SEPANG: A total of 129 people have flown from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore on an aircraft partly fuelled by cooking oil.
The cooking oil was among the “ingredients” in the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) used on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH603 yesterday.
This environmentally friendly fuel option produced by the world’s largest SAF producer, Neste, could reduce carbon emissions by 80% in line with Malaysia Aviation Group’s (MAG) sustainability efforts to minimise its carbon footprint.
The flight operated on the Boeing 737-800 aircraft used a blend of 38% SAF and conventional jet fuel.
MAG chief sustainability officer Phillip See said the company aimed to become a pioneer in using SAF for flights in Malaysia as part of its commitment to achieving socio- economic development and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
“The airline industry only contributes 2% of global carbon emissions at the moment. But because of slow-paced action collectively, if we do nothing by 2050, we would reach 10% of emission.
“It goes to show the incredible amount of work we need to do to get to net zero emissions,” See said during the sending-off ceremony at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) yesterday.
He said SAF would also be the cleaner and more viable energy option for Malaysia Airlines regular flights by 2025.
The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route was chosen as the maiden passenger flight path of the SAF-powered flight as it reflected the best segment for the airline’s cargo and commercial services.
Last December, the national carrier had its first SAF-powered flight through cargo from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Kuala Lumpur.
Despite SAF being comparatively pricier than conventional jet fuels, See said it would not affect flight ticket pricing.
Petronas Dagangan Bhd was in charge of the SAF product handling and refuelling at KLIA while its Europe-based Petco Trading (UK) was the fuel supplier.
