The CAA has given Virgin Atlantic permission to fly the first-ever service between London and New York powered fully by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Virgin Atlantic will operate the flight, VS100, between Heathrow and New York JFK on 28 November "to test and showcase the feasibility of flying on 100% SAF".
It follows ground testing, overseen by the CAA, involving Boeing, Rolls Royce, BP and others, analysing different aspects of the planned flight.
The CAA’s work with the consortium will continue beyond the flight later this month to further the industry’s understanding of the performance and impact of SAF.
It comes after Virgin Atlantic was awarded up to £1 million in government funding last December when the Department for Transport challenged the industry to work towards 100% SAF flying.
CAA chief executive Rob Bishton said the initiative had "pushed the boundaries of what is possible" in pursuit of a greener aviation industry, and highlighted the industry’s willingness to explore new technologies.
Transport secretary Mark Harper said the endeavour marked the start of the world’s journey towards decarbonising flights.
Viegin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss described the CAA’s decision as a "key milestone". "Getting to this point has been more than a year in the making and taken radical collaboration across our consortium partners and government.
"We’re committed to using 10% SAF by 2030, but to get there we need the government to support the creation of a UK SAF industry. We know that if we can make it, we can fly it.”
The flight is subject to approvals from the US Federal Aviation Administration, Irish Aviation Authority and Transport Canada, through those airspace VS100 would travel.
According to the CAA, when fully replacing kerosene, SAF could reduce lifecycle carbon emissions by more than 70% compared with conventional fossil jet fuel.
