Thomson planes to fly on biofuels

Thomson Airways will become the UK's first airline to fly passengers on a plane powered by biofuels.

The flight will take off from Birmingham airport before landing in Palma, Majorca, on 28 July 2011. Weekly flights of the same kind will then follow the same route from September.

It is thought Thomson Airways' biofuel-powered flights between Birmingham and Palma will take place during the summer months, but fly between Birmingham and Alicante in the winter.

SkyNRG of the Netherlands will provide the fuel for the flight. Thomson Airways already flies with below average carbon emissions – 75g CO2 per passenger km flown.

'Sustainability is key to this investment. Sustainable biofuels offer us the opportunity to improve our own individual environmental performance as well as contributing to the UK's carbon reduction target,' says Chris Browne, managing director of Thomson Airways. 'We urge the UK and EU governments to use this opportunity to review the legislation and remove the barriers around sustainable biofuels so that other airlines can follow our lead.'

Aviation minister Theresa Villiers comments: 'The government believes that sustainable biofuels have a role to play in efforts to tackle climate change, particularly in sectors where no other viable low carbon energy source has been identified – as is the case with aviation. We want aviation to flourish and grow but we have also been clear that the environmental impacts of flying must be addressed.'