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Commercial jet in flight at sunset

Airbus A380 Completes Flight Fueled by Cooking Oil (We’ll Take the Next One, Thanks)

Will wonders never cease. The Airbus A380, a superjumbo aircraft, recently completed a trial flight fueled only by (wait for it) cooking oil!

The three-hour flight from Blagnac Airport in Toulouse, France, was powered by Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF, which consists of used cooking oil and waste fats) and a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine. Just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke, the plane made a return trip Nice, France, on SAF a few days later.

So far, so good, we guess? Airbus’ short-term goal is to get certified to fly on SAF by the end of 2029. Long-term, the company wants to bring the world’s first zero-emission aircraft to market by 2035. Until then, it will continue operating with up to 50% SAF combined with old-fashioned kerosene.

“Increasing the use of SAF remains a key pathway to achieving the industry’s ambition of netzero carbon emissions by 2050,” Airbus said in a statement.

The idea behind this daredevilish move is that SAF is a more sustainable way to fly. We love the Earth and all, but we love our lives more, and probably aren’t going to hop on a cooking oil-fueled fight anytime soon.

You first, tree huggers, we’ll take the next one.

Cover Photo: Nigel Killeen (Getty Images)
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