First flight with biokerosene at Brussels Airport

On Sunday, Brussels Airport refuelled a plane with biokerosene for the first time. Brussels Airlines provided the first with a flight to Málaga.

Zaventem airport is supplied with paraffin through NATO's pipeline network. Thanks to the cooperation of the defence alliance, since Sunday, it has been possible to transport sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to Brussels Airport via these pipelines.

Brussels Airlines is the first airline to use it. It bought 2 million litres of paraffin from Finnish oil company Neste, a blend containing 38 per cent sustainable jet fuel. It is made with used frying oil and other waste streams.

Brussels Airport CEO Arnaud Feist speaks of an important milestone for the airport. "Making sustainable fuels available at the airport has been a priority for us, and we are happy to be able to achieve this thanks to NATO support," he said.

Brussels Airport wants biokerosene to account for 5 per cent of total imports by 2026. "That our home-carrier Brussels Airlines, is already taking the lead with an initial order from SAF is a great start."

Brussels Airlines is also counting on biokerosene to become greener. "To reach our climate goals, we will have to drastically increase the use of alternatives to fossil fuels in the coming years," said CEO Peter Gerber. "Next to fleet renewal, sustainable jet fuel is the most effective tool currently available to reduce emissions from air travel."

Together with its German parent group Lufthansa, the Belgian airline has been investing in the production and use of biokerosene for several years, Gerber explained. "The fact that we can now also get the fuel from the producer to the plane at Brussels Airport in a fast and environmentally friendly way is an important step towards increasing the use of this type of fuel in the short term."

Meanwhile, Brussels Airport abandoned the plan to set up its large-scale biokerosene blending plant. Instead, it is still investigating "smaller-scale blending of biofuel with paraffin at high blending ratios at the request of partners".

^{© BELGA PHOTO Dirk Waem}