Singapore Airlines to Buy 4,800 Tonnes of SAF from Aether Fuels

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has signed a binding agreement to purchase up to 4,800 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from Aether Beacon Pte Ltd. over three years, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2028. The agreement marks SIA’s first purchase of SAF produced using technology that converts waste carbon feedstocks into aviation fuel.

SIA is the first airline to purchase fuel from Project Beacon, Aether’s commercial production facility being developed at Aster’s refining complex on Pulau Bukom in Singapore. The agreement also supports Singapore’s efforts to develop domestic production capabilities for lower-carbon aviation fuels.

Project Beacon will use feedstocks such as biomethane and industrial waste gases to produce SAF through Aether’s proprietary Aurora technology. The process builds on the Fischer-Tropsch pathway to convert waste-derived gases into liquid aviation fuel, offering an alternative to the hydro-processed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) pathway, which relies on lipid-based feedstocks.

The SAF produced at the facility will be certified under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). Aether plans to expand its production capacity, with its first large-scale commercial plant targeted to begin operations by 2031. The planned facility is expected to have a production capacity at least 10 times greater than Project Beacon.

Ms Lee Wen Fen, Chief Sustainability Officer, Singapore Airlines, said: “Supporting the development and adoption of SAF, and securing future supplies, are integral to SIA’s ambition of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. As the first airline to purchase SAF from Project Beacon, SIA is demonstrating demand for new lower-carbon fuel production pathways in Singapore. We will continue to work with partners globally to scale SAF production, strengthen the aviation industry’s sustainability ecosystem, and support the transition to more sustainable air travel.”

Mr Conor Madigan, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Aether Fuels, said: “When we signed our MOU with Singapore Airlines last year, Project Beacon had not yet been announced. Since then, we have selected Singapore as the home of our first commercial facility and built critical partnerships across the local value chain. Singapore is building a strong ecosystem for aviation decarbonisation through refining and aviation infrastructure, investment support, sustainability policies, and utilising their position as a global aviation hub. This binding agreement is an important next step and a strong signal of committed demand from a leading global airline – exactly the type of collaboration needed to create the commercial conditions to bring new SAF pathways to scale.”

The agreement builds on the two companies’ earlier memorandum of understanding and establishes a supply arrangement for SAF made using waste-derived carbon feedstocks. For Singapore Airlines, the purchase is part of its efforts to secure future SAF supplies and support its target of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.