Hosted by Virgin Atlantic and Boeing, the reception took place on 7 May in the State Rooms in the Speaker’s House at the House of Commons in London and was led by Mr Speaker, the Rt Hon Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP. Federica was joined by Air bp colleagues – Enrique Vila Lopez, commercial aviation/ military senior account manager, Europe C&P Aviation - customers and Graeme Mackie, commercial aviation/ military senior regional sales manager, EMEA, C&P aviation – customers.
Virgin’s Flight100 took place on 28 November, 2023 from London Heathrow (LHR) to New York JFK and was operated by a Boeing 787-9 aircraft powered by Rolls Royce Trent 100 engines. The findings indicated that the flight saved of 95 tonnes of CO2, or 64% of the emissions produced compared to a standard flight from LHR to JFK.
Findings from the flight also showed that the use of SAF could lead to the use of less fuel, since the flight burned 350kg less fuel than expected. Additional benefits beyond carbon reductions saw a 40% reduction in non-CO2 particulate emissions, suggesting SAF could have a material impact on improving local air quality at airports and reducing the formation of persistent contrails.
Meanwhile, operational efficiencies including direct routing and reduced taxi time resulted in 2.2 tonnes of jet fuel saving, or 4% of overall fuel burn.
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