Heathrow Airport (LHR) has announced an overall increase in its carbon cutting scheme for the fourth year in a row.
The airport has pledged 86 million GBP toward the new goal of 3% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) on site, amounting to roughly 187,000 tonnes.
The scheme aims to encourage airlines to switch to SAF by offering price gaps of up to half the price between it and kerosene, thereby improving commercial viability.
Heathrow hopes to reduce lifecycle carbon emissions by more than 500,000 tonnes in 2025, aligning with the airport’s target to be 1% above the UK’s national mandate in 2030, which in turn aims for a goal of 11% SAF use at the airport.
Director of Carbon Strategy, Matt Gorman, said:Sustainable Aviation Fuel is no longer a future promise—it’s a proven solution that is powering flights worldwide. Our SAF incentive scheme, part of our Connecting People and Planet sustainability strategy, has made significant progress and we're now exploring options to set a long-term incentive signal to 2030.
We are delighted that Government has moved so quickly to legislate the SAF Mandate. We must now accelerate legislation for the SAF Revenue Certainty Mechanism to ensure we can build a domestic industry that will help decarbonise and drive economic growth.
In addition, LHR has also published its Nature Positive Plan, which outlines the airport’s commitment to better understand and reduce its overall impact on nature and the local environment. The Plan was published alongside an update of Heathrow’s sustainability strategy, Connecting People and the Planet, also known as Heathrow 2.0.
Updates to the strategy include noise reduction, air quality improvements and local community support.
