Air Canada makes its first biofuel flight using 50% cooking oil

Air Canada, the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada, has achieved its first feat to conduct a test-flight using 50% biofuel made from cooking oil. Fuel company SkyNRG provided the biofuel for Air Canada. In a press release prior to the flight, the airline said that Flight AC991 from Toronto to Mexico City is expected to generate at least 40 percent fewer emissions by using jet fuel derived from recycled cooking oil and through other fuel-saving measures, making it the most environmentally-friendly flight ever flown by Air Canada.

Flight AC991 is supported by the European consortium Airbus and is a part of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s environmental demonstration to coincide with the Rio +20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. “To make this a day-to-day commercial reality, it requires now a political will to foster incentives to scale up the use of sustainable biofuels and to accelerate the modernization of the air-traffic-management system. We need a clear endorsement by governments and all aviation stakeholders to venture beyond today’s limitations,” Airbus President and CEO Fabrice Bregier said.

Note that the image above isn’t the actual photo of Flight AC991. Air Canada has yet to release an official statement. 

Gene Ryan Briones
Categories: Green