Mark Harper hails first transatlantic 'green fuel' flight at Heathrow

Evening Standard

The first transatlantic flight by an airliner using pure sustainable aviation fuel (Saf) has been hailed as a "big step forward" ahead of its departure from Heathrow on Tuesday morning. Virgin Atlantic will operate the flight to New York JFK with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson, Transport Secretary Mark Harper and Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss will be among the passengers on the flight, which is not carrying fare-paying travellers.The Civil Aviation Authority reviewed various aspects of the flight before granting an operating permit, including analysing ground tests with an engine running on 100% Saf.

Transcript

00:00 We're looking at sustainable aviation fuel, big step forward today, first 100% use of

00:04 it in a big commercial flight.

00:06 We are also involved with supporting the industry to develop hydrogen and also electric flights

00:12 for shorter haul flights.

00:13 So all of that technology is being developed.

00:16 This is a really big step forward and it's because we want to make sure, this government

00:20 wants to make sure that ordinary people can continue flying cost effectively and get around

00:26 the world.

00:27 We know how much people wanted to do that, flying bounced back really quickly post pandemic

00:31 and we want to make sure people can continue to do so, but in a way that protects the environment.

00:35 But Kate Hewitt from the Aviation Environment Federation has said this is quite misleading,

00:43 that the reality is that we're not any closer to guilt free flying today than we have been

00:49 in the past.

00:50 Well look, there are those campaigners who want to tell ordinary people that they can't

00:58 fly.

00:59 That's their view, they're entitled to it, the government doesn't agree with them.

01:02 We want to use innovation, technological development, like we're seeing here today, massive support

01:10 from Virgin Atlantic, Rolls Royce on the engines, the industry, all of it is behind this sort

01:17 of technological development on sustainable aviation fuel, developing hydrogen, looking

01:22 at greenhouse gas removals.

01:24 We do all that through our Jet Zero Council with the support of the government and that's

01:29 what we want to deliver.

01:30 We think that's a better outcome, enabling people to carry on flying, but in a way that

01:33 delivers on our environmental commitments.

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