DUBAI — Emirates has become the first passenger airline in the world to operate a Boeing 777 with one engine powered with 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

The flight departed Dubai International Airport (DXB) earlier this week, flying for more than one hour over the Dubai coastline, marking the first flight in the Middle East and North Africa to be powered by 100% SAF.

Emirates worked alongside partners GE Aerospace, Boeing, Honeywell, Neste and Virent to develop a blend of SAF that closely replicates the properties of conventional jet fuel. The test flight will help refine the playbook for future SAF demonstrations and support future certification where 10)% drop-in SAF fuel is approved for aircraft. Currently SAF is approved for use in all aircraft, but only in blends of up to 50% with conventional jet fuel.

The milestone flight holds extra significance in light of the UAE declaring 2023 as the ‘Year of Sustainability.’ 

“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,” said Adel Al Redha, Chief Operating Officer, Emirates Airline. “It has been a long journey to finally see this demonstration 100% SAF flight take off … We hope that landmark demonstrations flights like this one, will help open the door to scale up the SAF supply chain and make it more available and accessible across geographies, and most importantly, affordable for broader industry adoption in the future.”

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.