Air BP joins the ’Perfect Flight’ club

A plane trip across Sweden was dubbed the ‘Perfect Flight’ today. Not for its in-flight entertainment or comfortable leg room, but for the way it combined the latest in aircraft efficiency and the use of sustainable fuel to cut emissions by almost a half

Air BP supplied the fuel for a plane trip across Sweden today that achieved nearly half the emissions of regular journeys on the same route.

It joined forces with fuel producer Neste, Swedish Braathens Regional Airways and aircraft manufacturer ATR  to deliver the ’perfect flight’ from Halmstad to Stockholm.

For the first time every element in the flight management process was optimized to keep carbon emissions to a minimum, including:

• Using fuel derived from non-palm renewable and sustainable raw materials, which will produce 80% fewer emissions over its life-cycle compared with conventional jet fuel.
• Flying the ATR 72-600 aircraft that ATR says produces 40% fewer carbon emissions per trip compared with regional jets, saving 4,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per aircraft per year.
• Incorporating efficient flight-planning techniques for mapping the straightest route, the way the pilot flew the plane, and even the length of the taxi at the airport.

All these elements combined to successfully reduce emissions by 46% compared to the regular flights on this route. 

Why is this important?

With the electrification of commercial aircraft thought to be decades away, advances in aircraft efficiency and the use of sustainable aviation fuel are likely to play a significant role in supporting the aviation industry to meet its ambitious targets of reducing carbon emissions to half 2005 levels by 2050.  

The Perfect Flight was just the latest action Air BP has taken to reduce its carbon footprint. In addition to Halmstad, it has supplied sustainable aviation fuel at more than 10 airports, including Oslo Airport in Norway, where it was the first to supply sustainable aviation fuel via the existing airport fuelling infrastructure, and Chicago O’Hare International, as part of the Fly Green Day initiative. And, this week, Air BP will be offering sustainable aviation fuel at Caen Carpiquet Airport in France for the first time. 

In addition, Air BP was the first aviation fuel company to have its into-plane fuelling operations at more than 250 locations certified as carbon neutral and it has made a 10-year commitment to retaining this accreditation through a comprehensive carbon-reduction plan. Through BP Target Neutral, the business also offers customers carbon offsetting programmes. 

As well as its collaboration with Neste, Air BP continues to work with partners to support the commercialization of sustainable aviation fuel. In 2016, BP invested an initial $30 million in Fulcrum BioEnergy, which has developed and demonstrated a process for producing low-cost, sustainable aviation fuel from municipal solid waste. Fulcrum’s first plant is under construction in Reno, Nevada.