The Five Year Flight Path to Cleaner Cargo

DHL and IAG Cargo's new five-year deal secures 240 million liters of SAF at London Heathrow, cutting lifecycle emissions by 640,000 tonnes.

17 Apr 2026

A gallon of used cooking oil may be humble in a kitchen, but at 30,000 feet, it carries the weight of an industry’s reputation. Air cargo has long been the problem child of the green transition. Unlike delivery vans, heavy freight planes cannot simply plug into a wall. The physics of flight demand energy density that batteries currently fail to provide. Consequently, the industry is turning to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as its best available hope.

On April 14th, DHL Group and IAG Cargo solidified this trend. Their five-year agreement to supply 240m liters of SAF at London Heathrow aims to cut lifecycle emissions by 640,000 tonnes. The fuel, derived from waste such as used cooking oil, claims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% compared to traditional kerosene. British Airways will handle the physical lifting on busy routes to North America, while DHL Express customers can claim the environmental credit under a "GoGreen Plus" option.

The logic is simple: if you cannot change the engine, change the liquid inside it. For DHL, the goal is to reach 30% sustainable fuel by 2030. This is partly a response to the "ReFuelEU" mandate, which began in 2025 with a 2% blending requirement. Yet, the agreement also highlights a central tension in aviation. SAF remains expensive and scarce. Securing five years of supply is less about immediate planet-saving and more about hedging against a future where carbon costs more than fuel.

Also, this partnership focuses on "Scope 3" emissions, the indirect pollution within a company’s value chain. By allowing customers to "attribute" these reductions to their own ledgers, the deal creates a market for greener logistics even if the physical freight remains heavy and energy-intensive. It is a pragmatic shift. In a sector where alternative propulsion is still a distant dream, the industry must rely on recycled grease to keep its conscience, and its planes, in the air. Policy-makers will be watching closely. If these voluntary deals succeed, they provide a roadmap for more aggressive mandates. If they falter due to supply shortages or cost, the flight path to net-zero will remain much longer than the industry admits.