Emirates airline successfully operated its first demonstration flight powered by SAF

Emirates airline on Monday successfully operated its first demonstration flight powered by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Dubai’s flagship carrier said one of the engines of the Boeing 777-300ER was 100 per cent powered by sustainable aviation fuel, becoming the first passenger airline in the world to operate a Boeing 777 powering a GE engine with 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel.

Emirates’ first flight powered by SAF blended with jet fuel was in 2017, operating from Chicago O’Hare airport on a Boeing 777. It received its first SAF-powered A380 delivery in 2020 and also uplifted 32 tonnes of SAF for its flights from Stockholm that same year.

The demonstration flight on Monday was operated in partnership with GE Aerospace, Boeing, Honeywell, Neste and Virent. Senior officials of Emirates airline, its partners and media personnel attended the historical event.

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. It has been a long journey to finally see this demonstration 100 per cent SAF flight take off... 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,” said Adel Al Redha, chief operating officer, Emirates airline.

The launch of environment-friendly flight comes as the UAE marked 2023 as a “Year of Sustainability” and supports collective industry efforts to enable a future of 100 per cent SAF flying and help advance the UAE’s sustainability objectives.