Sustainable Fuels Power Marquee Fleets Into NBAA-BACE

Flocks of aircraft from various key manufacturers in the business aviation space gathered at the Salina Municipal Airport, in Kansas, to take part in a new mission: to prove the viability of sustainable aviation fuel for the bizav market. Embraer joined other manufacturers in utilizing sustainable aviation fuels for the journey to NBAA-BACE in 2019, showcasing the commitment to develop better solutions for powering business aircraft.

Embraer fueled its Phenom 100EV, Phenom 300E, Praetor 500 and 600 jets fully with sustainable aviation fuel at Salina for the flight into Las Vegas. The fleet will top off with SAF at Henderson prior to flights departing the show on October 24. Embraer has taken a leadership role in the development of biofuel research, as well as other partnerships to “accelerate the company’s knowledge of technologies necessary to increase the energy efficiency of aircraft,” according to a company statement.

Gulfstream flew its fleet directly from Savannah's Hilton Head airport, in Georgia, to Las Vegas' Henderson Executive Airport, site of the static display for the event. These were indicated by the company to be its first carbon-neutral flights using the a blended sustainable aviation fuel and carbon offsets. Use of the 30/70 blend (with 30% low-carbon, drop-in SAF and 70% petroleum-based jet-A) were "more than offset by the company's purchase, for a per-flight-hour fee, of verified emission reduction credits through a third-party offset provider," according to the company.

Other OEMs bringing in their display aircraft using SAF include Textron Aviation and HondaJet.