Cathay welcomed the launch of the Hong Kong Sustainable Aviation Fuel Coalition (HKSAFC) as its co-initiator – the coalition is convened and chaired by Business Environment Council (BEC), along with 13 founding partners from the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) value chain.
The HKSAFC is a multi-stakeholder platform in the region that brings together the aviation industry, SAF producers, fuel suppliers, infrastructure developers, corporate users and policymakers to collaborate on advancing the development, supply and use of SAF.
The HKSAFC aims to facilitate the adoption of SAF in Hong Kong by conducting whitepaper research on SAF development, engaging with different stakeholders and the government, and raising public awareness of the benefits as well as challenges of SAF. The coalition also seeks to grow Hong Kong as a regional SAF hub that can contribute to global climate mitigation efforts and China’s carbon-neutrality target.
Cathay Group CEO Ronald Lam shared: “Sustainability is a key focus for Cathay… we firmly believe that SAF is a key enabler for the aviation industry to achieve its long-term environmental targets and to support the global transition to a low-carbon economy.
“Hong Kong has to be able to cultivate the development and use of SAF in order to retain and enhance its leading international aviation hub status. However, we cannot do this alone – it requires collaboration among all parties, and the HKSAFC is an important step in this direction.”
HKSAFC chair and CEO of BEC Simon Ng added: “Aviation is widely recognised as one of the most challenging sectors to decarbonise. In the foreseeable future, SAF is considered the most viable way for decarbonising the sector. Through the launch of HKSAFC, BEC will engage with multiple stakeholders to accelerate the deployment of SAF at HKIA, ensuring its availability and affordability.”
Aside from Cathay and BEC, other coalition partners include AFSC Operations, Airport Authority Hong Kong, Board of Airline Representatives Hong Kong, China Aviation Oil (Hong Kong) Company, ECO Aviation Fuel Services, EcoCeres, PetroChina International (Hong Kong) Corporation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Shell Aviation, Sinopec (Hong Kong) Aviation Co., Standard Chartered Bank (HK), and Swire Pacific.
Cathay is committed to using SAF for 10 per cent of its total fuel usage by 2030. The airline has also partnered with nine corporate customers through its Corporate SAF Programme, launched in 2022, to accelerate SAF adoption and convey a signal of firm demand for SAF from multi-sectoral players.
