Air NZ's Green Flight makes History

[Mike W]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10550110

4:00AM Wednesday Dec 31, 2008

By Andrew Koubaridis

It was a history-making flight but it looked all very ordinary - and that's just how Air New Zealand wanted it.

The airline yesterday completed the world's first commercial aviation test flight using biofuel to power one of its Boeing 747-400's Rolls-Royce engines. The biofuel is a 50:50 blend of jatropha and Jet A1 fuel

The jatropha plant - which Air New Zealand sourced from Africa and India - produces seeds that contain inedible lipid oil, which is used to produce fuel.

Air New Zealand chief pilot Captain Dave Morgan told reporters and Air New Zealand staff by satellite phone that the flight was uneventful - and he couldn't have been more pleased.

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