Cathay’s Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Programme has welcomed two new members from the air-cargo community to its ranks. Freight forwarders Dimerco Express Group and Yusen Logistics have joined founder member Kintetsu World Express in the programme, which promotes the wider adoption of alternative fuel sources by the aviation industry and decarbonises members’ business travel and cargo shipments.

SAF, along with carbon-offsetting as in Cathay’s Fly Greener initiative, is currently the leading way to decarbonise aviation, especially if the industry is to meet its commitment to be carbon-neutral by 2050 ahead of the next technological leap, such as electric or hydrogen powered aircraft. The Cathay Group has additionally committed to use SAF in 10 per cent of its aviation fuel needs by 2030.

‘Sustainability is inherent in Cathay’s purpose – to move people forward in life in a sustainable and responsible manner for current and future generations,’ Ronald Lam, Chief Executive Officer of Cathay, wrote in this year’s Sustainability Report. ‘We understand that achieving this purpose and ambitious sustainability goals require collective efforts. It is only through partnerships with travellers, business partners, regulators as well as our people that we can lead by example and reach new heights in building a sustainable future, which is the true spirit of Greener Together.’

The Corporate SAF Programme is indicative of this approach: not only with new Cargo customers joining, but now Cathay Pacific itself will use SAF on flights when its people are flying on duty travel.

‘The Corporate SAF Programme was established in 2022 and is the first of its kind in Asia,’ said Grace Cheung, GM Sustainability at Cathay. ‘It empowers corporate customers to reduce their carbon footprint from their business travel and air-cargo shipments, as SAF can reduce more than 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions on a lifecycle basis depending on the feedstock and production process when compared to fossil fuels.’

For George Chiou, President – Air Freight at Dimerco Express Group, joining the programme is also about his customers’ needs. ‘Our customers are under real pressure to meet corporate sustainability targets, so Dimerco is constantly on the lookout for new and innovative carbon-reduction strategies to address that,’ he said. ‘Freight transportation accounts for an increasing percentage of corporate carbon emissions. The pressure has never been greater on logistics professionals to adopt greener shipping strategies that have a measurable impact on reaching their company’s overall sustainability goals.’

As well as working to make SAF uplift from Hong Kong possible with its work with fuel partners ExxonMobil and Shell, which provide SAF derived from used cooking oil and animal fat waste, the programme offers accounting documentation illustrating how many Scope 3 emissions each shipment has saved using a percentage of SAF from a flight. ‘Cathay’s Corporate SAF Programme stood out because of its ability to drive immediate results and to clearly measure and report on those results,’ adds Chiou.

‘As a major network cargo carrier, we have been pioneering our industry’s move towards more substantial use of SAF, especially in Asia,’ said Director Cargo Tom Owen. ‘We all must play our part and there is a lot more to do. We have also established new SAF supply partnerships in the broader Asia region to convey the message to the SAF supply chain that there is strong demand from this part of the world. Last year, we were able to use SAF uplifted in Singapore for freighter flights to Hong Kong and Penang, and we will continue to lobby for and use SAF for our flights. We would like to warmly welcome our new partners in the Corporate SAF Programme.’

The second of these is Yusen Logistics. Chief Operating Officer Chikao Hayashi said: ‘At Yusen Logistics, our mission is to become the world’s preferred supply chain logistics company and to contribute to the sustainable development of business and society. We are proud to have Cathay as our partner not only for reducing our own carbon footprint, but also for helping our clients achieve their environmental goals. Together, we will make strides towards a greener future. Join us in the journey towards a more sustainable and responsible logistics industry.’

Learn More