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An Airbus A380 has flown for three hours powered by a sustainable use cooking oil mix, the French company has confirmed, after conducting the experiment from Toulouse-Blagnac airport.

The double-decker A380 is the world鈥檚 largest commercial passenger plane. The test to power the jet began at 08:43 on Friday, March 25.

The plane flew for three hours above Toulouse and Bordeaux. During the flight, it burned 27 tonnes of what is known as 鈥渟ustainable aviation fuel鈥� (SAF).

Mixed by a TotalEnergies team in Normandy, the fuel is 鈥渕ade from hydrotreated fatty acids and oil, free of flavouring and sulphur, and mainly consisting of used cooking oil and other fatty waste鈥�, Airbus said.

Airbus test pilot Wolfgang Absmeier said: 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 notice any difference from a pilot point of view. The engineers in the back were looking, of course, at a thousand parameters, but at first glance, there was no difference at all.

鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 an iconic aeroplane, it鈥檚 great to fly in it as a passenger; it鈥檚 even greater to fly it as a pilot. It鈥檚 basically preparing the future for the next generation of aeroplanes, flying with sustainable aviation fuel.鈥�

The same plane is now set to fly from Toulouse to Nice using the same method today (March 29).

It was Airbus鈥� third test flight using the fuel mix in the past 12 months, following a test run in an A350 in March 2021, and an A319neo in October.

The aircraft manufacturer has said that it is working towards using SAF to reduce its carbon emissions. It added that all of its planes are already certified to fly with up to 50% SAF on board, mixed with the traditional fuel kerosene.

The same test plane is also likely to be used to test the first flight powered by hydrogen, which is expected to take place in 2025.

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