Originally published on asia.businesstraveller.com 19/06/2012   RSS

A day after Air Canada’s biofuel-operated commercial flight between Canada and Mexico (see story here), KLM is set to operate the world’s longest flight powered partly by biofuels, KL705, between Amsterdam and Rio de Janeiro for the Rio+20 conference, using a Boeing B777-200.

The Dutch carrier was in fact the first carrier to begin scheduled commercial flights using biofuels last year, between Amsterdam and Paris, followed by Lufthansa. Now, KLM is taking things one step further with this long-haul flight.

The fuel consists partially of used cooking oil and was developed in partnership with SkyNRG, which supplies sustainable fuel to more than 15 carriers worldwide.

Though sustainable fuels are seen by many as essential in reducing the industry’s carbon footprint, they are not yet a commercially viable option. Qantas has therefore taken the initiative to look into developing the biofuel industry so that it can be sold at competitive prices (see story here). 

For more information, visit www.klm.com

Alisha Haridasani