An A380 superjumbo just completed a flight powered by cooking oil

March 31, 2022
The test airplane completed a three-hour flight from Blagnac Airport in Toulouse, Julia Buckley reports for CNN.

TOULOUSE, France - It's huge, it's wide, and it's potentially a lot more sustainable. The Airbus A380, a behemoth of the skies, has completed a trial flight powered on cooking oil, Julia Buckley reports for CNNContinue reading original article.

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

31 March 2022 - Airbus’ A380 test aircraft MSN 1 took off from Blagnac Airport, Toulouse, France at 08h43 on Friday 25 March. The flight lasted about three hours, operating one Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine on 100% SAF.

27 tonnes of unblended SAF were provided by TotalEnergies for this flight. The SAF produced in Normandy, close to Le Havre, France, was made from Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA), free of aromatics and sulphur, and primarily consisting of used cooking oil, as well as other waste fats. A second flight, with the same aircraft, is scheduled to take place from Toulouse to Nice Airport, on the 29 March to test the use of SAF during take-off and landing.

All Airbus aircraft are currently certified to fly with up to a 50% blend of SAF mixed with kerosene. The company aims is to achieve certification of 100% SAF by the end of this decade.

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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace

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