Rolls-Royce and Gulfstream Aerospace successfully conducted the first flight test of an ultra-long-range business jet powered by 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The test flight with the twin-engine Gulfstream G650 powered by the BR725 engine was carried out at Gulfstream’s headquarters in Savannah Georgia.

This test, which shows that existing Rolls-Royce engines for business jets and civil aircraft can operate using 100% SAF with the drop-in option, lays the groundwork for the substitution fuel type to progress confidently into the certification program.  SAF can only be used with conventional jet fuel and blends up to 50%. SAF can be used on all existing Rolls-Royce engines.

While one of the SAF components used in the test flight was produced by World Energy, the other component was produced by Virent Inc. Sustainable fuel has the potential to reduce CO2 life cycle emissions by approximately 80% compared to conventional jet fuel.

Making a statement about the test flight, Rolls-Royce Germany Business Aviation and Engineering Director Dr. Joerg Au said: “Sustainable aviation fuels have the potential to significantly reduce aviation carbon emissions and are very important to decarbonize the skies. ‘The drop-in’ that we, as Rolls-Royce, powers existing engines will make a great contribution to the aviation world. This flight test we actualized with Gulfstream, demonstrates the compatibility of our engines with SAF. Our engines help users achieve their net zero carbon target.

Mark Burns, President of Gulfstream, said: “Pioneering the decarbonization of the aviation industry is one of our long-standing goals at Gulfstream. Testing, evaluating and supporting new developments in SAF brings us one step closer to this goal. Thanks to our partnership with Rolls-Royce, we have successfully completed another milestone in this work.”

As it is known, last month Airbus performed the world’s first 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel-using military flight using a military aircraft in service with the British Royal Air Force (RAF), and Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce, on the other hand, undertook the production of the aircraft engine by working as a team with Airbus in this project. Taking part in sustainable aviation projects, Rolls-Royce continues to take important steps in this regard. The projects developed make significant contributions to the development and dissemination of sustainable aviation systems.