Deutsche Aircraft and Sasol ecoFT deliver SAF to D328eco owners

(Left to right): Helge Sachs, Senior Vice President Sasol ecoFT, Dr. Regina Pouzolz, Head of Sustainability at Deutsche Aircraft, Anastasija Visnakova, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Marc Siegel, Senior Manager Marketing & Sales Sasol ecoFT

Deutsche Aircraft and the South African chemicals company Sasol ecoFT have signed a letter of intent (LOI) at the Paris Air Show 2023 to provide Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to the German manufacturer’s D328eco aircraft customers. Both companies aim to bring hydrogen-based SAF to European aviation.

The new D328eco regional airliner aircraft, scheduled for certification in 2026, can operate entirely on SAF including fuel made from Sasol’s the Power-to-Liquids (PtL) process. The two companies said they plan to advance the certification of sustainable jet fuels and particularly the ramp-up production of PtL SAF.

“Joining forces between aircraft manufacturers and fuel producers is vital if we want to ensure that aviation becomes sustainable while ensuring the highest possible safety standards,” said Helge Sachs, senior vice president, Sasol ecoFT. “We are extremely excited about the partnership with Deutsche Aircraft as we take a holistic approach to climate-neutral aviation by looking at the whole value chain from fuel production up to aircraft system level.”

The PtL SAF process uses carbon dioxide recycled from the air and hydrogen produced with green energy to form a synthetic fuel. These fuels contain less aromatics and sulphur and reduce the high-altitude impact of aviation, whilst mimicking the burn characteristics of kerosene.

With SAF remaining a scarce resource, Regina Pouzolz, head of Sustainability, Deutsche Aircraft said the partnership with Sasol eases market access for regional operators of its aircraft.

“With our D328eco aircraft in conjunction with SAF supplied by our partner Sasol ecoFT, our customers will be able to significantly reduce their CO2 emissions, improve local air quality and reduce the climate impact from contrails,” said Pouzloz. “By providing demand certainty to investors and SAF producers we are supporting the SAF ramp-up vital to reduce costs.”