A flight powered solely by sustainable aviation fuel will today for the first time make the transatlantic crossing.
Having departed London's Heathrow airport at around 11.30 am, the Virgin Atlantic-operated Boeing 787 will make the journey to New York’s JFK International Airport powered entirely by less environmentally-damaging fuel which has been produced from waste products.
Dubbed sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), this is widely viewed as an alternative to traditionally-used kerosene as the aviation sector bids to reduce emissions.
“Today’s historic flight [...] shows how we can both decarbonise transport and enable passengers to keep flying,” UK transport secretary Mark Harper commented.
Commercial flights account for around 3% of global emissions, but the use of SAF aims to drastically reduce this given the fuel produces roughly 70% less carbon over its life cycle.
Today’s flight - known as Flight100 - was set to be powered by Rolls-Royce engines running on waste fats which could not enter the food chain, according to the government - which itself awarded Virgin £1 million toward the project last year.
The world’s first 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) transatlantic flight by a commercial airline has taken off!
The @Rolls-Royce Trent1000 powered @VirginAtlantic 787 is flying to JFK from LHR demonstrating the capability of SAF. #PowerofTrent #VS100https://t.co/SBVKyk4ZAQ pic.twitter.com/4gCC7LpKpa
— Rolls-Royce (@RollsRoyce) November 28, 2023
“The world will always assume something can’t be done, until you do it,” Virgin Atlantic founder Richard Branson said.
“The spirit of innovation is getting out there and trying to prove that we can do things better for everyone’s benefit.”
Given the flight will be the first to cross the Atlantic without using any fossil-based fuel, Virgin’s crossing has been dubbed as a major milestone for the industry.
However, the airline also used the opportunity to call for more to be done to support large-scale production of SAF, given supply chains are still in their infancy.
“There’s simply not enough SAF and it’s clear that in order to reach production at scale, we need to see significantly more investment,” chief executive Shai Weiss said.
“This will only happen when regulatory certainty and price support mechanisms are in place.
“Flight100 proves that if you make it, we’ll fly it.”
Further concern has been raised around future use of the fuel, with climate policy head of think tank Green Alliance, Helena Bennett, disputing that SAF will be a viable replacement to conventional fuels in the future.
Given the waste products used for today's flight are already comprised in biodiesel, future supply may not be sufficient, she argued, adding that emissions were also not completely cut through the use of SAF.