October 28: Singapore Airlines has agreed to buy up to 4,800 tonnes of next-generation sustainable aviation fuel from Aether over three years, with deliveries beginning in 2028. The joint announcement makes SIA the first airline buyer from Aether’s Project Beacon facility being developed in Singapore.
File photo: Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 9V-SMK at Changi Airport, February 24, 2025. Bahnfrend / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped and resized; not a SAF delivery or demonstration flight. Image source · Licence
Key highlights
- The purchase covers up to 4,800 tonnes across three years, not that amount every year.
- Project Beacon is being developed at Aster’s Pulau Bukom refining complex.
- The technology uses waste-carbon feedstocks, including biomethane and industrial waste gases.
- The agreement secures future supply; deliveries have not started under this contract.
A different production route
The companies said Aether’s Aurora process converts waste-derived gases into liquid aviation fuel, innovating around the Fischer–Tropsch process. They contrast this with the hydro-processed esters and fatty acids pathway, which depends on lipid-based feedstocks.
The significance is diversification of production routes. Securing a buyer can help a new facility demonstrate demand, but a signed purchase agreement is not the same milestone as commissioning the plant or delivering certified fuel.
The agreement at a glance
| Item | Announced detail |
|---|---|
| Buyer | Singapore Airlines |
| Supplier | Aether Beacon Pte Ltd |
| Maximum contracted volume | 4,800 tonnes over three years |
| Delivery start | 2028 |
| Production location | Project Beacon, Pulau Bukom, Singapore |
Our calculation: Dividing the maximum volume equally across three years gives 1,600 tonnes per year. This is an illustrative average, not a delivery schedule disclosed by the companies.
Certification and expansion plans
The joint release says the fuel will be certified under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, known as CORSIA. It also says Aether intends to start its first large-scale commercial plant by 2031, with capacity at least ten times larger than Beacon.
That later plant is a separate expansion ambition. Its proposed size should not be added to the contracted supply as though Singapore Airlines had already purchased the future output.
What this means for passengers
The announcement concerns the airline’s fuel procurement. It does not identify a particular flight that will operate wholly on this fuel, establish a passenger surcharge or state a new ticket price. A photograph of an SIA aircraft therefore illustrates the airline, rather than documenting delivery of the new product.
The release provides no contract price or precise emissions-reduction percentage for this purchase. Assessing the final benefit will require the certified production pathway, actual deliveries and the relevant lifecycle accounting, rather than an assumption that any fuel labelled sustainable has zero emissions.
What to watch
The next milestones are construction and commissioning at Beacon, certification and the start of deliveries in 2028. Those operational steps will show how the new purchase translates into usable fuel supply.
Sources
The Business Desk covers markets, the economy, companies and personal finance. Stories are checked against at least two credible sources before publication.
