Airline adopts biofuel in green push

Airbus A350-1000 flies to Hong Kong from France partly on sugarcane-based fuel

A brand new Cathay Pacific Airbus A 350-1000 aircraft, which flew from the French city of Toulouse to Hong Kong on Wednesday, was partly powered by a sugarcane-based biofuel.

The aircraft, a 334-seater, flew with a 10% blend of biofuel along with traditional jet fuel in its tanks which can hold 1,56,000 litres.

‘Test successful’

Cathay Pacific had successfully tested the biofuel blend sourced from Brazil in its Airbus 350-900 variant earlier and seen promising results. Compared with the conventional jet fuel, biofuel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%.

The use of biofuels has been supported by Airbus itself as well as Total, the fuel supplier, who supplied the biofuel blend to power the A

350-1000 on Tuesday.

Cathay Pacific has 20 of the technologically-advanced A

350-1000 aircraft on order for delivery over the next four years.

Seven of the aircraft are due for delivery by the end of this year and would be used on long-haul operations to Washington DC, Tel Aviv, Auckland and Christchurch operations among other sectors.

Starting July 1, Cathay Pacific will deploy its first aircraft on its high priority Hong Kong-Taipei route.

Cathay Pacific chief executive Rupert Hogg said the airline wanted to reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions. “We have invested an equity stake in Fulcrum, a United States company that aims to make alternative fuel from municipal waste for use on a commercial scale,” Mr. Hogg said.

“Achieving carbon neutral growth from 2020 is an important target that we take seriously and using alternative fuels is one of the key strategies in helping us to do so. We will continue to support the development and usage of biofuel to reach mainstream commercial viability.”

(The writer was in Toulouse at the invitation of Cathay Pacific)