Who Pays for SAF in Air Cargo?

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is becoming essential to aviation’s decarbonisation, but it presents a much greater financial challenge for air cargo than for passenger airlines. Although both sectors must comply with SAF blending mandates, their ability to recover the additional cost differs significantly. Passenger airlines can spread higher fuel costs through ticket prices, fuel surcharges, premium services and loyalty programmes. Air cargo operators, however, compete in a highly price-sensitive market with thinner margins, making it far more difficult to pass SAF premiums on to customers.

Today, there is no consistent industry-wide mechanism for allocating SAF costs. Some cargo carriers impose SAF surcharges, while others absorb the expense to maintain customer relationships or delay adoption altogether. This fragmented approach creates uncertainty and weakens investment in long-term SAF supply agreements.

The challenge is compounded by limited SAF production and high feedstock costs, which keep prices well above those of conventional jet fuel. Without a transparent pricing framework, cargo operators have little incentive to accelerate SAF adoption, potentially leaving the sector behind passenger aviation in the transition to net zero.

Developing a fair cost-sharing model among airlines, freight forwarders and shippers will be essential. A transparent and widely accepted commercial framework is critical to ensuring that sustainability goals can be achieved without undermining the economic viability of the global air cargo industry.

Source: Air Cargo Week (ACW)