Air France-KLM launches its first long-haul flight powered by sustainable aviation fuel

Flight will travel from Paris to Montreal

Air France aims to use more biofuels (Air France)

Air France-KLM is set to launch the first long-haul flight powered by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made in France.

Taking off at 3.40pm on 19 May, flight 342 will depart from Paris-Charles de Gaulle and touch down in Montreal.

Total produced the SAF from used cooking oil at its La Mède biorefinery in southern France and at its Oudalle factory near Le Havre, without using any virgin plant-based oil.

Crucially, no modifications to storage and distribution infrastructure, aircraft or engines were required to incorporate the biofuel.

French legislation calls for airlines to use at least 1 per cent SAF by 2022 for all flights originating in France, ahead of the European goal to up this to 2 per cent by 2025 and 5 per cent by 2030, as part of the European Green Deal.

Airbus is conducting tests to certify airliners to fly with 100 per cent SAF in the coming decades. The French planemaker has also installed SAF refuelling stations at its industrial facilities so it can be used in production operations, as well as for aircraft deliveries.

Air France-KLM CEO Benjamin Smith said: “For many years, the Air France-KLM Group has been committed to reducing its environmental footprint. Together with the renewal of our fleet, sustainable aviation fuels constitute our main lever in the medium-term for reducing our CO2 emissions per passenger/km by half by 2030.

“These two actions are therefore central to our strategy, alongside eco-piloting and achieving carbon-neutral ground operations.

“France currently has the opportunity to position itself as a leader in the production and use of sustainable fuels and we are doing everything possible to contribute to this with our partners.”

It follows France’s decision to ban short domestic flights where passengers can take the train instead.

French lawmakers passed the measure to scrap routes where the same journey can be completed by rail in under two and a half hours on 10 April.

Industry Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told Europe 1 radio: “We know that aviation is a contributor of carbon dioxide and that because of climate change we must reduce emissions.

“Equally, we must support our companies and not let them fall by the wayside.”

The domestic flight ban is part of a wider climate bill aimed at tackling France’s emissions, cutting them by 40 per cent of 1990 levels by 2030.