In this episode of our ‘Sustainability in the Air’ podcast, Robert Hyslop, Executive Vice President of Global Aviation at DHL Express, speaks with SimpliFlying’s CEO Shashank Nigam about how the logistics group tripled its sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) use in a single year.
DHL is one of the world’s largest corporate buyers of SAF, and it occupies a distinctive position within aviation. Rather than operating a single global airline, it relies on a network of airlines across different jurisdictions, complemented by extensive cargo capacity within the belly of passenger aircraft. Hyslop also explains why DHL chose to move early on SAF, arguing that the strategy has helped the company build momentum and differentiate itself from competitors.
Here are the key highlights of the conversation:
Tripling SAF use through early procurement (6:01)
Building a global SAF supply network (8:58)
GoGreen Plus and the customer-funded virtuous cycle (13:14)
Why a maintenance hangar is a sustainability investment (19:33)
Why SAF will remain central to air cargo (29:34)
Beyond HEFA: The next generation of SAF pathways (33:27)
Rapid Fire! (36:44)
Keep reading for a detailed overview of the episode.
Building momentum through early SAF investment
SAF remains a scarce and costly resource. Its supply is limited, prices remain well above those of conventional jet fuel, and securing sufficient volumes continues to be a challenge. DHL has taken a different approach by locking in SAF supplies years before they are needed.
Hyslop describes the strategy as a deliberate effort to build long-term momentum. By developing relationships with reliable suppliers and securing SAF allocations early, DHL has been able to increase its use of the fuel rapidly.
“We are now purchasing these SAF allotments well ahead of when we are going to use them,” he says. “It’s really created some momentum, which is great.”
That long-term approach sits alongside a sustained focus on operational efficiency. DHL has modernised its fleet, replacing almost all of its Boeing 747 freighters with Boeing 777 freighters. According to Hyslop, the 777 carries 13% less payload but burns 33% less fuel. The company has also introduced a fuel optimisation programme across its 12 owned and partner airlines. Through measures ranging from flight operations and aircraft loading to engine washes, the programme avoids between 15-17 million gallons of fuel each year across a fleet of around 285 aircraft.
Four ways DHL is pushing ahead on sustainable aviation
1. Securing supply ahead of demand
DHL has set a target of using 30% SAF for all air transport by 2030. In 2025, DHL used 185 kilotonnes (kt) of SAF across its own fleet, which accounted for a 10% share of the company’s total jet fuel consumption. This was nearly three times the 2024 SAF share of 3.5%.
Hyslop credits much of that progress to supplier relationships and long-term procurement. DHL seeks partners that can scale production reliably and economically, building agreements across multiple regions rather than relying on a single source of supply. Partnerships with Phillips 66, Neste, Cosmo Oil and the SAF One project in Bahrain reflect that strategy, helping the company secure SAF where it is needed across its global network.
2. DHL’s GoGreen Plus service
DHL’s GoGreen Plus programme helps customers reduce the carbon emissions from their air shipments using SAF. The service uses an “insetting” approach to cut greenhouse gas emissions directly within the supply chain.
When a customer selects GoGreen Plus for their shipment, the package might not be shipped in a SAF-powered aircraft, but shipments somewhere in DHL’s global network are. Customers are also allocated certified Scope 3 CO2e/GHG emissions reductions against their purchase.
Hyslop says the demand for GoGreen Plus has exceeded expectations, particularly in the Nordics. More surprising, he says, has been the strong uptake in several emerging markets despite their greater price sensitivity.
The programme also helps fund DHL’s wider SAF strategy. Hyslop describes this as a self-reinforcing cycle: “So creating a virtuous cycle here of offering a product that’s useful to the consumer and then using some of the earnings off of that product to put back into the base SAF.” Revenue generated through GoGreen Plus helps finance further SAF purchases, giving DHL greater confidence to make longer-term supply commitments.
3. The virtual global airline and book-and-claim
Unlike FedEx or UPS, DHL does not operate a single global airline. Instead, it brings together airlines in different jurisdictions into what Hyslop describes as a “virtual global airline”, while also moving significant volumes of freight in the belly holds of passenger aircraft.
That structure shapes how DHL uses book-and-claim. Through its five-year agreement with IAG Cargo, DHL will purchase the emissions reductions associated with SAF used on IAG-operated flights, allowing the company to account for those reductions within its Scope 3 emissions.
Hyslop sees the arrangement as a natural complement to DHL’s own Scope 1 SAF purchases: “We’re very happy that IAG is promoting this... this adjunct activity in scope three marries along very nicely with what we’re doing.”
Given the scale of DHL’s use of passenger aircraft across its network, Hyslop sees similar partnerships as a natural extension of the company’s broader decarbonisation strategy.
4. Why SAF remains the mainstay
For all the interest in hydrogen and electric propulsion, Hyslop is clear that SAF will remain central to air cargo for the foreseeable future. The physics of moving heavy freight over long distances leave few viable alternatives.
“It’s very difficult to replace the kerosene molecule,” he says. “We need to lift reliably, 40-50 tonnes over a distance of seven, eight hours of flying. And there’s just no alternative that we have right now.”
Hyslop describes the longer transition as a “sawtooth”, with today’s HEFA-based SAF likely to be followed by newer pathways that may initially carry a higher cost before reaching commercial scale. He points to technologies such as alcohol-to-jet and biomass-based fuels as examples of what could come next, while noting that the market will determine which pathways become economically viable.
Electric and hydrogen aircraft, he suggests, are more likely to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs on smaller aircraft, particularly when paired with unmanned feeder operations, than to replace conventional jet fuel on long-haul cargo flights.
For DHL, the immediate priority is therefore to continue expanding SAF use while improving operational efficiency and building long-term supplier relationships. Together, Hyslop argues, those efforts will help the company continue scaling its decarbonisation strategy as SAF production evolves.
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