{"id":40570,"date":"2023-11-28T10:53:46","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T10:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=40570"},"modified":"2025-01-26T19:25:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-26T19:25:04","slug":"first-transatlantic-flight-powered-by-100-sustainable-aviation-fuel-takes-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/first-transatlantic-flight-powered-by-100-sustainable-aviation-fuel-takes-off\/40570\/","title":{"rendered":"Virgin Atlantic embarks on first transatlantic flight powered by 100% sustainable aviation fuel"},"content":{"rendered":"
Over 100 years since John Alcock and Arthur Brown flew the first non-stop transatlantic flight in 1919, Virgin Atlantic is proving the viability of sustainable aviation fuel for decarbonising long-haul air travel.<\/p>\n
Taking off from London Heathrow, one of Virgin Atlantic\u2019s Boeing 787s will travel across the pond to JFK International Airport, New York, a trip traditionally producing significant carbon emissions, which will be reduced considerably thanks to sustainable aviation fuel.<\/p>\n
Onboard the historic flight is UK Transport Secretary Mark Harper, Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive Shai Weiss and Virgin\u2019s founder, Sir Richard Branson.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the monumental achievement, Harper said: \u201cToday\u2019s historic flight, powered by 100% sustainable aviation fuel, shows how we can both decarbonise transport and enable passengers to keep flying when and where they want.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis government has backed today\u2019s flight to take-off, and we will continue to support the\u00a0UK\u2019s emerging\u00a0SAF\u00a0industry as it creates jobs, grows the economy and gets us to Jet Zero.\u201d<\/p>\n
In December 2022, Virgin Atlantic and their consortium were awarded up to \u00a31m of UK Government funding as part of a challenge from the Department for Transport to achieve the first transatlantic flight powered by sustainable aviation fuel.<\/p>\n
The sustainable aviation fuel powering Virgin Atlantic\u2019s flight is developed from waste fats that cannot enter the food chain.<\/p>\n
Reusing waste products can have profound effects in decarbonising air travel, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 70% compared to standard jet fuel over its life cycle.<\/p>\n Sustainable fuels will become an increasingly essential part of the standard jet fuel mix in the coming years due to an upcoming mandate that requires 10% of jet fuel to come from sustainable sources in 2030.<\/p>\n Speaking on the achievement, Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Atlantic, said: \u201cThe world will always assume something can\u2019t be done until you do it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe spirit of innovation is getting out there and trying to prove that we can do things better for everyone\u2019s benefit. Virgin Atlantic has been challenging the status quo and pushing the aviation industry to never settle and do better since 1984.<\/p>\n \u201cFast forward nearly 40 years, that pioneering spirit continues to be Virgin Atlantic\u2019s beating heart as it pushes the boundaries from carbon fibre aircraft and fleet upgrades to sustainable fuels.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t be prouder to be onboard Flight100 today alongside the teams at Virgin Atlantic and our partners, which have been working together to set the flight path for the decarbonisation of long-haul aviation.\u201d<\/p>\n The move is part of a wider government initiative to create cleaner skies. Earlier this month, the government announced the second round of the Advanced Fuels Fund, which saw nine projects receive \u00a353m<\/a> to scale up the sustainable aviation fuel industry.<\/p>\n The endeavour will be critical to reaching 2050 climate targets, with Virgin Atlantic\u2019s transatlantic flight providing essential data to accelerate the fuel\u2019s approval and understand its efficiency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Virgin Atlantic is pioneering the first-ever commercial transatlantic flight powered by 100% sustainable aviation fuel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":40586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[24653,24134],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK\u2019s sky-high Net Zero ambitions<\/h3>\n