London Heathrow is offering £86 million in incentives to encourage airlines to adopt alternative aviation fuels, as part of the airport’s drive to reach 3 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) usage by 2025.
This ambition outstrips the government’s recently introduced 2 per cent SAF mandate, and Heathrow forecasts that achieving its target will slash flight-related carbon emissions by over 500,000 metric tonnes during the fuel’s lifecycle.
Looking further ahead, Heathrow aims for at least 11 per cent SAF usage by 2030. Matt Gorman, Heathrow’s director of carbon strategy, said the existing SAF incentive scheme has made “significant progress,” but called for additional government legislation to ensure long-term certainty and stimulate a domestic SAF industry.
Meanwhile, the airport has released its Nature Positive Plan, designed to mitigate Heathrow’s environmental impact by bolstering biodiversity around the airport and promoting nature-based carbon removal strategies.