A production HondaJet flew last week on North Carolina soil – and it ran the whole way on sustainable aviation fuel. No messing about with blends or shortcuts – just good old-fashioned 100 percent SAF, made from waste oils and carbon capture. This marked first time a twin engine very light business jet had flown on 100% SAF, according to the Honda Aircraft Company.
Honda engineers finished ground testing on their HF120 engines (co-designed with General Electric through their GE Honda Aero partnership) in 2022 and 2023. They’d already proven the engines could handle full-strength SAF in the lab and now they’d taken production to a facility in Burlington, North Carolina, run by Honda Aero. Customers had already flown 50-50 SAF mixes in service but getting to 100% replacement required a lot of precision. And that’s exactly what this test aircraft got, thanks to a special blend of two SAF varieties – HEFA-SPK, made from used cooking oils and plant matter, and HDO-SAK (which contains the aromatics needed for seals to work properly). Blending the two together meant the fuel performed just like regular jet kerosene – same energy density and everything.
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Amod Kelkar, Honda Aircraft’s senior vice president and chief commercial officer, was over the moon. “We’re all massively proud of our engineering team for keeping the faith and pushing forward on our commitment to making aviation more sustainable,” he said. That’s pretty infectious especially when you consider this is part of Honda’s plan to eliminate carbon emissions from all its operations by 2050. It’s not just a side project – it’s core to the business.
There were no issues during the flight but Honda hasn’t released the telemetry. On the ground, spectators saw the jet take off and climb normally, its overwing engines roaring as usual. Those HF120s above the wings distribute thrust in a way that reduces drag and noise. Blending SAF types solved a common problem: most renewable fuels lack the aromatics found in fossil kerosene which lubricate components and prevent leaks. HDO-SAK covers the gap, a result of recent refinement developments. Pilots said it handled like any other day, so the fuel’s drop-in nature worked at altitude.
The aircraft was refueled with regular kerosene after the flight but now the focus is on certification. The data will be reviewed by the authorities for further approvals and the fleet could be 100% SAF by the end of the decade.
