Air Canada first airline to operate flight on recycled oil and regular fuel

Jun 21 2012

Air Canada has become the first airline to conduct a flight using a 50/50 part recycled oil and regular fuel, with the biofuel composition fuelling an Airbus A319 from Toronto to Mexico City.

If you board a flight that smells of a fast food chain, it probably isn’t a change to the onboard catering menu. In fact, it is likely to be part of an emerging trend among airlines using cooking oil as biofuel, with the first flight being operated by Air Canada between Toronto and Mexico City arriving without any problems.

Biofuel analysis of the flight showed that there was a 40 per cent cut in emissions from the flight, compared to the same journey being flown on regular fuel. Reduced thrust at take-off, adjusted air conditioning, optimized cruising, climbing, and descending speeds also helped to reduce emissions on the five-hour flight.

Fabrice Brégier, Airbus president and CEO said: “[Yesterday's] flight with Air Canada proves that the aviation industry is in a strong position to reduce emissions.

“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.”

The airline is hoping to continue its push towards alternative fuels, making their route from Canada to Rio de Janeiro a green flight. All parties involved in producing the fuel ensured that the used cooking oil biofuel composition was recertified under normal jet fuel standards, and therefore safe to power an average aircraft’s engine.

Although this is not a completely foolproof alternative to regular fuels, it certainly signals a significant step towards using greener fuels. Duncan Dee, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Air Canada said: “Air Canada fully accepts its responsibility to reduce its footprint and our first flight using biofuel tangibly demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the environment.”

“Since 1990 our airline has become 30 percent more fuel efficient.”