Airbus has flown an A380-800 with one of the quad jet’s Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines powered by 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in a first for the European manufacturer.

Using the 2005-vintage super jumbo prototype F-WWOW (c/n 001) – pictured – the airframer said 27 tonnes of unblended SAF were provided by Total Energies. The special sortie took place on the morning of March 25 and on its 3hrs 1min round trip from Toulouse/Blagnac – using call sign ‘Airbus 47OW’ – the A380 flew around southwestern France, passing over cities including Bordeaux and La Rochelle, and climbed to a maximum altitude of 43,000ft.

Following this, Airbus used this double-decker example again a few days later on March 29 (today at the time of writing) with a flight between Toulouse and Nice, this time with an emphasis on SAF testing during take-off and landing phases.

According to the manufacturer, this SAF 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”.

These developments are the latest in Airbus’ ongoing SAF campaign; in the previous 12 months (at the time of writing), it had previously used 100% SAF on two previous aircraft types, with the A350 and A319neo in March and October 2021, respectively.

The use of sustainable aviation fuels is seen as a “key pathway” for the aviation industry in an effort to reach net-zero carbon emission ambitions by 2050.

At present, all Airbus aircraft are certified for flight with up to a 50% blend of SAF mixed with kerosene, but the airframer aims to get this to 100% by the “end of this decade”.