Full-service carrier Vistara on Thursday said it has become India’s first airline to operate a wide-body aircraft using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on a long-haul route.
For the uninitiated, SAF is a cleaner and more sustainable alternative to conventional jet fuel, lowering carbon emissions by up to 80% over the fuel’s life cycle, ‘depending on the feedstock’.
According to the airline, the ground-breaking ferry flight from Charleston International Airport, South Carolina to Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi was operated on Vistara’ s newest ‘GEnx-powered Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner’ aircraft, the fourth in its fleet.
The flight was operated in partnership with The Boeing Company and GE Aerospace.
As per Vistara, by using a blend of 30% SAF with 70% conventional jet fuel, it was able to reduce approximately 150,000 pounds of ‘CO2 emissions’ over the fuel’s life cycle.
“This is an important milestone in our commitment towards achieving carbon neutrality,” Vinod Kannan, chief executive officer, Vistara was quoted as saying in an official statement.
“Since the very beginning, Vistara had decided to invest in modern and advanced new aircraft with fuel efficient engines, and we remain committed towards reducing carbon emissions across all areas of our operations.”
Currently, the airline is working under the ‘Tata Aviation Sustainability Working Group’ along with the other aviation arms of the Tata group for reducing carbon emissions.
“Vistara, along with other airline companies of the Tata group – Air India and Air Asia India, recently signed an MoU with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – Indian Institute of Petroleum to collaborate on the research, development and deployment of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs),” the statement said.
“The airline would also be jointly working through the ‘Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation’ (CORSIA), to lower CO2 emissions for international flights and to curb the industry’s impact on climate change.”
