Bell has successfully conducted the first flight of Bell 505, a five-seater helicopter, with Neste’s MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The helicopter took off from Seletar Airport in Singapore for the first-ever demonstration flight of a helicopter fuelled with SAF in Southeast Asia.
The test flight was conducted by close cooperation between Bell, Safran Helicopter Engines, and Neste, with Jet Aviation and Shell Aviation enabling the blended SAF to be uplifted through their facilities at Seletar Airport.
On achieving this milestone, Jacinto Monge, managing director, Asia Pacific, Bell, said: “This flight demonstrates our commitment to incorporating SAF into our customer demonstration aircraft globally, supporting Textron’s Achieve 2025 Sustainable Footprint goal for 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions."
Valerie Patuel, Managing Director of Safran Helicopter Engines Asia, CEO & Country General Delegate of Safran Singapore, said: “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 decarbonization initiatives in the Asia Pacific.”
Sami Jauhiainen, Vice President APAC, Renewable Aviation at Neste, added: “With the demo flight, we showcase that SAF can safely and easily be used also for helicopter operations. I am also proud that this milestone was achieved in Singapore.
“Meanwhile, Neste plans to expand the Singapore refinery to ramp up the SAF production by about 1.5 million tons,” Sami concluded.