The first commercial flight of Airbus aircraft in mainland China drinks "gutter oil"

CTOnews.com, November 23, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is a hot concept in the aviation field at present. It is an alternative fuel produced in a sustainable way, using waste animal and vegetable oils, oil, municipal solid waste and agricultural and forestry wastes as raw materials. Compared with traditional fossil fuels, SAF fuels generate up to 85 per cent less carbon emissions from raw material collection to end-user use.

Airbus recently joined hands with colorful Guizhou Airlines to successfully complete the first passenger commercial flight of Airbus aircraft in mainland China using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The flight from Ningbo to Guiyang was flown by an Airbus A320neo of colorful Guizhou Airlines. The plane was fueled with 10% sustainable aviation fuel.

CTOnews.com learned that SAF fuel is purchased by Airbus from China Aviation Oil Group Co., Ltd., and refined and produced by Sinopec Zhenhai Refinery using catering waste oil as raw material, so it can be said to be "gutter oil".

Airbus said that colorful Guizhou Airlines operates eight Airbus A320neo aircraft, which can reduce fuel consumption and noise by at least 20 per cent and 50 per cent compared with the previous generation of aircraft.