Photo: Emirates
Emirates will go down in history as the first airline in the world to operate an Airbus A380 on 100% SAF (sustainable aviation fuel). It was only a demonstration flight, but it was a significant step in advancing the use of alternative fuel on a commercial scale.
Captain Khalid Binsultan and Captain Philippe Lombet were the ones who operated this historic flight. The awe-inspiring airplane (officially the world's largest airliner) took off from Dubai International Airport (DXB) on November 22. Like other similar demonstrations, only one of its four engines ran on 100% SAF, while the other three were powered by conventional fuel. One hundred percent SAF means that it wasn't blended with standard kerosene.
The current legislation only allows commercial aircraft to operate on a maximum of a 50% SAF blend, and demonstrations such as this one are meant to confirm that pure SAF can be safely and effectively used as drop-in fuel without any modifications to the engines. It's an important step toward a future where all commercial flights can be fully powered by sustainable energy.
Prior to this flight, Emirates carried out extensive ground testing at its Engineering Center in Dubai, focusing on the Engine Alliance GP7200 engine. The A380's PW980 auxiliary power unit (APU) from Pratt & Whitney also had to be compatible with this fuel and also ran on SAF during the demonstration flight.
Advancing the commercial use of SAF is a collaborative effort. In this case, it involved the makers of the aircraft's engines APU (GE Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney), and the SAF suppliers. Airbus itself is also one of the most avid promoters of this green solution and has restated its big goal to make all Airbus aircraft compatible with 100% SAF by the end of this decade.
Neste, which claims to be the world's largest SAF producer right now, supplied Emirates with a type of biofuel known as HEFA-SPK (hydro-processed esters and fatty acids synthetic paraffinic kerosene).
Another producer, Virent, supplied it with HDO-SAK (hydro deoxygenated synthetic aromatic kerosene). A third partner, ENOC, blended these two types of neat SAF at its facility at the Dubai International Airport in order to obtain the final drop-in fuel, which is said to boast the same characteristics as conventional fuel.
This Emirates aircraft was officially the first A380 to fly using unblended SAF. The airline is linked to other industry-firsts related to SAF as well, but using different aircraft. An Emirates Boeing 777-300ER completed the first SAF-powered flight in the region this year.
Emirates is slowly expanding the use of SAF for commercial flights at various airports and has teamed up with Neste for a steady supply over the next two years. Scarce availability is still one of the major obstacles in adopting sustainable fuel, and operators all over the world are working to establish domestic SAF industries to fill this gap.
The current legislation only allows commercial aircraft to operate on a maximum of a 50% SAF blend, and demonstrations such as this one are meant to confirm that pure SAF can be safely and effectively used as drop-in fuel without any modifications to the engines. It's an important step toward a future where all commercial flights can be fully powered by sustainable energy.
Prior to this flight, Emirates carried out extensive ground testing at its Engineering Center in Dubai, focusing on the Engine Alliance GP7200 engine. The A380's PW980 auxiliary power unit (APU) from Pratt & Whitney also had to be compatible with this fuel and also ran on SAF during the demonstration flight.
Advancing the commercial use of SAF is a collaborative effort. In this case, it involved the makers of the aircraft's engines APU (GE Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney), and the SAF suppliers. Airbus itself is also one of the most avid promoters of this green solution and has restated its big goal to make all Airbus aircraft compatible with 100% SAF by the end of this decade.
Neste, which claims to be the world's largest SAF producer right now, supplied Emirates with a type of biofuel known as HEFA-SPK (hydro-processed esters and fatty acids synthetic paraffinic kerosene).
Another producer, Virent, supplied it with HDO-SAK (hydro deoxygenated synthetic aromatic kerosene). A third partner, ENOC, blended these two types of neat SAF at its facility at the Dubai International Airport in order to obtain the final drop-in fuel, which is said to boast the same characteristics as conventional fuel.
This Emirates aircraft was officially the first A380 to fly using unblended SAF. The airline is linked to other industry-firsts related to SAF as well, but using different aircraft. An Emirates Boeing 777-300ER completed the first SAF-powered flight in the region this year.
Emirates is slowly expanding the use of SAF for commercial flights at various airports and has teamed up with Neste for a steady supply over the next two years. Scarce availability is still one of the major obstacles in adopting sustainable fuel, and operators all over the world are working to establish domestic SAF industries to fill this gap.
Google News