Mainland China’s First Proving Flight Powered by Sustainable Aviation Biofuel Was A Success

In October, at Beijing Capital International Airport (Capital Airport for short), Air China Limited (Air China for short) conducted a proving flight, which was powered by sustainable aviation biofuels for the first time. During this flight, the Boeing 747 took off smoothly and after it flew for an hour, it landed at Capital Airport successfully. This signifies that biofuels have taken an important step towards its application in mainland China’s aviation market. During the one hour test flight, the Boeing 747 should have completed the verification of many technical indexes, such as flight altitude and flight speed, etc. and then flown back with the flight data it had recieved in this flight test so that the biofuels may be thoroughly examined. The aviation biofuel used for this test flight has a quality that is up to or above current aviation fuel standards. When using aviation biofuels, it is neither necessary to refit the aircraft or the aircraft’s engines, nor is it necessary to rebuild the fuel storage and transportation facilities, or to build new facilities of this kind, as aviation biofuels and traditional fossil fuels can be used directly in place of each other. The standards for aviation hybrid fuels (containing biofuels) have passed the related authentification so aviation biofuels can be used in commercial flights. Based on these excellent features, aviation biofuel can be a substitute for traditional fossil energy. When aviation biofuel has been industrialized, it will effectively ease the pressure on the aviation industry caused by oil shortages. The success of Air China’s proving flight fueled with aviation biofuels is a landmark moment in China’s aviation development history, as it shows that aviation biofuels can effectively bring down operational costs and cut greenhouse gas emissions.