Virgin Atlantic just used cooking oil for a long-haul commercial flight. Watch video

On November 28, Tuesday, a Virgin Atlantic passenger jet fuelled entirely by Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) accomplished a journey from London to New York. The SAF was made with used cooking oil and waste animal fat, mixed with a small amount of synthetic aromatic kerosene made from waste corn.

What 

• Flight details: A Virgin Atlantic flight that departed London's Heathrow airport at 11.59 am GMT on November 28, Tuesday landed at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport at 2.05 pm EST (7.05 pm GMT), where it was met by US Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg, among others.

• This is not the first time where the aviation industry has organised demonstrations to focus its aim to reduce emissions and request government assistance. In fact, the flight on Tuesday included only Virgin's billionaire founder, Richard Branson, and a small group, with plans to return to London utilising conventional jet fuel.

History at 38,000ft. Virgin Atlantic is currently flying the world's first 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel flight across the Atlantic by a commercial airline. Flight100 marks the culmination of more than a year of radical cross industry collaboration to see this take to the skies. pic.twitter.com/97mLaa4hoj

— virginatlantic (@VirginAtlantic) November 28, 2023

But

The substantial cost and limited availability of materials required for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) pose challenges to widespread production. Currently, SAF comprises less than 0.1% of the overall global jet fuel consumption and is priced three to five times higher than conventional jet fuel.

• This flight operated by a Virgin Boeing 787 powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, was the first time a commercial airliner has flown long haul on 100% SAF. The flight had no paying passengers or cargo.

• Before the flight took off, Richard Branson said in London, "It's going to take a while before we can get enough fuel where everybody's going to be able to fly. But you've got to start somewhere."

So proud to be onboard @VirginAtlantic’s Flight100 today, the world’s first 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) transatlantic flight by a commercial airline https://t.co/UZJcvl1Dw7 #VS100 pic.twitter.com/PvXZzwB2r6

— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) November 28, 2023

• Engines in commercial use are not yet certified to fly on more than 50% SAF. The vast majority of flights blend in a much lower amount of SAF with traditional jet fuel.

• SAF is already used in jet engines as part of a blend with traditional kerosene, but after successful ground tests, Virgin and its partners Rolls-Royce, Boeing, BP and others won permission to fly using only SAF from the US Federal Aviation Administration, Canadian and UK regulators.

Airlines are pinning their hopes on fuel derived from waste to achieve emissions reductions of up to 70%.