Vueling carried out first flight with sustainable fuel

With the support of the oil company Repsol, the Spanish low-cost company Vueling, part of the IAG group, carried out the first flight with sustainable aviation fuel -SAF- with the support of the oil company Repsol.

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On the occasion of the Tourism Innovation Summit in Seville, the companies conducted the first commercial operation with SAF on the Barcelona-Seville route, in an Airbus A320neo, which managed to reduce CO2 emissions by 2.5 tons from the use of biofuels.

This test is in addition to the one done a few days ago by Iberia, which connected Madrid with Bilbao in an aircraft of the same model, whose technology already provides greater efficiency in fuel consumption during its operations. See also: Iberia and  Repsol conduct  first flight with SAF produced in Spain

The low-cost airline is already implementing some strategies to reduce the environmental impact of its operations. According to a statement issued by Repsol, «Vueling has replaced all the seats in its fleet with a new lighter model, the Slim Seats, and has digitalized all the documentation on its planes, eliminating 75 kg of paper per flight. In addition, pilots have implemented a series of operational efficiency measures such as the optimal configuration of flaps (ailerons whose function is to increase the aircraft’s lift at low speeds), the use of an optimal flight level and speed, as well as other initiatives that have allowed today’s flight to reduce CO2 emissions released into the atmosphere by 81 kg».

Together, Repsol and Vueling signed a cooperation agreement to promote joint work geared towards the introduction of sustainable aviation fuels in air operations. The focus is on the development and consumption of fuels with low environmental impact, especially – in the short term – those produced from urban waste and biomass.

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Marco Sansavini, Vueling’s president, assured that «Vueling’s commitment to the environment is all-encompassing». «The first flight with sustainable fuel is a big step in our commitment to reduce CO2 emissions and to use 10% of SAF by 2030. A confirmation of the feasibility of the use of state-of-the-art aviation fuels using fully sustainable sources such as municipal waste and biomass as feedstock.»

On the other hand, according to Javier Sancho, Director of the Repsol Industrial Complex in Tarragona, «given the relevance of biofuels in the reduction of emissions, Repsol has been working for 15 years in the search for different low carbon footprint solutions applied to transport and is a pioneer in the manufacture of sustainable aviation fuels in Spain, such as the supply of biojet manufactured in Tarragona and which has been used in this flight. The production of biofuels is one of the main axes included in Repsol’s 2021-2025 Strategic Plan with the aim of transforming the industrial business and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050».

As we have been reporting, sustainable aviation fuel is one of the main strategies to reduce the environmental impact of air operations in the immediate future, while other technologies that are in the development and testing stage, such as electric or hydrogen-based propulsion, are becoming increasingly popular.