For the first time, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) was used on a British Airways passenger flight.
According to the airline, the flight from London Heathrow to Glasgow on Tuesday also involved air traffic service provider NATS, fuel giant BP, and Airbus.
The short flight on the airline’s new special liveried sustainability aircraft replicated a British Airways flight to Edinburgh in 2010.
No offsetting or sustainable aviation fuel was available to reduce the flight’s environmental impact, and it operated the flight on an older aircraft with fewer passengers.
That’s why this week’s flight aimed to show how far the aviation industry has come in its efforts to decarbonize in the last decade.
As part of British Airways’ short-haul fleet, an Airbus A320neo, British Airways’ quietest and most fuel-efficient short-haul plane operated the flight. Aerodynamic, cabin, and flight operations improvements have allowed A320neos to consume 20% less fuel, which means 20% less CO2, and to be 50% quieter than their predecessor, which operated this flight in 2010.
While British Airways have made none major changes since then, they’ve changed reduce the weight of their aircraft. They’ve installed lighter seats on the new aircraft, lighter catering trolleys, and replaced heavy flight manuals with digital downloads.
To comply with technical specifications, we used sustainable aviation fuel from BP in a 35 percent blend with traditional jet fuel to power the flight.
Electric Mototok vehicles, powered by Heathrow Airport’s 100% renewable electricity, we’re used to push the aircraft back. For a taxi, only one of the aircraft’s four engines was used. This reduced the aircraft’s initial thrust almost in half.
The airline’s chief executive Sean Doyle said: “This flight offered a practical demonstration of the progress we’re making in our carbon reduction journey.
“By working together with our industry partners, we’ve delivered a 62% improvement in emissions reductions compared to a decade ago.
“This marks real progress in our efforts to decarbonize and shows our determination to continue innovating, working with governments and industry, and speeding up the adoption of new low carbon solutions to get us closer still to the perfect flight of the future.”
Last week British Airways launched a sustainability program named BA Better World, which included a series of initiatives to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Source: Daily Business
By Joe Cusmano
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