Airbus completes inaugural SAF ferry flight

Airbus announced that its A220 commercial plane was successfully delivered to Air France from Airbus’ site in Mirabel to Paris powered by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Airbus in Canada directly issued official sustainability credentials for SAF to a customer (Air France) for the first time.

With PoS credits for a 50% SAF blend applied through the mass balance process, this ferry flight conducted by Air France’s 46th A220-300 named “VAISON-LA-ROMAINE”, represented more than 25 tonnes reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to fossil fuels.

“Fleet renewal and the use of sustainable aviation fuel are the two main levers of the decarbonization of aviation. Combining the two is only logical and Air France-KLM is proud to participate in this Airbus milestone with the delivery flight of one of our A220s. Air France-KLM is among the world’s largest buyers of SAF. Directly receiving SAF at delivery is a game-changer, increasing transparency and driving industry progress,” said Blaise Brigaud, SVP group sustainability, Air France-KLM.

Airbus said the SAF management at Mirabel is done through mass balance, a chain of custody model in which a company accounts for volumes of certified products by looking at the volumes entering the operation and the equivalent volume of products leaving the operations as a measurement, minus any processing losses.

“In 2025 alone, we project cutting CO2 emissions by approximately 400 metric tonnes at our Mirabel site thanks to the 170,000 litres of pure SAF we will integrate to our activities,” said Benoît Schultz, CEO of Airbus Canada.

“And we’re pushing our ambition further with this ferry flight with PoS credits for 50% SAF – a significant step that comes just ahead of Air France’s 50th A220 delivery later this year. On a global scale, 78% of Airbus aircraft were delivered with SAF blend for the first half of the year, underscoring the importance our customers place on decarbonisation.”

To note, Airbus unveiled a book and claim mechanism earlier in March this year to dramatically increase the adoption of SAF worldwide. The initiative aims to overcome critical barriers in SAF accessibility and distribution.