DHL Express has signed a deal with Cosmo Oil Marketing Co., Ltd. for the purchase of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to drive emission-reduced air freight in Japan.
The deal represents an annual purchase of 7.2 million litres of SAF, which DHL Express will use for its regular cargo shipping services starting in April 2025, marking the first such initiative for the international express industry in Asia.
About the SAF procurement contract
This agreement marks a major contract for SAF produced in Japan by Saffaire Sky Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Cosmo Energy Holdings Co., Ltd. The company will produce SAF at its mass production facility, scheduled to begin operations in 2025. With this deal, DHL Express will secure a stable SAF supply and accelerate efforts to promote sustainable air cargo transport in Japan.
Tony Khan, President and Representative Director of DHL Express Japan said, “We are pleased that, through our agreement with Cosmo Oil Marketing, we will be the first international express provider in Japan to use the locally produced SAF on scheduled regular cargo flights. SAF is currently the most effective solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in air transport. Moving forward, as part of our responsibility to customers in Japan, we are committed to promoting emission-reduced shipping solutions and to contributing to the reduction of the transport sector’s environmental impact.”
Koji Moriyama, President, Representative Director and Chief Executive Officer of Cosmo Oil Marketing Co., Ltd. said, ” We are delighted to contribute to the decarbonization efforts of DHL Express and its customers through SAF, one of our key decarbonization products. SAF plays an essential role in the decarbonization of the aviation industry, and we are excited to be part of this important initiative. Moving forward, we will continue to support the realization of a decarbonized society, starting with this collaboration, by promoting the use of SAF.”
DHL’s First SAF Procurement in Asia
DHL Express currently accepts SAF at airports around the world including Amsterdam Schiphol (Netherlands), Stockholm Arlanda Airport (Sweden), Brussels Airport (Belgium), East Midlands Airport (UK), Los Angeles International Airport (US), Leipzig Airport (Germany), Miami International Airport (US), San Francisco International Airport (US), and Stansted Airport (UK). The SAF fuel procured under this agreement will be delivered to Central Japan International Airport (Nagoya Airport), which will be the first airport to take SAF in Asia among more than 500 airports used in the DHL Express global network.
Delivering SAF’s Environmental Value to Customers Around the World
DHL Express has been offering GoGreen Plus, the industry’s first international shipping service that enables customers to reduce (in-set) their Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions using SAF, since 2022. The SAF used in GoGreen Plus is procured based on some of the industry’s largest-scale contracts, such as the agreements that DHL Express has concluded with BP (UK) and Neste (Finland) in 2022, and with World Energy (US) in 2023. With Cosmo Oil Marketing Co., Ltd. in Japan now joining the SAF procurement network for DHL’s air network, an additional pioneering step of this deal is that the SAF environmental attributes will be transferred via the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification Credit Transfer System for Sustainable Aviation Fuels. This will ensure credible and transparent environmental claims along the value chain, from Cosmo Energy Group as the SAF producer, to DHL as the airline using the fuel and from there to DHL customers using the GoGreen Plus emission-reduced transport service.
One of the features of GoGreen Plus is that, with the book-and-claim system, GoGreen Plus users around the world can realize the benefits of SAF regardless of where it is procured or which aircraft it is loaded onto.
Leading the Logistics Industry in Addressing Environmental Challenges
DHL is committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through its decarbonization measures. This includes the electrification of delivery vehicles worldwide, the use of SAF in its aviation network and operation of carbon-neutral facilities in addition to the promotion of its GoGreen Plus service.
(DHL)
