Make in India: Country's fourth-largest airline, Spicejet, operated a demonstration flight powered by biofuel in Dehradun on Sunday
Dehradun: A first in Indian aviation, Spicejet operated a demonstration flight powered by biofuel. The airline flew the Bombardier Q400 (VT-SUI) on biofuel on Sunday at Dehradun. The flight was supposed to air on Monday initially, where if everything went well, it would operate to Delhi; but it was preponed to Sunday.
SpiceJet chief strategy officer GP Gupta said, “The biofuel flight took off from Dehradun at 6.31 am and returned at 6.53 am. The results have been very positive. According to preliminary studies, the power from biofuel was even better than regular aviation turbine fuel”.
The biofuel for the flight was developed by Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun; and has been analysed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and Indian Oil. The demonstration flight did not have any passengers on board except airline crew and DGCA officials.
The first ever biofuel-powered aircraft was flown by Virgin Atlantic airlines between London and Amsterdam ten years ago.
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