Airbus helicopter made its first flight on 100% environmentally friendly fuel

Airbus bets on environmentally friendly aviation. The first twin-engine helicopter H225, powered by SAF aviation fuel from biowaste fat, waste vegetable and technical oils.

The H225 has successfully completed its first test flights, and now the aviation giant plans to certify the fuel by 2030 for commercial aviation, which would cut CO2 emissions by half without compromising flight performance.

During tests in November 2021, the H225 flew with one engine fully fueled with SAF, and in March one of the A380 jetliner’s engines was fueled with eco-fuel. In the current flight both engines of the H225 helicopter were filled with SAF fuel. The purpose of test flights is to check the engines’ ability to run on ecological fuel and to see how it affects aircraft systems. Further its effectiveness will be tested on other types of helicopters.

The important property of SAF is the ability to mix it with aviation kerosene in a 50:50 ratio without modifying the engines, which radically – by 85% – reduces CO2 emissions.