UK/US – sustainable flight
A very special Virgin Atlantic passenger plane will take off from Heathrow Airport in London Tuesday to head for JFK Airport in New York. The aircraft will be the first airliner to cross the Atlantic powered entirely by a renewable type of fuel called SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel). The aviation industry sees Tuesday’s flight as a way to show the world that there is potential for more environmentally friendly aviation. The aircraft is a Boeing 787 with engines from Rolls-Royce. The flight comes after a small Gulfstream G600 business jet successfully crossed using the same fuel. Virgin Atlantic’s founder, billionaire Richard Branson, the airline’s chief executive, Shai Weiss, and the UK’s transport secretary, Mark Harper, will all be on board the plane. It is scheduled to take off from London at 11:30 a.m. local time. It will land in New York at 14:40 local time. /ritzau/Reuters