Air China Marks First Commercial Use of SAF In China
Aug. 09, 2023
Air China has completed China's first use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in a commercial flight.
The test flight from Hangzhou to Beijing was carried out by an Airbus A350 wide-body aircraft. About 10 percent of the plane's fuel was SAF blend from a domestic supplier.
Each of the passengers on the flight received an environment-friendly notebook made of stones and a signature pen made of recycled bottles.
The cutlery used on the plane is also recyclable.
Leading airlines in China are making great efforts to go green, as the country aims to plateau the carbon emissions from civil aviation by 2035.
The use of SAF is widely seen as an important way to reduce carbon emission in aviation, which is expected to contribute 65 percent to achieving Net Zero Carbon in 2050, according to a report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The IATA said the number of flights that use SAF has increased from 500 in 2016 to 450,000. The number is expected to reach 2 million by 2025.