An Air France Airbus A321 has flown a scheduled flight between Toulouse and Paris/Orly which was able to cut CO2 emmissions in half due to a combination of “optimised” air traffic management (ATM) procedures including continuous descent approach, and the use of biofuels.
Flight AF6129 used a 50:50 biofuel/jet fuel mix in both engines, which, together with the optimised ATM and flying a continuous descent approach reduced CO2 emissions to 54 grams per passenger per kilometre, according to Airbus.
“This is not just a biofuel flight but the first flight that really puts into practice elements in the Airbus roadmap: biofuels, optimised ATM, green navigation,” said Andrea Debbane, head environmental affairs at Airbus.