Cebu Pacific goes green as SAF powers Singapore flight

SINGAPORE — Budget carrier Cebu Pacific becomes the first local airline to utilize sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for   commercial flights in line with efforts to contribute less carbon to the planet.

Flight 5J 814 bound for Manila, which left here on Tuesday, used  SAF in traveling the nearly 2,400-kilometer route.

The flight is estimated to emit 80 percent less carbon compared to jet fuel, according to Cebu Pacific chief strategy officer Alex Reyes.

Reyes also said Cebu Pacific would deploy an Airbus A321neo for its first commercial flight that uses SAF. With an A321neo in hand, he explained the flight should release 42 percent less carbon compared to regular trips.

Cebu Pacific and Shell Aviation have signed an agreement for the purchase of 25,000 tons of SAF to be supplied between 2026 and 2031.

For the rest of the year, Reyes said all of the remaining aircraft that Cebu Pacific is slated to  receive  from Airbus would consume SAF in their delivery.

Likewise, Cebu Pacific is expected to receive at least 51 new Airbus A320neo and A321neo until 2028 in line with its transition to an all-neo fleet.

Based on the roadmap, Airbus neos should make up 43 percent of Cebu Pacific’s fleet in 2022, 59 percent in 2023, 69 percent in 2024, 81 percent in 2025, 91 percent in 2026 and 97 percent in 2027 and 100 percent in 2028.

Shell Aviation president and CEO Jan Toschka said airline firms account for about three percent, or some one billion tons, of global fuel consumption every year. He urged other local airlines to emulate Cebu Pacific in its move to use SAF.

By doing this, Toschka said producers can lower the cost of SAF being sold to aviation players. At present, he disclosed that buyers pay eight times more to get SAF than when they purchase conventional fuel.

Based on estimates, Toschka said it would require $1.4 trillion in investments from the aviation industry to replace jet fuel with SAF.