Photo: Gulfstream
On November 28, 2023, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner operated by Virgin Atlantic will depart London Heathrow heading for New York JFK. It's not the kind of trip we haven't seen before, but it will be the first time in the history of mankind when a passenger airplane of this size will fly the transatlantic route running fully on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
Before that happens, though, a smaller airplane beat the Dreamliner to the punch by covering the distance between Savannah, Georgia, and the Farnborough Airport in England. It's a Gulfstream G600 I'm talking about, which made the trip in six hours and 56 minutes while burning exclusively 100 percent SAF.
The substance is generally a biofuel derived from plants or waste and it's seen as one of the main ways the aviation industry can cut back on both consumption and emissions. Overall, using SAF across the board is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 80 percent over an engine's lifecycle compared to conventional fuel.
The Gulfstream flew the historic "world's first trans-Atlantic flight" on November 19 while carrying in its tanks 100 percent hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) made by World Energy. By comparison, the Dreamliner that'll fly at the end of the month will use 88 percent HEFA and 12 percent aromatic kerosene.
The fuel that went into the G600's Pratt & Whitney engines is said to have 70 percent lower lifecycle CO2 emissions than fossil-based jet fuel, and proved to cause no problems to the way the aircraft operated.
Gulfstream did not release any numbers to highlight the benefits of using SAF during this particular flight, but it did say the "data collected from this endurance flight will help Gulfstream and its key suppliers gauge aircraft compatibility with future low-aromatic renewable fuels, particularly under cold temperatures for extended flight durations."
The Gulfstream G600 is a twin-engine business jet that made its debut back in 2016. It is part of the family that also comprises the G400 and G500, being the longest of the bunch. It can carry as many as 19 passengers, while being able to sleep ten of them at the same time.
The plane can fly at near supersonic speeds for distances that can be as large as 7,600 miles (12,200 km), enough to cover in a single run the distances that separate, for instance, New York from Dubai or London from Beijing.
Since its introduction, the G600 has managed to break over 35 speed records, most of them of the international city-pair ones (meaning the route between two airports). In December 2021, for instance, the plane covered 4,873 miles (7,843 km) in 8 hours and 39 minutes, moving from London and Seattle.
The substance is generally a biofuel derived from plants or waste and it's seen as one of the main ways the aviation industry can cut back on both consumption and emissions. Overall, using SAF across the board is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 80 percent over an engine's lifecycle compared to conventional fuel.
The Gulfstream flew the historic "world's first trans-Atlantic flight" on November 19 while carrying in its tanks 100 percent hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) made by World Energy. By comparison, the Dreamliner that'll fly at the end of the month will use 88 percent HEFA and 12 percent aromatic kerosene.
The fuel that went into the G600's Pratt & Whitney engines is said to have 70 percent lower lifecycle CO2 emissions than fossil-based jet fuel, and proved to cause no problems to the way the aircraft operated.
Gulfstream did not release any numbers to highlight the benefits of using SAF during this particular flight, but it did say the "data collected from this endurance flight will help Gulfstream and its key suppliers gauge aircraft compatibility with future low-aromatic renewable fuels, particularly under cold temperatures for extended flight durations."
The Gulfstream G600 is a twin-engine business jet that made its debut back in 2016. It is part of the family that also comprises the G400 and G500, being the longest of the bunch. It can carry as many as 19 passengers, while being able to sleep ten of them at the same time.
The plane can fly at near supersonic speeds for distances that can be as large as 7,600 miles (12,200 km), enough to cover in a single run the distances that separate, for instance, New York from Dubai or London from Beijing.
Since its introduction, the G600 has managed to break over 35 speed records, most of them of the international city-pair ones (meaning the route between two airports). In December 2021, for instance, the plane covered 4,873 miles (7,843 km) in 8 hours and 39 minutes, moving from London and Seattle.
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