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Tue 7 Nov 2017 – KLM has entered into a cooperation agreement with the government of Costa Rica to research the possibility of flights out of the capital San Jose using sustainable aviation fuel. The Dutch carrier said it was the first time such an agreement had been made by an airline with a government. The two parties signed a letter of intent last week that will see KLM share its knowledge and expertise with the government in close cooperation with partner SkyNRG. The move coincided with the KLM launch after a 20-year break of a direct twice-weekly return service between San Jose and Amsterdam that will be operated by a Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner.
“This cooperative effort is a new step in making civil aviation more sustainable,” said KLM COO René de Groot. “The greater the production – and therefore the greater supply of biofuels – the lower the price will be and the more businesses will use it. KLM and Costa Rica are taking the lead now. It would be great if other airlines, governments and the entire biofuel supply chain took such steps.”
In 2009, KLM became the first airline in the world to operate a flight using sustainable biofuel, which it followed with its first commercial flight in 2010. Since then, the carrier has operated more than a thousand flights using bio-based jet fuel. From October 2016, it started using sustainable biofuel derived from recycled cooking oil that is produced by AltAir and delivered by SkyNRG on all flights from Los Angeles for a period of three years. The Los Angeles biofuel is delivered directly to the storage tanks at the airport, which also hold the conventional jet kerosene supply. Oslo Airport was the first airport to supply a percentage of sustainable fuel through its regular fuelling process, with KLM purchasing biofuel there for a series of 80 flights.
KLM operates a Corporate BioFuel Programme through which a variety of companies contribute to stimulate the use of sustainable biofuel and help bridge the cost gap with conventional fuel. However, says KLM, the market for sustainable biofuel remains far from mature and the price is three times higher than that of fossil fuel.
Except for El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala, Costa Rica is the only country in Latin America to volunteer so far to join the ICAO CORSIA global carbon offsetting scheme from the start.
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