First commercial bio-jet flight takes off in China

Hainan Airlines, Boeing and Sinopec have celebrated China's first passenger flight with sustainable aviation biofuel.

The regularly scheduled Hainan Airlines flight – which carried more than 100 passengers from Shanghai to Beijing – used biofuel made by Sinopec from waste cooking oil collected from restaurants in China.

Both of the airplane's CFM International CFM56-7B engines were powered by a fuel blend of approximately 50% aviation biofuel mixed with conventional petroleum jet fuel.

Sustainably produced biofuel, which reduces carbon emissions by 50-80% compared to petroleum through its lifecycle, is expected to play a key role in supporting aviation's growth while meeting environmental goals. The Boeing Current Market Outlook has forecast that China will require 6,020 new airplanes by 2033 to meet fast-growing passenger demand for domestic and international air travel.

In China, Boeing collaborates with a range of stakeholders to develop a new sustainable aviation biofuel industry. In 2011, Air China conducted China's first aviation biofuel test flight in a Boeing 747-400 using China-grown, jatropha-based biofuel. Boeing also partners with the Commercial Aviation Corp. of China (COMAC) and several research institutions, including Chinese Academy of Science's Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT), on aviation biofuel development.

 

SOURCE: Boeing