Aviation

Singapore Airlines takes off with biofuel-powered flights

IN A bid to reduce international aviation emissions, Singapore Airlines has launched the world’s first “green package” flights powered in part by sustainable biofuel produced from used cooking oil.

The biofuel will be combined with the usual jet fuel in a series of 12 flights over the next three months on the Airbus A350-900, which the airline company hails as its “most fuel-efficient aircraft”, it said in a press release.
The 12 biofuel flights will be on the airline’s non-stop Singapore-San Francisco route.
The first flight, SQ31, arrived in Singapore from San Francisco on Tuesday night local time with 206 passengers on board after a 17-hour flight

The airline’s chief executive officer hopes the biofuel-powered flights, together with fuel-efficient aircraft and optimised flight operations, will improve the company’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions.

“We now want to push ourselves further and are embarking on this initiative to help promote the use of sustainable biofuel in an operationally and commercially viable manner,” said Singapore Airlines chief executive officer Goh Choon Phong.
The green package is in collaboration with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, which will offer optimised flight operations such as rerouting a flight’s lateral profile based on updated weather forecasts to save fuel.

Aviation

COMAC Unveils Plans for the C929 to Rival Airbus and Boeing

After the success of China’s first C919 aircraft, the country is setting its sights on developing a larger plane. COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China) has officially confirmed plans to build a widebody aircraft, marking a significant step in its aircraft lineup.

Traditionally, Airbus and Boeing dominate the widebody aircraft market, with decades of expertise in developing planes and engines capable of carrying heavy payloads. China, which currently relies on imported engines, is now aiming to challenge these giants with its own widebody jet, the C929, designed to compete with the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777.

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The C929 will be China’s first independently developed long-range widebody aircraft. It adheres to international airworthiness standards and boasts independent intellectual property rights. The baseline version is designed to seat 280 passengers and offers a range of 12,000 kilometers, catering to global demand for both regional and international air travel.

Russia, which also needs reliable narrowbody and widebody aircraft, could become a key customer for the C929. Additionally, China plans to target the broader Asian market as it continues to expand its aviation capabilities.

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China’s aviation progress includes the ARJ21 (now called C909), a regional jet with 100 seats for shorter routes, and the C919, a narrowbody jet with 180 seats designed to rival the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320. Both models have found increasing demand in the domestic market.

At China’s largest air show in Zhuhai, COMAC announced that Air China will be the launch customer for the C929 widebody jet, though details about order size and delivery timelines were not disclosed.

Other major deals announced by COMAC include:

Hainan Airlines: Firm orders for 60 C919 and 40 C909 regional jets.
Colorful Guizhou Airlines: 30 C909 jets, with 20 firm orders and 10 provisional agreements.

The C929, renamed from the CR929 after Russia withdrew from the joint development project in 2023, is expected to carry 280–400 passengers with a range of 12,000 kilometers, competing directly with Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

According to COMAC’s deputy general manager, Tong Yu, the first fuselage section of the C929 is expected by September 2027, with prototype test flights anticipated soon after.