DHL Express has signed an agreement to purchase over 7 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) annually, aiming to reduce emissions from airfreight originating in Japan.
The deal with Cosmo Oil Marketing Co., Ltd. covers 7.2 million litres of SAF per year, which DHL Express will integrate into its regular cargo operations starting in April 2025. This marks the first initiative of its kind in the international express industry in Asia.
SAF will be produced by Saffaire Sky Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Cosmo Energy Holdings Co., Ltd, at its mass production facility in Japan, set to begin operations in 2025. The fuel will be delivered to Chubu Centrair International Airport near Nagoya, making it the first Asian airport in DHL Express’ global network—spanning over 500 locations—to utilize SAF.
DHL Express already incorporates SAF at several major airports worldwide, including Amsterdam Schiphol (Netherlands), Stockholm Arlanda (Sweden), Brussels Airport (Belgium), East Midlands and Stansted (UK), Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco (US), and Leipzig Airport (Germany).
Tony Khan, President and Representative Director of DHL Express Japan, expressed enthusiasm about the initiative:
“Through our agreement with Cosmo Oil Marketing, we are proud to become the first international express provider in Japan to use locally produced SAF for scheduled cargo flights. SAF is currently the most effective solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in air transport. As part of our commitment to customers in Japan, we will continue to promote low-emission shipping solutions and contribute to reducing the environmental impact of the transport sector.”
Since 2022, DHL Express has offered GoGreen Plus, a program that allows air cargo customers to offset their Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions through SAF.
Beyond Japan, DHL Express also sources SAF from BP in the UK, Neste in Finland (both since 2022), and World Energy in the US (since 2023). The company has made significant SAF investments in recent years, including a major deal in October 2023, when DHL Express and DHL Global Forwarding renewed their contract with IAG Cargo to purchase an additional 60 million litres of SAF—the largest agreement of its kind between an airline and a customer to date.