Virgin Atlantic Completes First Commercial Flight Using LanzaTech Sustainable Aviation Fuel

On 2 October 2018, we operated our first commercial passenger flight using sustainable aviation fuel developed with LanzaTech. Flight VS16 departed Orlando International Airport for London Gatwick aboard a Boeing 747-400, carrying a blend of conventional jet fuel and fuel produced from recycled industrial waste gases. The aircraft arrived at Gatwick on 3 October, where Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson welcomed passengers and crew. The flight followed seven years of collaboration with LanzaTech, which began in 2011. Its technology captures carbon-rich waste gases from industrial processes, including steelmaking, and converts them into ethanol through fermentation. The ethanol is then refined into aviation fuel using an alcohol-to-jet process developed with the US Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The fuel blend used on VS16 contained approximately 5% sustainable aviation fuel, with the remainder consisting of conventional jet fuel. The flight demonstrated that fuel made from recycled industrial carbon could be used safely on a scheduled commercial service without modifications to the aircraft. EPIC Fuels supported the blending, testing and handling of the fuel at Orlando, while Boeing and other industry partners contributed to the wider development programme. For us, the flight was an opportunity to demonstrate the practical potential of an alternative fuel source and encourage investment in larger-scale production. Although the quantity used was relatively small, it showed that recycled industrial gases could provide a feedstock for aviation fuel without relying on crops or agricultural land. Commercial production at sufficient scale remained a challenge, and the flight was an early demonstration rather than the introduction of the fuel across our regular operations.