{"id":30041,"date":"2026-03-24T09:12:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T13:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/?p=30041"},"modified":"2026-03-26T06:30:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:30:29","slug":"singapore-saf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/singapore-saf\/","title":{"rendered":"Every flight leaving Singapore will pay a SAF fee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Singapore plans to introduce a mandatory Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) on all departing flights from WSSS\/Changi and WSSL\/Seletar, but the start date has slipped from Oct 2026 to Jan 2027 after authorities delayed it due to higher fuel costs and disruption linked to the Middle East conflict.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This applies to airlines, cargo, and business aviation &#8211; effectively every departure from Singapore.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t a fuel mandate in the traditional sense. Operators are not required to physically uplift SAF. Instead, the government will buy SAF centrally and recover the cost through a levy applied to every flight.<\/p>\n<p>Airlines will pass this on per passenger (based on distance and cabin), while <strong>BizAv operators will be charged per aircraft per departure.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The key difference: you\u2019re paying for SAF whether you uplift it or not.<\/p>\n<h4>How the levy works for BizAv<\/h4>\n<p>For business aviation, the charge is simple on paper but has a few operational gotchas.<\/p>\n<p>The levy is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Charged per aircraft, per departure<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Based on aircraft size (ICAO A-F)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Based on the next destination, not the final destination<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That last bit matters. If you\u2019re flying Singapore-Japan-US, you pay Band II (Japan), not Band IV (US).<\/p>\n<p>The bands are as follows:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.caas.gov.sg\/who-we-are\/newsroom\/Detail\/new-SAF-levy-to-apply-from-1-apr-2026-for-flights-departing-from-1-oct-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-30043 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Singapore-SAF-regions-1024x371.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"371\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Singapore-SAF-regions-1024x371.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Singapore-SAF-regions-300x109.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Singapore-SAF-regions-768x278.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Singapore-SAF-regions-1536x556.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Singapore-SAF-regions.jpg 1890w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And the way they charge for BizAv flights works like this:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.caas.gov.sg\/who-we-are\/newsroom\/Detail\/new-SAF-levy-to-apply-from-1-apr-2026-for-flights-departing-from-1-oct-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-30044 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Singapore-SAF-bizav-costs-996x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"996\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Singapore-SAF-bizav-costs-996x1024.jpg 996w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Singapore-SAF-bizav-costs-292x300.jpg 292w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Singapore-SAF-bizav-costs-768x790.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Singapore-SAF-bizav-costs.jpg 1264w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 996px) 100vw, 996px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>So costs scale quickly with size and distance. The table above shows everything in Singapore dollars. Converting into USD, a G650 (Code C) would pay the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Band I (S$190) = $140 USD<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Band II (S$530) = $390 USD<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Band III (S$1,200) = $890 USD<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Band IV (S$1,950) = $1,440 USD<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So long-haul departures are where you\u2019ll feel it most.<\/p>\n<p>A few practical points:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>This will likely show up buried in handling or fuel invoices<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>It\u2019s predictable, so you can plan for it<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Technical stops, diversions, and some non-revenue flights are exempt<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Bottom line: not huge money, but another fixed cost to factor into every Singapore departure.<\/p>\n<h4>How this compares to the rest of the world<\/h4>\n<p>Singapore\u2019s approach is unusual. Most countries are doing this a different way.<\/p>\n<p>Across Europe and the UK, governments have introduced <strong>SAF blending mandates<\/strong>. Fuel suppliers are required to mix a minimum percentage of SAF into jet fuel at airports &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbon-direct.com\/insights\/how-saf-mandates-in-the-eu-and-uk-are-reshaping-aviation-fuel-markets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">starting around 2% today and rising over time.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>That means:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>You physically uplift a blended fuel<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The SAF cost is built into the fuel price<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>You pay more per ton of Jet A1, rather than a separate fee<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Same end result (ie. you pay!) just packaged differently.<\/p>\n<p>And the cost impact is real. Airlines have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iata.org\/en\/pressroom\/2025-releases\/2025-06-01-02\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">warned<\/a> that SAF-related compliance costs in Europe have already pushed fuel prices higher due to limited supply.<\/p>\n<p>This model is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbon-direct.com\/insights\/beyond-the-transatlantic-core-emerging-saf-mandates-in-global-markets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spreading globally<\/a>. More regions are introducing mandates or targets, with governments pushing for increasing SAF percentages over time.<\/p>\n<h4>What\u2019s driving all this<\/h4>\n<p>The push is simple: aviation is hard to decarbonise, and SAF is currently the only drop-in solution that works with today\u2019s aircraft.<\/p>\n<p>Governments see SAF as one of the main ways to cut aviation emissions in the near term, and are using mandates and levies to force uptake and scale production. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.easa.europa.eu\/en\/domains\/environment\/sustainable-aviation-fuels-saf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Europe<\/a>, that means minimum SAF blending targets starting at 2% in 2025 and rising steeply over time.<\/p>\n<p>In reality, it works like this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>SAF is much more expensive than conventional jet fuel<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>There isn\u2019t enough supply yet<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>So governments step in and mandate usage or recover the cost through schemes like this<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Operators end up paying, either through higher fuel prices or direct charges<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Singapore has just chosen the most transparent version of that model &#8211; a visible line item instead of hidden fuel pricing.<\/p>\n<p>Either way, the direction of travel is clear &#8211; more SAF, more cost, and more of this coming globally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Singapore plans to introduce a mandatory Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) on all departing flights from&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":30047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2331,184,738,737],"class_list":{"0":"post-30041","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-briefings","8":"tag-saf","9":"tag-singapore","10":"tag-wssl","11":"tag-wsss"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30041"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30066,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30041\/revisions\/30066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}