UK-based Thomson Airlines will be the first airline to implement the use of biofuels on commercial flights. Using biokerosene — a 50/50 blend of jet fuel and hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) fuel made from used cooking oil — the airline will begin flights from Birmingham to Palma, Mallorca (a.k.a.: Majorca, a small island off the Spanish coast), later this month.
This specific biofuel blend has already been tested by Dutch airline KLM (who has been testings the use of biofuels since 2009) last week on a successful 171 passenger, Boeing 737-800 flight between Amsterdam and Paris, and its safety will be further tested before Thomson begins their weekly flight service to Spain.
This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 6, 2011.