Heathrow has announced an increase in its pioneering carbon cutting scheme for a 4th year. In 2025, £86m will be available to airlines through the airport’s SAF incentive scheme, targeting 3% of aviation fuel used at Heathrow to be SAF – amounting to 187,000 tonnes.
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Heathrow continues to lead on SAF use in the UK, with the incentive 1% above the UK mandate. The SAF mandate came into effect 1st January 2025.
SAF, a fuel alternative to traditional fossil-based kerosene, can cut lifecycle carbon emissions by 70%1 on average by utilising feedstocks such as used cooking oil and other waste materials. The scheme encourages airlines to switch to SAF by approximately halving the price gap between kerosene and its cleaner alternative, making SAF more commercially viable for airlines. In 2025, the scheme aims to reduce lifecycle carbon emissions from flights by over 500,000 tonnes2. This is equivalent to over 800,0003 economy class passengers round trips from Heathrow to JFK.
The 2025 incentive aims to align with Heathrow’s target to be 1% above the UK mandate in 2030: achieving 11% SAF use at the airport. Integrating SAF into the fuel supply is a crucial step in the airport’s journey toward achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.