Mexico's domestic air carrier Interjet and Airbus on Saturday carried out the first bio-fuel demo flight using an Airbus A320 plane, a government official said.
Gilberto Lopez Meyer, Mexico's director of airports and auxiliary services, said one of the two engines powering the aircraft used 30 percent bio-fuel as the A320 flew from Mexico City International airport to Angel Albino Corzo of Tuxtla Gutierrez airport in the southern state of Chiapas.
The fuel is made from a locally grown oil-producing plant, jatropha.
"The test flight is the realization of a two year ambition for Interjet to develop a production chain for renewable bio-fuel, with the purpose of creating a Mexican platform for sustainable aviation bio-kerosene," Interjet President Miguel Aleman said in a press release on Friday.
Jatropha is crucial to efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and has the potential to reduce the overall carbon dioxide footprint by up to 80 percent over standard aviation kerosene, Airbus said.
MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti)
