Airbus Completes first 100% SAF Helo Flight | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.23.25

Airborne-NextGen-06.24.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.25.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Thu, Nov 11, 2021

Airbus Completes first 100% SAF Helo Flight

Continuing Sustainable Fuel Work at Marignane Shows Progress

Airbus completed the first ever helicopter flight using 100% sustainable aviation fuel as part of its SAF development. As the aviation industry around the world looks to upcoming emissions, sustainability, and environmental targets, manufacturers are preparing for alternative fuels to take the stage from traditional petrochemical fuels. Airbus has launched a user group dedicated to the evaluation and integration of SAF into the rotary-wing community. 

It has been a banner year for sustainable fuel, with rotorcraft competitor Bell Canada announcing the use of blended SAF in its training, transit, and customer delivery operations, with efforts to move to 100% SAF in the near future. Changing fuels is never an entirely simple process in aircraft, as safety and reliability are paramount, but stakeholders are confident it is the way forward for the industry. Airbus specifically publicized their use of the unadulterated fuel, no small feat when the currently approved SAF blend is capped at 50%. 

The flight campaign successfully flew with an unblended SAF, provided by TotalEnergies, derived from used cooking oil. The H225 test helicopter apparently functioned well, and boasted a 90% CO2 reduction compared to regular jet fuel. Continued use and testing will prove what effects a longer-term flight regime has on the aircraft, but Airbus chief technical officer Stefan Thome, sounds optimistic.

“While all Airbus helicopters are certified to fly with up to a 50% blend of SAF mixed with kerosene, it is our Company’s ambition to have its helicopters certified to fly with 100% SAF within the decade. Today’s flight is an important first step towards this goal”, said Thome.

“SAF is an important pillar of Airbus Helicopters’ decarbonisation strategy because it provides immediate CO2 reduction with no negative impact on the performance of the helicopter,” he added. “I thank our partners Safran Helicopter Engines and TotalEnergies for their important collaboration in making today’s flight a reality. Further cooperation among all industry stakeholders is essential to overcome the challenges associated with implementing SAF widely and to make real progress in reducing the aviation industry’s CO2 emissions”.

FMI: www.airbus.com

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Final Report: Rutan Long-EZ

He Attempted To Restart The Engine Three Times. On The Third Restart Attempt, He Noticed That Flames Were Coming Out From The Right Wing Near The Fuel Cap Analysis: The pilot repor>[...]

ANN FAQ: Turn On Post Notifications

Make Sure You NEVER Miss A New Story From Aero-News Network Do you ever feel like you never see posts from a certain person or page on Facebook or Instagram? Here’s how you c>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: ICAS Perspectives - Advice for New Air Show Performers

From 2009 (YouTube Edition): Leading Air Show Performers Give Their Best Advice for Newcomers On December 6th through December 9th, the Paris Las Vegas Hotel hosted over 1,500 air >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (06.28.25)

Aero Linx: NASA ASRS ASRS captures confidential reports, analyzes the resulting aviation safety data, and disseminates vital information to the aviation community. The ASRS is an i>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (06.28.25)

“For our inaugural Pylon Racing Seminar in Roswell, we were thrilled to certify 60 pilots across our six closed-course pylon race classes. Not only did this year’s PRS >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC