Qatar Airways said it has completed the world’s first commercial passenger flight powered by fuel made from natural gas, marking an important step for the aviation industry’s efforts to reduce its dependency on oil-based fuel.
The flight from London Gatwick to Doha Monday was operated with an Airbus A340-600 aircraft using a mixture of synthetic gas to liquids kerosene and conventional oil-based kerosene fuel developed by Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN), the airline said in an emailed statement late Monday.
“This milestone flight is the first step in making this alternative fuel available to airlines,” Qatar Airways’ Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said in the statement.
Qatar is set to become the world’s leading producer of GTL kerosene when it is put into commercial production from 2012.
Shell and Qatar Petroleum are building the world’s largest gas-to-liquids, or GTL, plant in the gas-rich Gulf state.
The first phase of the Pearl GTL facility being built at Ras Laffan Industrial City is scheduled for completion by the end of next year.
The plant will produce around 1 million tons per annum of GTL kerosene from 2012, enough to fuel a commercial aircraft for 500 million kilometers, the statement said.
“Qatar’s position as the GTL capital of the world has been further enhanced with today’s achievement,” Abdulla bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Qatar’s deputy prime minister and minister of energy and industry said in the statement.
A number of airlines, including Virgin Atlantic, Continental Airlines (CAL) and Air New Zealand (AIR.NZ), have been testing biofuels on commercial flights.
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Last December, Air New Zealand successfully flew a test flight powered by second-generation biofuel. It was the world’s first test flight using jatropha biofuel and followed a Virgin Atlantic test flight earlier in the year using a blend including coconut oil and babassu nut oil.
However, Qatar Airways claims to be the first airline to use GTL kerosene on a commercial passenger flight.
GTL jet fuel, with GTL kerosene up to 50%, was fully and unconditionally approved as safe for use in civil aviation by ASTM International last month.
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