Eco-fueled aircraft makes first transatlantic flight

Virgin Atlantic aircraft fueled with 100% sustainable fuel (SAF) successfully landed at Kennedy Airport in New York, making the first transatlantic flight using this type of fuel, Reuters reports. Flight was carried out as part of the Flight100 project to promote SAF as an alternative to conventional jet fuel to reduce harmful emissions.

According to the participants of the flight – and on board the Boeing 787, among others, were the founder of Virgin Atlantic, billionaire Richard Branson, the head of this airline, Shai Weiss, and British Transport Minister Mark Harper – the flight was completely ordinary and unremarkable. “If you didn’t know the plane was flying at 100 percent SAF, no one would notice anything,” Mr. Harper told Reuters. Now the UK Transport Minister, he said, intends to discuss with US Deputy Transport Secretary Polly Trottenberg issues of potential investment in SAF production, in particular, to find out “whether there are any barriers, whether there are any market problems, whether governments should -to do to help advance these issues”, etc.

Organizers of the flight hope it will help bring SAF to the attention of governments around the world and make it more accessible to reduce the aviation industry’s emissions.

Alena Miklashevskaya