Neste Oil’s NExBTL renewable aviation fuel was used for the first time to power an intercontinental flight. Lufthansa used the fuel on 12 january on a regular scheduled service from Frankfurt, Germany, to Washington D.C, USA.
The German airline calculates that using biofuel on the flight will reduce airborne CO2 emissions by as much as 38 t, equivalent to the CO2 released by six flights between Frankfurt and Berlin.
The flight marks the end of a six-month trial by Neste Oil and Lufthansa during which the airline flew a total of 1,187 flights between Frankfurt and Hamburg using the renewable aviation fuel. Lufthansa said that a total of approx. 1,500 t of CO2 emissions were eliminated during the trial. Thanks to the higher energy density of the fuel, also the fuel consumption was reduced by more than 1 %.
There were no problems during the flights, and the aircraft engines performed exactly as they would flying on conventional fossil-based Jet A-1.
Image: © Lufthansa Systems
