Etihad prepares ‘homegrown’ biofuels flight

ETIHAD AIRWAYS IS planning its first ‘home-grown’ biofuels flight in 2018 and its third overall. Oil will be harvested and crushed from seeds this summer at the two-hectare site, which is operated by Masdar Institute and funded by the non-profit Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium.“The aim is to use that oil on a flight, probably early next year,” said Linden Coppell, Head of Sustainability.

To date, Etihad has made two biofuels flights, involving a B777 delivery from Seattle in January 2012 (around 10 per cent was powered by alternative fuel) and ‘BIOjet Abu Dhabi’, which included fuel made from plants and saw final refining to jet grade carried out in the UAE capital.