Bell has marked a milestone with its next generation five seater helicopter, the Bell 505, the first ever helicopter fuelled with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Southeast Asia. The fuel was supplied by Neste in close cooperataion with Jet Aviation, Shell Aviation and Safran Helicopter Engines at Seletar Airport in Singapore.
The demonstration flight underlines the commitment of the business aviation community, as an integral component of the aviation industry, to the industry’s ambitious emissions reduction goals and adopting SAF as a key element in helping achieve these goals.
“The ambitious emissions reduction goals of the aviation industry can only be achieved through wide-scale adoption and use of SAF and cooperation across the stakeholders in the aviation ecosystem,” said Sami Juahiainen, VP APAC, Renewable Aviation at Neste speaking at the demo flight which took place on Monday 26 September. “With today’s demo flight we showcase that SAF can safely and easily be used also for helicopter operations. I am proud this milestone was achieved in Singapore. With the expansion of our Singapore refinery nearing completion, and the ongoing modification of our Rotterdam refinery, we will be able to produce up to 1.5 million tonnes of SAF by the end of 2023, ready to support aviation globally and in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Valerie Patuel, Managing Director of Safran Helicopter Engines Asia, COE & Country General Delegate of Safran Singapore, added: “We strongly believe in SAF, as it contributes to significantly reducing CO2 emissions. As all our helicopter engines, the Arrius 2R, is already certified to operate on up to 50% SAF, and we are fully ready to assist all Bell 505 operators worldwide in their transition from conventional fossil fuels to SAF. With our products, we are proud to play an active role in the development of decarbonisation initiatives in Asia Pacific.
