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Thai Airways conducts biofuel test flight
Dec 21, 2011, 8:48 GMT
Bangkok - Thai Airways International PCL on Wednesday made its first test flight using biofuel, which it said was aimed at stimulating more investment in alternative energies for the aviation industry.
TG Flight 8421, using a Boeing 777-200 aircraft, took off from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport and returned 20 minutes later without mishap, flying on aviation biofuel supplied by Amsterdam-based SkyNRG.
'This is a starting point to stimulate petroleum companies and related industries to invest more in biofuels for the aviation industry,' said the airline's president, Piyasvasti Amranand, who joined the passengers on the flight.
Thailand's national carrier plans to operate Asia's first commercial flight using biofuel Thursday with TG Flight 104 from Bangkok to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.
The 8 tons of imported biofuel cost the airline 2.5 million baht (83,333 dollars), considerably above the price of the same amount of fossil fuel.
The International Air Transport Association - an organization for the aviation industry, which accounts for an estimated 2 per cent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions - has pledged to halve the industry's carbon footprint by 2050.
'To reduce our emissions by 50 per cent, there is a need to develop new airplanes and new airplane engines,' said Piyasvasti, who was Thailand's energy minister in 2008. 'The use of biofuels is crucial to reducing greenhouse gases.'
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