a tender for SAF procurement using levy funds by the end of 2026, with the first batch of fuel expected to be delivered and uplifted by mid-2027. The entity completed its first voluntary SAF procurement trial in August 2026, with participation from Singapore Airlines, Scoot, and nine companies including Google and Temasek.