Fuel Trial

A Trent 900-powered Airbus A380 has entered the record books as the first commercial aircraft to successfully complete a flight partly powered by synthetic, “gas to liquid” (GTL) fuel.

During the three-hour flight from Bristol to Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, three of the Trent 900s used standard aviation fuel while the fourth engine operated with a mix of kerosene and liquid fuel derived from natural gas.

The initiative was a partnership effort between Rolls-Royce, Airbus and Shell.

Robert Nuttall, VP Market and Environment Strategy at Rolls-Royce, said: “This flight is an important step in the journey towards analysing alternative fuels. The particular A380 used for the flight is still classed as a development aircraft and as such is an ideal test platform. It is quite heavily instrumented and can therefore provide a large amount of data, which we will be analysing during the next few weeks.

“Part of our role in helping reduce carbon footprint is to research and assist in developing alternative fuels. We have already announced our plans for a bio fuel trial flight with Air New Zealand using a Boeing 747, and details of a number of other initiatives have yet to be made public.

“We believe the answer lies in co-operation across the aviation industry and we will be sharing the findings from the A380 flight with our partners in the Qatar GTL research programme.”

GTL was chosen for the first test because it simulates future, second generation bio-fuels made from renewable plant material. GTL could be made available, in certain locations, in significant quantities in the short term, and evidence suggests it has a reduced impact on local air quality as well as enhancing fuel burn.