Date set for Air New Zealand biofuel flight

Air New Zealand and Boeing have announced that the airline's sustainable biofuel flight from Auckland using a 747-400 will take place on December 3.

Conducted in partnership with Rolls-Royce and UOP, one of the airplane's four Rolls-Royce RB211 engines will be powered in part using advanced generation biofuels derived from jatropha.

Air New Zealand now becomes the first airline to use a commercially viable biofuel sourced using sustainability best practices.

"We recently demonstrated the fuel and environmental gains that can be achieved through advanced operational procedures using Boeing 777s. We're also modernising our fleet as we await our Trent 1000-powered 787-9 Dreamliners, which will burn 20% less fuel than the planes they replace. Introducing a new generation of sustainable fuels is the next logical step in our efforts to further save fuel and reduce aircraft emissions," said Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe.

Source: Routes News