The fuel, made from waste products, performs like traditional jet fuel but offers CO2 lifecycle emission savings of up to 70% – although SAF represents less than 0.1% of global jet fuel volumes and current fuel standards allow for a 50% SAF blend in commercial jet engines.
Virgin Atlantic says its Flight100 will “prove that the challenge of scaling up production is one of policy and investment, and industry and government must move quickly to create a thriving UK SAF industry”.
The SAF used on Flight100 is a dual blend; 88% hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids and 12% synthetic aromatic kerosene.
Shai Weiss, Virgin Atlantic’s chief executive, said Flight100 would prove SAF to be a “safe, drop-in replacement for fossil-derived jet fuel” and “the only viable solution for decarbonising long-haul aviation”.
“It’s taken radical collaboration to get here and we’re proud to have reached this important milestone, but we need to push further. There’s simply not enough SAF, and it’s clear that in order to reach production at scale we need to see significantly more investment. This will only happen when regulatory certainty and price support mechanisms, backed by government, are in place. Flight100 proves that if you make it, we’ll fly it.”
Transport secretary Mark Harper said: “This government has backed today’s flight to take-off and we will continue to support the UK’s emerging SAF industry as it creates jobs, grows the economy and gets us to Jet Zero.”
