In the UK, the UK Civil Aviation Authority has issued Virgin Atlantic with a permit to fly a world-first transatlantic 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) flight.
Virgin Atlantic plans to fly across the Atlantic from London Heathrow to New York JFK on November 28, 2023 to test and showcase the feasibility of flying on 100% SAF. The permit follows a program of technical reviews by the regulator, which analyzed different aspects of the planned flight, including undertaking ground testing with Rolls Royce on a Trent 1000 engine running on 100% SAF.
Led by Virgin Atlantic and partly funded by Department for Transport, preparation for the flight has involved a consortium of companies comprised of Boeing, Rolls-Royce, BP, and others, to demonstrate SAF as an alternative to regular jet fuel.
