Emirates, world's first airline to operate A380 demonstration flight using 100% SAF fuel

24-11-23

The flight took off Wednesday from Dubai International Airport with one of the four engines powered 100% with SAF, helping to demonstrate its potential as an immediate substitute that meets the technical and chemical requirements of jet fuel while being a more sustainable alternative. PBS can reduce carbon emissions by up to 85% over its life cycle compared to conventional jet fuel.

Demonstration flights such as the one conducted today pave the way for future standardization, qualification and adoption of 100% PBS flights as governments adopt broader strategies to support the production and scale-up of PBS. Currently, the SAF blend limit on engines for commercial flights is 50%.

This flight comes at a time when the aviation industry, international organizations, regulatory bodies and high-level policy decision-makers are meeting in Dubai for the Third International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3). Specialist collaborators from Airbus, Engine Alliance, Pratt & Whitney, Neste, Virent and ENOC have been working on the testing, technical evaluations and data analysis for today's flight.

"Emirates is the first passenger airline in the world to operate an A380 with 100% SAF drop-in on one of the Engine Alliance's four GP7200 engines. This is another proud moment for the airline and its partners as we move from words to deeds with research and testing of higher SAF concentrations to finally reach industry adoption of a 100% SAF flight," commented Adel Al Redha, Emirates Airline's Chief Operating Officer.

Earlier this year, Emirates successfully completed the region's first 100% SAF-powered demonstration flight on a Boeing 777-300ER.

Last month, the first Emirates flights operating with SAF supplied by Shell Aviation took off from Dubai International Airport.

The airline recently extended its partnership with Neste for the supply of more than 3 million gallons of blended SAF in 2024 and 2025 for flights departing from Amsterdam Schiphol and Singapore Changi airports.