Full service carrier Vistara has become the first Indian airline to operate a widebody jetliner on a long-haul flight using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). SAF can lower carbon emissions by up to 80% over the fuel’s life cycle, depending on the feedstock.
The ground-breaking ferry flight was operated in partnership with The Boeing Company and GE Aerospace on Vistara’s newest GEnx-powered Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The flight was made from Charleston International Airport, South Carolina to Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi.
Vinod Kannan, CEO, Vistara said the flight was an important milestone in the airline’s commitment towards achieving carbon neutrality, and he hoped that initiatives such as this would open up more avenues for the industry to increasingly adopt sustainable technologies.
The new aircraft is Vistara’s fourth Boeing 787 and the flight was operated using a fuel blend of 30% SAF with 70% conventional jet fuel. This would reduce approximately 150,000 pounds of CO₂ emissions over the fuel’s life cycle.
Salil Gupte, President, Boeing India said the airframer remained committed to working with Vistara and other partners to promote the use of SAF in the Indian aviation industry and around the world, in support of Boeing’s collective goal of achieving a sustainable future for air travel.
Vikram Rai, Country Head – South Asia & Indonesia, GE Aerospace said the GEnx engine, like all GE Aerospace engines, can operate on approved SAF blends today. “Compatibility with existing aircraft engines is one of the reasons SAF is critical to helping the aviation industry reach its goal to be net zero by 2050 and collaborations like this encouraging greater adoption of SAF globally helps bring us closer to this target,” Rai said.
Vistara is currently working under the TATA Aviation Sustainability Working Group along with the other aviation arms of the TATA group for reducing carbon emissions.
Along with other airline companies of the Tata group – Air India and Air Asia India – Vistara recently signed a MoU with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – Indian Institute of Petroleum to collaborate on the research, development and deployment of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs).
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