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Heathrow Airport is stepping up its industry-leading carbon-cutting programme for a fifth consecutive year, setting an ambitious target to exceed the United Kingdom's 3.6 per cent Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) mandate by 2 per cent in 2026.
Combined, this would see up to 5.6 per cent of all aviation fuel used at Heathrow derived from SAF, amounting to around 350,000 tonnes. The initiative is backed by more than 80 million pounds in support for airlines in 2026. SAF, a fuel alternative to traditional fossil-based kerosene, can be produced from a variety of feedstocks and can reduce lifecycle carbon emissions by 70 per cent on average. The scheme encourages airlines to switch to SAF by approximately halving the price gap between kerosene and its cleaner alternative, making SAF more commercially viable for airlines. In 2026, the SAF uplift at Heathrow has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by around 600,000 tonnes, the equivalent of more than 950,000 economy class passengers round-trip from Heathrow to New York's JFK Airport. Heathrow aims to progressively increase the share of SAF uplift to 11 per cent by 2030, exceeding the Government mandate of 10 per cent across the UK by 2030. Heathrow's director of Sustainability, Matt Gorman, said, "Sustainable Aviation Fuel is not a hypothetical concept for the future; it's already producing real impact in 2026. Heathrow is leading the way globally, with 17 per cent of the world's SAF supply in 2024 used at the airport. SAF is a key lever on aviation's journey to net zero by 2050, and a key element of Heathrow's Net Zero Plan. Our incentive delivers real progress today, as well as a future promise for tomorrow." (ANI)
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