Emirates has operated a milestone demonstration flight of a Boeing 777-300ER with one of its engines powered by 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The demonstration flight is particularly significant as it falls inline with the United Arab Emirates recent declaration of 2023 being a year of sustainability, aiming to showcase the UAE’s commitment to seek innovative solutions to challenges such as energy, climate change and other issues related to sustainability.
The flight took off from Dubai International Airport and was commanded by Captain Fali Vajifdar and Captain Khalid Nasser Akram who flew for over an our across the Dubai coastline and is the latest step towards certifying the use of SAF.
Adel Al Redha, chief operation officer, Emirates said the goal of these flights is to be able to reduce their carbon footprint, “This flight is a milestone moment for Emirates and a positive step for our industry as we work collectively to address one of our biggest challenges – reducing our carbon footprint,” he said.
“It has been a long journey to finally see this demonstration 100% SAF flight take off.
“Emirates is the first passenger airline in the world to operate a Boeing 777 powering a GE engine with 100% SAF. Such initiatives are critical contributors to industry knowledge on SAF, and provide data to demonstrate the use of higher blends of SAF for future regulatory approvals.
“We hope that landmark demonstrations flights like this one, will help open the door to scale up the SAF supply chain and make it more available and accessible across geographies, and most importantly, affordable for broader industry adoption in the future.”
The test flight further demonstrates the compatibility of the specially blended SAF as a safe and reliable fuel source. The promising outcome of this initiative also adds to the body of industry data and research around SAF blends in higher proportions, paving the way for standardization and future approval of 100% drop-in SAF as a replacement for jet fuel, well above the current 50% blend limit.
