SF Express Becomes China's First Full-Chain SAF-Enabled Green Aviation Service Provider

A Boeing 767-300 freighter completed its first flight using blended Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from Ezhou Huahu International Airport, marking a major milestone in SF Group’s SAF deployment.

The flight marks SF Group’s completion of an end-to-end SAF capability covering bulk SAF blending, customised refuelling and SAF consumption by all-cargo aircraft. The development makes SF Express China’s first green aviation service provider to integrate a strategic SAF hub airport, large-scale physical SAF refuelling capabilities and internationally recognised SAF qualifications.

Ezhou Huahu International Airport is one of the key hub-airport demonstration projects under China’s 14th Five-Year Plan for Port Development. As a major air-cargo hub, the airport plays a strategic role in connecting domestic and international air-freight networks while supporting efficient cargo transportation.

A launch ceremony for SF’s Ezhou SAF project was held at the airport on August 10. Representatives and experts from China National Aviation Fuel Group Limited (CNAF), CNAF’s Ezhou branch, the Second Research Institute of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC-RI2), ESLITE and other industry stakeholders attended the event.

The SAF refuelling operation is part of Phase 2 of the Spark Project demonstration in Ezhou, led by CNAF and CAAC-RI2. The SAF used for the flight was supplied by ESLITE, a global renewable-energy and green-molecules company and one of the approved SAF exporters in China.

Compared with conventional jet fuel of the same volume, the SAF can reduce lifecycle greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 90%. The project has established strict controls across the entire process, including receipt, storage, blending, inspection and refuelling, while establishing end-to-end customs traceability. The approach provides a replicable model for SAF customs-supervision and traceability at domestic airports.

Under CNAF’s “single-airport account refuelling” supply model, SF Express will leverage AnchorTrace, a Scope 3 environmental-claim registration and retirement platform jointly developed by CNAF and CAAC-RI2, to manage environmental attributes throughout the SAF value chain in compliance with applicable requirements.

The platform will support Scope 3 environmental-claim services for participants in the voluntary market, linking SAF production and supply with transparent traceability of environmental attributes and carbon-reduction needs across domestic logistics operations and global supply chains.

The initiative provides a practical pathway for integrating SAF into air-cargo operations and offers a new approach to reducing emissions across China’s aviation logistics sector.