GERMANY – Delegates’ carbon footprint while travelling to a conference might see a drastic fall with the news air carrier Lufthansa has launched the world’s first daily commercial passenger flight using biofuel.
The four daily return flights between Hamburg and Frankfurt will be the first in the world to use a biofuel blend using 50 per cent Hydro-processed Esters and Fatty Acids. The fuel will be used on the carrier’s Airbus A321.
This follows the approval for the use of this type of fuel by the world fuels standards body, ASTM on 1 July 2011.
The flights will initially continue for six months as part of the Burn Fair R&T project to study the long-term impact of sustainable biofuels on aircraft performance.
“This is a further consistent step in the sustainability strategy, which Lufthansa has for years been successfully pursuing,” said Lufthansa CEO, Christoph Franz. “We want to secure future sustainable mobility by conducting research and development work today.”
The renewable aviation biofuel, is being provided by Finland-based Neste Oil and all of the renewable raw materials used to produce it comply with the EU’s sustainability criteria and are traceable back to their source.
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