JAKARTADAILY.ID - Airbus, Safran Helicopters Engines, and helicopter operator from Australia, Microflite, held the first helicopter flight demonstration in Australia using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). This fuel is supplied by the world's leading SAF manufacturer, Neste. The helicopter's inaugural flight with SAF in Australia was using the Airbus H130 platform.
The helicopter conducted a demonstration flight at Moorabbin Airport and plans to accumulate 60 minutes of flight time in the next few days. The helicopter will use 200 liters of fuel, which is a blend of Jet A-1 fuel and 40 percent SAF, supplying power to Safran's Arriel 2D engine.
Witnessing the start of the SAF flight demonstration at the Avalon Airshow, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, and Local Governance, Catherine King said, SAF is a real step for the aviation sector to reduce its emissions in the short and medium term.
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"Seeing this in person is incredibly gratifying. Our Jet Zero Council will continue to work closely with the industry so we can roll out more of these initiatives across Australia," said Catherine.
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"Use of SAF is one of Airbus' efforts to reduce carbon emissions and we are proud to be able to realize this achievement in SAF aviation with our longtime partners Safran and Microflite," said Stephen Forshaw, Airbus Representative for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific. Jakarta Daily, Wednesday, 1 March 2023.
This flight demonstration underscores Airbus' commitment to continuing to help our customers achieve more sustainable operations. This is an important step in Airbus' journey towards decarbonization, as we join forces with like-minded industry partners to embrace the wider use of SAF in the aviation industry.
"As an airline that is young, dynamic, and has a strong vision to become a leader in the field of sustainable aviation, we have a fleet of more than 20 aircraft serving passenger transportation, air work, to emergency needs. We have a strategy for the next 10 years in which one part is to transition the fleet to SAF or electric energy sources. Australia's first use of SAF for a helicopter platform was achieved through collaboration with various industry partners, and Microflite is proud to share its commitment with Airbus, Safran, and Neste to lead the sustainable aviation industry,” said Microflite Chief Operating Officer, Rodney Higgins.
“We are pleased to be able to support Airbus, Safran, and Microflite on this demonstration flight which is also the first delivery of SAF from Neste MY to the Australian market,” said Sami Jauhiainen, Vice President APAC, Renewable Aviation at Neste.
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“This fuel is delivered to Avalon with the support of our partner ITOCHU. With the expansion of our refinery facility in Singapore coming online at the end of the first quarter, we can produce up to one million tonnes of SAF per year to support aviation in the Asia Pacific region and globally.”
"This is an important step in our plans for large-scale deployment of SAF," said Managing Director of Safran Helicopter Engines Australia, Cedric Jochum.
