Airbus A380 makes test flight on alternative fuel

Dan Lalor

BRISTOL, England (Reuters) - An Airbus A380, the world's largest airliner, became the first commercial jet aircraft to use alternative fuel on Friday, marking a milestone on the road to biofuels.

The double-decker A380 needed no modification to use the gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuel, which was designed to be mixed with regular jet fuel so "the aeroplane does not know the difference," Airbus said.

Airbus hopes the plane, hit by production delays, will become the centrepiece of efforts to develop the next generation of cleaner fuel at a time when the aviation industry is under pressure over the impact of emissions on the climate.

Sebastien Remy, head of Airbus SAS's alternative fuel programme, said the GTL used on Friday was no cleaner in CO2 (carbon dioxide) terms than regular fuel but it had local air quality benefits because it produces no sulphur.

He said the take-off showed Airbus was "preparing for (the) emergence of a wider slate of synthetic fuels".

By 2025, he said, a quarter of jet fuel could be some form of alternative fuel.

The fuel used, a mix of 60 percent standard jet kerosene and 40 percent GTL, was used in one of the A380's four engines.

The GTL was made in Malaysia from natural gas and, as such, is a fossil fuel not a biofuel, which are made from renewable resources.