KLM operates first ever biofuel passenger flight

Airline biofuel
AP Photo/David J. Phillip

Taking an important step on the road to sustainable aviation, KLM Dutch Airlines today made the world’s first biofuel passenger flight. The airline took 40 passengers for a 90-minute trip above the Netherlands running one engine in a Boeing 747 on a mixture of 50% biofuel and 50% kerosene, the typical aircraft fuel.

“In the decades ahead, the airline industry will be largely dependent on the availability of alternative fuels in its drive to lower CO2 emissions”, said KLM Managing Director Jan Ernst de Groot.

The airline industry’s quest in finding fuels that both reduce the impact of CO2 emissions and the reliance on traditional petroleum-based fuels is ongoing. KLM, has for example, been involved in biokerosene research since 2007, and Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand, Japan Airlines and Continental Airlines have made biofuel test flights.