China’s aviation industry could soon see the regular use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) for regular commercial flights, as Colorful Guizhou Airlines successfully completed a domestic flight powered by jet fuel blended with SAF. The use of blended fuels was part of the low-cost regional carrier’s relatively new partnership with Airbus.

A more sustainable domestic flight

Colorful Guizhou Airlines flight GY 7164 is a daily scheduled domestic flight that starts from an evening departure from Ningbo Lishe International Airport before making a stopover in Zunyi Maotai Airport and subsequently arriving at Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport. The flight is typically operated by the airline’s fleet of eight Airbus A320neos.

On November 23rd, GY 7164 was slightly more unique than usual, as a partial mix of SAF powered the passenger-carrying commercial flight. The Airbus A320neo operating the sustainable domestic flight was registered B-30DY, a nearly three-year-old narrowbody that was first delivered to Colorful Guizhou Airlines in March 2020 on lease from AerCap.

The 10% blended SAF used on GY 7164 was produced locally from used cooking oil by SINOPEC Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Corporation, a state-owned petrochemical manufacturer. The company was the first RSB-certified SAF production unit in Asia and is currently the only manufacturer to produce and supply SAF within China. Airbus also used the company’s SAF for delivery flights…