The demonstration flight is claimed to be first in the Middle East and North Africa to be powered by 100% SAF. Credit: The Emirates Group.

UAE’s flag carrier Emirates has operated its first demonstration flight by powering a Boeing 777-300ER engine with 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The demonstration was conducted in collaboration with GE Aerospace, Boeing, Honeywell, Neste and Virent.

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Emirates Airlines chief operating officer Adel Al Redha said: “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.

“It has been a long journey to finally see this demonstration 100% SAF flight take off. Emirates is the first passenger airline in the world to operate a Boeing 777 powering a GE engine with 100% SAF.

“We hope that landmark demonstration 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.”

The flight took off from Dubai International Airport (DXB) and flew for more than an hour over the Dubai coastline.

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The demonstration flight is claimed to be the first in the Middle East and North Africa to be powered by 100% SAF, and also supports the efforts to reduce the lifecycle of carbon emissions.

The Boeing Company Middle East Commercial Sales and Marketing vice-president Omar Arekat said: “Boeing congratulates Emirates on its successful flight tests using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

“SAF will play a critical role in the aviation industry’s commitment to be net zero by 2050, requiring strong industry collaboration.

“We were proud to partner with Emirates on these tests and look forward to further working with our partners to enable the widespread use of SAF across the globe.”

Last week, Emirates concluded a ground engine trial for one of its GE90 engines on a Boeing 777-300ER with 100% SAF.