Emirates, world’s first airline to operate A380 with 100% SAF

Emirates have become the world’s first airline to operate an A380 demonstration flight using 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

Yesterday’s flight, commanded by Captain Khalid Binsultan and Captain Philippe Lombet, took off from Dubai International Airport (DXB) with one of four engines powered on 100% SAF, helping demonstrate its potential as a drop-in replacement that matches jet fuel’s technical and chemical requirements, while being a more sustainable alternative.

SAF can reduce carbon emissions by up to 85% over the fuel’s life cycle when compared to conventional jet fuel.

Demonstration flights like the one conducted today pave the way for future standardisation, qualification and adoption for 100% SAF flying, as governments adopt broader strategies to support the production and scale up of SAF.

The A380 demonstration flight underlines the performance and compatibility of SAF, making it a safe and reliable fuel source, and contributes to the growing body of research carried out by the industry to evaluate the beneficial effects of 100% SAF on aircraft performance. SAF is currently capped at a 50% blend limit in engines for commercial flights.

Chief Operating Officer, Emirates Airline Adel Al Redha, said: “Emirates is the first passenger airline in the world to operate an A380 with 100% drop-in SAF powering one of four Engine Alliance GP7200 engines. This is another proud moment for Emirates and our partners, as we put words into action with the research into and the trialling of higher concentrations of SAF to eventually lead to industry adoption of 100% SAF flying.”

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