Airbus, for the first time, has performed an A380 flight powered by 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in one of its Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, the company said Monday. A380 test aircraft MSN 1 took off from Blagnac Airport in Toulouse, France, at 8:43 am on Friday, remaining in the air for about three hours on March 25.
Fuel supplier Total Energies provided 27 tonnes of unblended SAF produced in Normandy, close to Le Havre, France, from hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) consisting primarily of used cooking oil. Airbus plans a second flight with the same aircraft from Toulouse to Nice Airport on March 29 to test the use of SAF during take-off and landing.
With the flight, the A380 became the third Airbus aircraft type to fly on 100 percent SAF over the course of 12 months; the first—an Airbus A350—flew in March 2021, followed by an A319neo in October 2021. In April last year, the A350 flew three flights over the Mediterranean Sea pursued by a Falcon chase airplane to compare in-flight emissions of both kerosene and HEFA fuel. A team consisting of Airbus, Rolls-Royce, German research center DLR, and SAF producer Neste also carried out compliance tests using 100 percent SAF and experienced “no operational issues.”
In-flight emission tests using 100 percent SAF and a HEFA/jet-A-1 fuel blend resumed last November, while the team also performed ground-based emissions testing to quantify the benefits of SAF for local air quality. The research team found SAF releases fewer particulates than conventional kerosene at all tested engine operating conditions, which points to the potential for reduced climate impact and improvement in air quality around airports, said Airbus.
Increasing the use of SAF remains a key pathway to achieving the industry’s ambition of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to the manufacturer. Key statistics outlined in the Waypoint 2050 report indicate that the use of SAF could contribute between 53 percent and 71 percent of required carbon reductions.
Aviation authorities have certified all Airbus aircraft to fly with up to a 50 percent blend of SAF mixed with kerosene. Airbus aims to achieve certification for the use of 100 percent SAF by the end of this decade.
The A380 used during the test is the same aircraft recently revealed as Airbus’ ZEROe Demonstrator, a flying testbed meant to evaluate technologies aimed toward bringing the world’s first zero-emission aircraft to market by 2035.