Singapore Is Adding a Plane Fuel Surcharge

If you’re flying out of Singapore beginning next year, you might notice that you’re paying a little bit more for that flight. No, it’s not a very specific case of inflation; instead, it’s the local government adding a surcharge to benefit the environment.

As Bloomberg‘s Danny Lee and Rong Wei Neo report, the fee of up to $32 will go into effect next year. Specifically, travelers booking flights out of Singapore on or after October 1, 2026 will begin to see the fee on April 1, 2026. The surcharge is part of a broader initiative known as the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Levy. And how much a given traveler winds up paying will depend on several factors, not the least of which is their destination.

In calculating the surcharge, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore is dividing flights into four categories. The first — with the lowest surchage — is for flights bound elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The second tier will cover flights Australia, Northeast Asia, Papua New Guinea and South Asia. The third tier covers Africa, Central and West Asia, Europe, Middle East, New Zealand and other Pacific Islands; flights with a destination in the Americas will fall into the fourth tier, with the highest fee.

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There will be one more way in which the fee is calculated: “Premium Cabin” passengers will be charged four times the fee that “Economy Cabin” travlers are. The equivalent of the $32 fee mentioned above is what a first class passenger traveling from Singapore to the U.S. would pay; most travelers will pay a much lower fee. Different sets of fees will also apply to cargo flights and private jets.

“The introduction of the SAF Levy marks a major step forward in Singapore’s effort to build a more sustainable and competitive air hub. It provides a mechanism for all aviation users to do their part to contribute to sustainability at a cost which is manageable for the air hub,” said Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Director-General Han Kok Juan in a statement. “We need to make a start. We have done so in a measured way, and we are giving industry, businesses and the public time to adjust.”

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…