China’s first helicopter flight using SAF

An Airbus H125 helicopter belonging to State Grid Space Technology (SGST) has successfully used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for a flight demonstration at Hefei Shiwan airport in China.
This is the first helicopter flight using SAF in China, marking an important milestone in the development of low-carbon aviation in Chinese aeronautics. The H125, which is powered by a Safran ARRIEL 2D engine, flew at a hybrid ratio of 40% of SAF provided by China National Aviation Fuel.
“The success of this flight is of great significance to stimulate SAF promotion and its application,” said Du Guihe, board chairman of SGST.
“It makes a positive impact on the enterprises which are proactive on low-carbon general aviation development. It is also a breakthrough for China's general aviation industry to better implement carbon emission reduction in the post-pandemic era.”
“I am proud that our customer, SGST, launched this noteworthy SAF flight with the H125, marking Airbus Helicopters as the first helicopter manufacturer to perform a SAF flight in China,” said Colin James, managing director of Airbus Helicopters in China.
“In an effort to reduce carbon emissions and set a standard within the industry, we are working with our partners to use locally-produced SAF.”
This milestone comes just a few weeks after Airbus and the CNAF signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to intensify Chinese-European cooperation on the production, competitive application and common standards formulation for SAF during the French state visit to China.
SAF is an alternative aviation fuel made from feedstock ranging from used fat, oil and grease, to municipal and forestry waste. Compared to fossil jet fuel, SAF has been shown to result in up to 80% reduction in CO2 across the entire SAF lifecycle. This cooperation agreement between Airbus and CNAF aims to optimise the SAF supply chain by diversifying the sources and enhancing SAF production towards the ambition of using 10 percent SAF by 2030.