List of Aviation biofuel demonstration flights.
Demonstration flights Date Operator Platform Biofuel Notes 2 October 2007 GreenFlight International Aero L-29 Delfín Waste Vegetable Oil Greenflight International made the very first flight of an aircraft powered entirely by 100% biofuel from the Reno, Stead airport on the afternoon of 2 October 2007. There is no citation for this entry – it was made by the pilot that flew it. In November 2008 the same aircraft and flight crew flew from Reno, NV to Leesburg, FL using 100% biofuel for the first seven of the nine legs, the remaining three were completed on a 50% biofuel 50% JetA blend. February 2008 Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 Coconut and Babassu Virgin flew a biofuel test flight between London and Amsterdam, using a 20% blend of biofuels in one of its engines Supported by Boeing, GE Aviation and Imperium Renewables; Greenpeace qualified it as greenwash, as organic oil production could lead to deforestation, increasing greenhouse gas emissions. December 2008 Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 Jatropha A two-hour test flight using a 50–50 mixture of the new biofuel with Jet A-1 in the number one position Rolls-Royce RB211 engine of 747-400 ZK-NBS, was successfully completed on 30 December 2008. The engine was then removed to be scrutinised and studied to identify any differences between the Jatropha blend and regular Jet A1. No effects to performance were found.'Air New Zealand Demonstration Flight' The airline expects Jatropha to avoid competing with food crops and to be cost competitive with replaced jet fuels. January 2009 Continental Airlines Boeing 737-800 Algae and Jatropha Continental Airlines ran the first flight of an algae-fueled jet. The flight from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport completed a circuit over the Gulf of Mexico. The pilots on board executed a series of tests at , including a mid-flight engine shutdown. Larry Kellner, chief executive of Continental Airlines, said they had tested a drop-in fuel which meant that no modification to the engine was required. The fuel was praised for having a low flash point and sufficiently low freezing point, issues that have been problematic for other bio-fuels. Over 1.5 hours, the engine operating on a blend of 44% Jatropha oil, 6% Algae oil and 50% traditional jet fuel burned 46 kg less fuel, while producing more thrust from the same volume of fuel. January 2009 Japan Airlines Boeing 747-300 Camelina, Jatropha and algae Japan Airlines conducted a one and a half hour flight with one engine burning a 50/50 mix of Jet-A and biofuel from the Camelina plant.November 2009KLMBoeing 747-400CamelinaKLM conducted a flight with one engine burning 50/50 mix of Jet A-1 and Sustainable Aviation fuel based on the Camelina plane. April 2010 United States Navy F/A-18 Camelina The Navy tested this biofuel blend on the F⁄A-18 Super Hornet aka "Green Hornet". Results from those tests indicated the aircraft performed as expected through its full flight envelope with no degradation of capability. March 2010 United States Air Force A-10 Camelina On March 25, 2010, the United States Air Force conducted the first flight of an aircraft with all engines powered by a biofuel blend. The flight, performed on an A-10 at Eglin Air Force Base, used a 50/50 blend of JP-8 and Camelina-based fuel. June 2010 Dutch Military Ah-64 Apache Helicopter Waste vegetable oil June 2010 EADS Diamond D42 Algae Occurred at an air show in Berlin in June 2010. November 2010 United States Navy Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk Camelina Flown on 50⁄50 biofuel blend Nov. 18, 2010 in Patuxent River, Md. The helicopter, from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 21 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River tested a fuel mixture made from the Camelina seed. November 2010 TAM Airbus A320 Jatropha A 50⁄50 biofuel blend of conventional and jatropha oil June 2011 Boeing Boeing 747-8F Camelina Boeing flew its new model 747-8F to the Paris Air Show with all four engines burning a 15% mix of biofuel from camelinaJune 2011 Honeywell Gulfstream G450 Camelina The first transatlantic biofuels flight using a 50/50 blend of camelina-based biofuel and petroleum-based fuel. August 2011 United States Navy McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk Camelina Successfully flew a T-45 training aircraft using biofuels at the Naval Air Station (NAS) in Patuxent River, Maryland. The flight was completed by the “Salty Dogs” of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 flying on biofuel mixture of 50/50 petroleum-based JP-5 jet fuel and plant-based camelina. September 2011 United States Navy McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II Camelina Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake performed the first bio-fuel flight test in AV-8B Harrier from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31. October 2011 Air China Boeing 747-400 Jatropha Air China flew China's first flight using aviation biofuels. The flight was conducted using Chinese grown jatropha oil from PetroChina. The flight was 2 hours in duration above Beijing, and used 50% biofuel in 1 engine.http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2011-10/29/content_14000985.htm 'China's first biofuels flight' November 2011 Continental Airlines Boeing 737-800 Algae United / Continental flew a biofuel flight from IAH to ORD on algae jet fuel supplied by Solazyme. The fuel was partially derived from genetically modified algae that feed on plant waste and produce oil. It was the first biofuel-powered air service in the US. November 2011 Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 and Bombardier Q400 Algae Alaska Airlines and its sister carrier, Horizon Air, converted 75 flights on their schedules to run on a fuel mixture of 80% kerosene and 20% biofuel derived from used cooking oil. The biofuel was made by Dynamic Fuels, a joint venture of Tyson Foods and Syntroleum Corp. January 2012 Etihad Airways Boeing 777-300ER Waste vegetable oil Etihad Airways conducted a biofuel flight from Abu Dhabi to Seattle using a combination of traditional jet fuel and fuel based on recycled vegetable cooking oil April 2012 Qantas Airbus A330 Refined cooking oil Qantas used 50/50 mix of biofuel supplied by SkyNRG and Jet-A fuel in one engine for a flight from Sydney to Adelaide. April 2012 Porter Airlines Bombardier Q400 Camelina and Brassica carinata Porter Airlines used 50/50 mix of biofuel (49% Camelina sativa and 1% Brassica carinataand) and Jet-A fuel in one engine for a flight from Toronto to Ottawa. October 2012 NRC Dassault Falcon 20 Brassica carinata First jet to fly on 100% biofuels that meet petroleum specifications without blending. Fuel was produced by Applied Research Associates (ARA) and Chevron Lummus Global (CLG) from carinata oil supplied by Agrisoma Biosciences. March 2013 Paramus Flying Club Cessna 182 Skylane Waste vegetable oil First piston engine aircraft to fly with a 50/50 blend of aviation biofuel and conventional Jet-A (as specified by ASTM D7566). First piston engine aircraft to fly with a biofuel blend operating under a standard (not experimental) airworthiness certificate. Demonstration flight from North Central State Airport (KSFZ) in Rhode Island to First Flight Airport (KFFA) in North Carolina took place on March 2, 2013. The Cessna 182 had been converted under STC to be powered by an SMA jet-fuel diesel cycle piston engine, and the blended biofuel was provided by SkyNRG of Holland. December 22, 2014 United States Navy F/A-18 ATJ-SPK (Alcohol-to-Jet Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene) The United States Navy tested a 50/50 blend of alcohol-to-jet biofuel provided by Gevo, Inc in supersonic (above Mach 1) afterburner operations. The demonstration proved Gevo, Inc's ATJ-SPK to be a viable alternative for both military and commercial applications. Spring 2018BoeingBoeing 777FParaffinic biofuelAs part of Boeing's ecoDemonstrator program, this aircraft made the world's first commercial airliner flights using 100% biofuel. July, 2018 Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 MLU Waste vegetable oil During a two-week period the Royal Netherlands Air Force tested a fuel blend with 5% biofuel provided by AltAir Fuels, California. August 28, 2018SpiceJetBombardier Q400Agricultural residues, non-edible oils and bio-degradable fractions of industrial and municipal wastesIndia's first biofuel-powered flight was successfully tested between Dehradun to Delhi carrying DGCA officials to ascertain the feasibility of biofuel powered flights. January 16, 2019Etihad AirwaysBoeing 787SalicorniaEtihad Airways flew the first Salicornia plant biofuel powered plane from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam using 50–50 mix of Salicornia plant with traditional fuel.November 16, 2022Royal Air ForceAirbus A330 MRTT VoyagerRefined cooking oilThe RAF, in conjunction with Airbus, Rolls Royce and others, completed a replicated refuelling exercise from RAF Brize Norton, using 100% sustainable aviation fuel in both engines. It is claimed to be "the world’s first 100% SAF flight using an in-service military aircraft of its size".
Commercial flights