From this Spring, the Dutch airline KLM will commence a new series of flights from Amsterdam to Oslo, powered by biofuel. The biofuel forms part of a project named ITAKA, which aims to provide a sustainable form of fuel for a worldwide biojet supply, via a hydrant system at Oslo Airport. The supply is being funded by the European Commission.
For the first time, the fuel will be available via hydrant instead of a refuelling truck. It will also use the existing infrastructure in place at Oslo Airport in order to keep costs down. This is a result of a collaboration between Air BP and Avinor, who are the airport operators at Oslo Airport.
As well as using the hydrant system, biofuel will occasionally be delivered via a refuelling truck. The purpose of the project is to assess the efficiency of biofuel in comparison with kerosene. Previously, KLM has completed similar experiments with Boeing and Airbus.
KLM currently has a mission statement which aims to lower CO2 emissions by 20% by the year 2020, when compared to its levels in 2011. It hopes to do this through renewing its fleet, using the sustainable biofuel and increasing the efficiency of flights. Currently, in terms of fuel efficiency and usage of sustainable biofuel, KLM is the leading airline.
The Amsterdam- Oslo flights have been made possible by partners of the Corporate Biofuel programme, which has recently expanded. Currently, corporations who participate in the programme pay a charge which covers the difference in price between sustainable biofuel and kerosene. Their investment is then fully utilised by KLM who use it to purchase biofuel which is added to the fuel pumped at their base in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, as well as other airports such as Oslo. As a consequence, the participating corporations reduce the amount of CO2 emissions that they produce as a result of business travel and also contribute to the further development of the biofuel market.
The Director of KLM’s Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Strategy said that he was ‘delighted’ to be able to confirm that KLM will continue to work with the project to develop sustainable fuel. He added that the airline had previously worked with the project to launch a series of biofuel flights between Amsterdam and Bonaire in 2014. Lastly, he said that the biofuel flights between Amsterdam and Oslo will be operated using the KLM Cityhopper’s Embraer 190 models.
If you wish to get more information about sustainable biofuel flights, call the KLM contact number.
