Qatar Airways Wins Environmental Award for Fuel Initiative
Qatar Airways, the first airline to run a commercial passenger flight powered by fuel made from natural gas, was honored for its achievement in recent industry awards from Airline Business magazine. Read More
Qatar Airways, the first airline to run a commercial passenger flight powered by fuel made from natural gas, was honored for its achievement in recent industry awards from Airline Business magazine.
The airline received a citation for “Leadership in the Field of the Environment” during the annual Airline Strategy Awards ceremony in London.
Qatar Airways made its pioneering flight last October. An Airbus A340-600 with Rolls-Royce Trent 556 engines made the trip from London’s Gatwick Airport to Doha, the capital of Qatar, using a 50-50 blend of synthetic gas to liquids kerosene and conventional oil-based kerosene fuel. Shell (RDS.A) developed and produced the blended GTL Jet Fuel.
The fuel is lighter, burns hotter, has a slightly lower CO2 factor and has a 2 percent to 2.5 percent consumption advantage over regular jet fuel, the Airline Strategy Awards organizers noted.
Shell and Qatar Petroleum are building a commercial GTL kerosene plant in Qatar, setting the stage for the state to become the world’s leading producer. The plant is scheduled to begin commercial production in 2012.
Launched in 1994 and relaunched three years later, the national carrier for the state of Qatar has one of the younger fleets in the industry (about 4 years old) and one of the faster growing. Company ownership is split 50-50 between the government and private shareholders.
The airline will manage the new Doha International Airport, which is scheduled to open in 2011. Sixty percent of the $14.5 billion facility is being built on reclaimed land from the Arabian Gulf.
The new airport, which is designed to position Doha as a key aviation hub for global travel, is expected to have an initial capacity of 24 million passengers a year. That’s projected to more than double when the airport is fully developed in the following years.
Images courtesy of Qatar Airways.
