In Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific welcomed the newest member to its fleet as the first of its 20 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft prepares to fly from Toulouse, France to the airline’s home of Hong Kong today on a blend of biofuel. Eight of these aircraft will be delivered this year with the remainder to arrive by 2021.
Cathay Pacific has been at the forefront of many initiatives to reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and like with delivery of its 22 A350-900 aircraft already in operation, all 20 A350-1000s will be flown from Toulouse, the home of Airbus, to Hong Kong using a blend of alternate jet fuel. Achieving carbon neutral growth from 2020 is an important target for Cathay Pacific and using alternative fuels is one of its pillar initiatives.
Cathay Pacific is also the world’s first airline to invest in biofuel technology. In 2014 it became an equity investor in US-based Fulcrum BioEnergy Inc., which focuses on turning municipal waste into sustainable aviation fuel. In May 2018, Fulcrum broke ground on its first commercial-scale plant in Nevada. When the plant begins operations in 2020, it will produce over 10 million gallons of fuel for airlines including Cathay Pacific each year.