Airbus has performed their first A380 flight powered by 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel. The flight of Airbus’ test aircraft (MSN 1) took off from Blagnac Airport in Toulouse on Friday March 25th at 08:43 with one Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine powered by 100 percent SAF.
Today (March 28, 2022), Airbus announced the successful completion of the first A380 flight powered by 100 percent sustainable aviation (SAF). The test flight took place last Friday (March 25th), with Airbus’ A380 test aircraft, MSN 1, taking off from Blagnac Airport in Toulouse, France at 08:43 local time. The test flight lasted approximately three hours with one of the aircraft’s Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines powered by 100 percent SAF. The 27 tonnes of unblended SAF were provided by Total Energies for the flight, with the fuel produced in Normandy, near Le Havre, France. The fuel was made from Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA), free of aromatics and Sulphur, primarily made from used cooking oil and other waste fats.
Airbus plans on conducting a second test flight with the same aircraft from Toulouse to Nice Airport on March 29, 2022, to test the use of SAF during takeoff and landing. Friday’s test marked the third Airbus aircraft type to fly on 100 percent SAF over the last 12 months, following an A350 test in March 2021 and an A319neo test in October 2021. An increase in the use of SAF is one of the key pathways to achieving the industry’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with SAF potentially contributing from 53-71 percent of the required reductions.
Currently, all Airbus aircraft are certified to fly with up to a 50 percent blend of SAF mixed with traditional kerosene. The company’s goal is to achieve certification of 100 percent SAF by 2030. The Airbus A380 used for the test, MSN 1, is the same aircraft recently revealed as Airbus’ ZEROe Demonstrator, which will be used as a flying testbed for the development of future technologies which will be instrumental in bringing the world’s first zero-emission aircraft to market by 2035.
Source: Airbus
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