Business
China completes first passenger flight with biofuel
Beijing, March 21
China on Saturday completed
its first passenger flight with sustainable biofuel, a milestone for
the country's commercial aviation industry.
The Hainan Airlines
flight -- a Boeing 737 -- carried over 100 passengers from Shanghai to
Beijing using biofuel made by Sinopec from waste cooking oil collected
from restaurants in China, Xinhua reported.
The two engines of
the aircraft were powered by the fuel, which was a blend approximately
of half biofuel and half traditional jet fuel, the company said.
"We
are honoured to see our flight with safe and effective biofuel," said
Pu Ming, vice president of Hainan Airlines, who was also the pilot.
Boeing
has been collaborating with Chinese airlines to develop the aviation
biofuel industry. In 2011, Air China conducted China's first test flight
with aviation biofuel with a Boeing 747 plane.