India to Test First Biofuel-Powered Flight – Reports

15:01 GMT, 24 August 2018

CC BY-SA 2.0 / Cory W. Watts / Bombardier Q-400

India plans to test its first biofuel flight on Monday with its low-fare private airline Spice Jet all set to operate its turboprop Q-400 aircraft from Dehradun to the national capital, Delhi. If the test is successful, India will be the first developing country to adopt the sustainable alternative jet fuel.

Sputnik

New Delhi (Sputnik): The test flight of India's first biofuel-powered commercial airplane, a Bombardier Q-400, will take off from the northern hill station of Dehradun, fly over the city for 10 minutes and the return to the same airport, according to media reports. If the test goes well, then the Spice Jet plane will take off again and this time head to the national capital, Delhi. The two cities are roughly an hour apart by plane.

The flight regulatory authority of India, DGCA, will be keeping an eye on the whole operation.

India's Biofuel Policy defines a biofuel as fuel produced from renewable resources and used in place of or blended with diesel, petrol, or other fossil fuels for transport, stationary, portable and other applications.

The world's first biofuel-powered flight was operated in 2011 by Alaska Airlines using biofuel containing cooking oil. KLM airline had operated a few biofuel flights between New York and Amsterdam in 2013. In January this year Australian carrier Qantas flew a Dreamliner Boeing 787-9 between Los Angeles and Melbourne.