Virgin airlines completes world's first transatlantic flight powered by cooking oil

A Virgin Atlantic plane, fueled by a blend of waste cooking oil, animal fats, and other unconventional sources, took off from London's Heathrow Airport en route to New York.

According to the BBC, this flight, considered a milestone in the aviation industry's efforts to decarbonize, is the first time a commercial airline operated a long-haul flight entirely powered by sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). These SAFs emit less carbon over their lifecycle compared to traditional jet fuel.

While the plane's tailpipe still emitted the same amount of CO₂ as normal jet fuel, the net emissions from the flight, powered by waste products, were expected to be approximately 70% lower than a typical transatlantic trip using fossil fuel extracted from the ground.

Sir Richard Branson, co-founder of Virgin Atlantic and a passenger on the flight, expressed optimism about challenging the belief that sustainable fuels couldn't power a plane across the Atlantic. However, he acknowledged that there is still significant work to be done in this area.

Given that breakthrough technologies such as hydrogen or electric-powered flights are still years away, the aviation industry is placing its hopes on new fuels to achieve its commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050 while continuing to pursue growth in the coming decades.