Virgin Atlantic Airways Plans to operate first fully powered transatlantic flight sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) Tomorrow. Flights from New York to London Made over many years A glimpse into the future of passenger airlines. This milestone service also drew attention to the hurdles faced by civil aviation in achieving true zero-emissions operations, such as securing a sufficient supply of SAF for use by the entire airline.
Virgin Atlantic’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport It received special permission to fly with SAF from the American, British, Canadian and Irish governments. According to Reuters. Current regulations allow passenger aircraft to fly on fuel mixtures consisting of up to 50% SAF. The British airline hopes its 100% SAF flights will spark government moves to increase regulatory freedom and increase fuel production.Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Altantic Airlines He said in a statement:
“Along with fleet transformation, SAF is the most readily available way for our industry to decarbonize, but there is currently not enough supply and there is a lack of SAF and the fundamentals needed to produce it. Without significant cooperation, we will not be able to reach our 2030 targets. We need the support of the UK Government to create a UK SAF industry so that all flights departing the UK can be operated with 100% SAF. Yes, and if that happens, we can fly.”
SAF is an easy and attractive solution to quickly reduce the environmental impact of civil aviation. However, the cost of sustainable fuel can be up to five times higher. Traditional Jet A1 fuelcannot be utilized industry-wide due to low supply.
Simply creating more sustainable fuels is a dilemma in itself. Virgin Atlantic flights use his SAF manufactured from: used cooking oil There isn’t enough used cooking oil on the planet for the entire industry to use. To protect domestic food supplies, agricultural-based biofuel production is banned in the United Kingdom and the European Union. according to I. Although less glamorous than experimental milestone flights, aviation’s zero-emissions future depends on synthetic fuel research and development.