The Asia-Pacific aviation sector is at a crossroads: balancing record-breaking growth with the urgency of decarbonization. With regulations tightening, collaboration increasing, and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) development gaining momentum, the path forward is both complex and consequential. Having worked with aviation technology and sustainability firms across global markets, we see firsthand how these forces are shaping the industry—and why steering through them requires more than compliance. It demands a clear, strategic approach to ensure the right voices lead the conversation and action.
As the world’s biggest and fastest-growing aviation market, the Asia-Pacific region is an outsized contributor to the current (record) air travel demand. According to the latest data from IATA, the area was responsible for nearly half the increase in global air traffic in 2024; with overall flights up 10.4% from 2023, the region accounted for 51.2% of passenger traffic growth and 46.6% of cargo-related growth.
With an escalating global climate crisis and a sector under mounting scrutiny, will technological advancements and policy shifts enable businesses to meaningfully decouple expansion from environmental impact and achieve net zero targets?
Whether the industry can achieve this balance will depend on many factors, including:
As is the case worldwide, a web of sustainability legislation and commitments is tightening around Asia-Pacific businesses, intending to drive all sectors towards decarbonization. Yet, unlike the European Union, there is no uniform policy; instead, there’s a more piecemeal approach.
Like other regions, many Asia-Pacific countries are advancing their regulatory journeys by requiring corporate ESG disclosures alongside financial reporting. Regulators in Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Singapore have aligned their disclosure frameworks with the International Financial Reporting Standards’ sustainability guidelines. As a result, local airlines must report on greenhouse gas emissions, climate-related weather risks and transition planning for a low-carbon economy. China, Japan, India, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan have also published proposals to adopt similar measures.
More specifically for the aviation sector, many countries are aligning their sustainability commitments by adopting the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), developed by the UN-backed International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), to achieve sector-wide net zero emissions by 2050. Signatories include Asia-Pacific nations like Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand—meaning all their airlines must comply with its requirements. China isn’t signing up, but India is set to join in 2027.
Although CORSIA’s targets may seem stringent for airlines new to sustainability, many environmentalists have criticized their validity, significance and scope, as they rely on controversial carbon offsets, which do not reduce emissions entering the atmosphere; the ICAO has no enforcing mechanism; and domestic flights are excluded. However, as the first international emissions measurement and reduction scheme for aviation, they represent a significant step forward, even if they aren’t a comprehensive solution.
As initiatives like CORSIA attest, there is a broader push for collaboration across the region’s aviation sector to overcome systemic sustainability challenges and fragmented regional policies. For example, at an ICAO summit in New Delhi last September, 29 Asia-Pacific countries agreed to increase cooperation to decarbonize aviation and invest in infrastructure supporting sustainable growth while reducing emissions.
Two months later, at the Asia Pacific Airlines 68th Assembly of Presidents in Brunei Darussalam, airline leaders reinforced this momentum; they passed a resolution endorsing a multi-pronged sustainability strategy aligned with the ICAO’s net zero emissions reduction roadmap. Their agreed approach involves scaling up the production and deployment of SAFs, advancing new technologies and fully implementing the CORSIA scheme.
Perhaps most significantly, a new group launched in Singapore in late 2024 aims to accelerate the production and use of low-carbon aviation fuels across Asia. The newly-formed Asia Sustainable Aviation Fuel Association (ASAFA) is a real step forward, as conventional, kerosene-based jet fuels are by far the aviation industry’s greatest decarbonization problem. According to IATA, phasing it out could account for 65% of the sector’s emissions reductions.
So far, Asia-Pacific has trailed Europe and the US in SAF momentum, but ASAFA is working to change that. By uniting policymakers and feedstock producers—the suppliers of crops and organic waste used to make biofuels—it wants to expand regional SAF production by addressing core barriers collectively.
Out of all the coalitions, it represents a crucial first step in creating the infrastructure and supply chains on which the green transition will depend, making it the one to watch. With this kind of collaborative momentum now building, the hope is that the decarbonization of the Asia-Pacific aviation sector should rapidly accelerate.
The establishment of ASAFA indicates another market current in the region, which is setting its sights on becoming a major SAF production hub. Global SAF supply still lags far behind demand, requiring an 18% annual growth rate to meet industry net-zero goals by 2050. With a booming aviation sector and a need to catch up with the West, Asia-Pacific countries are ramping up efforts to scale production.
As the world's second-largest aviation market, accounting for 11% of global jet fuel usage, China is leading the charge. A key part of its broader carbon neutrality strategy for 2060, the country’s new SAF policy aims to scale production to 10 million tons annually by 2030. Beyond the investment in a new technical center to promote SAF research and development, China is rolling out mandates requiring airlines to blend increasing amounts of SAF with conventional jet fuel. Chinese firms have already poured over $1 billion into building the country’s first plants to turn cooking oil waste into aviation fuel to meet domestic demand and international market potential.
Beyond China, other Asia-Pacific nations are stepping up their SAF production efforts. In India, the state-owned oil corporation is developing a central SAF plant in partnership with sustainable fuel tech company LanzaJet. Thailand has also begun producing green jet fuel, while the Philippines is working with Airbus on a feasibility study.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s state-owned oil company is collaborating with palm oil producers to manufacture SAF from palm oil waste, a move that has drawn criticism from environmentalists due to the palm oil industry’s links to deforestation.
The biggest obstacle to large-scale SAF production is the availability of feedstock. Plant or tree-based fuels require vast amounts of land, raising concerns about how to meet aviation demand without competing with food production or accelerating deforestation. To address this, researchers across Asia-Pacific are exploring alternative feedstocks, often derived from waste. One project on the island nation of Fiji is testing SAF production from sugarcane and its byproducts. In New Zealand, an Air New Zealand-funded study found that wood waste could supply 25% of the country’s SAF needs. In Japan, researchers are investigating biofuels made from papermill waste.
Strong economies in China, India, and Southeast Asia mean that the expanding Asian middle classes are flying more often and in far greater numbers than ever before, driving record air travel demand--the region is set to add more seats to flight schedules this year than the rest of the world combined. This surge is expected to push global airline revenue past $1 trillion for the first time in 2025, according to aircraft leasing firm Avolon.
Yet even as the aviation industry expands, it must rapidly cut its reliance on fossil fuels. Whether it succeeds will depend on stricter regulations, deeper industry collaboration, and a breakthrough in SAF technology.
With the clock ticking to mitigate the worst effects of climate damage—and Asia already the most disaster-prone region due to extreme weather and water-related hazards—its aviation leaders can turn sustainability from an obligation into a competitive advantage. The region certainly has the scale and momentum to drive meaningful change, but real progress will come from those shaping the industry’s next moves. Today’s decisions will determine whether Asia-Pacific sets the standard for sustainable aviation or is left reacting to policies and innovations driven elsewhere.