Future of flight takes to the skies

The Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, travelled on the 28 November flight alongside Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive Shai Weiss and Virgin’s founder, Sir Richard Branson, making it the first commercial airline to fly across the pond without the use of any fossil-based jet fuel. 

“Today’s historic flight shows how we can both decarbonise transport and enable passengers to keep flying when and where they want,” said Mr Harper. 

“This government has backed today’s flight to take-off, and we will continue to support the UK’s emerging SAF industry as it creates jobs, grows the economy and gets us to Jet Zero. 

“The world will always assume something can’t be done, until you do it,” added Sir Richard Branson. “The spirit of innovation is getting out there and trying to prove that we can do things better for everyone’s benefit.  

“Virgin Atlantic has been challenging the status quo and pushing the aviation industry to never settle and do better since 1984.  

“I couldn’t be prouder to be on board Flight100 today alongside the teams at Virgin Atlantic and our partners, which have been working together to set the flight path for the decarbonisation of long-haul aviation.” 

The government announced the second round of the Advanced Fuel Fund on 17 November, which saw nine projects receive £53 million to help scale up SAF production in the UK and help “lead the charge for making SAF more readily available”. 

SAF has a greenhouse gas emissions reduction of around 70% when compared against standard jet fuel over its life cycle – allowing greener travel and keeping the UK connected to the world.  

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Published On: 07/12/2023 12:30:00

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