ATR and Sweden’s BRA Perform First ATR Biofuel Flight

An ATR 72-600 of the Swedish carrier BRA (former Braathens Regional) conducted a flight from Stockholm-Bromma to Umeå last week fueled at 45% with fossil-free used cooking oil.

The flight was the first powered by biofuel for an ATR aircraft.

Several research and development initiatives are currently underway in Sweden to produce biofuels from different types of wood. In Sweden, forests cover more than 50% of the country, and grow at a rate of 120 million cubic meters annually. Making domestic air traffic in Sweden completely fossil-free would require less than 2% of the total annual forest growth.

Christian Clemens, Chief Executive Officer of BRA, said, “Sweden is currently debating a new tax on aviation. It will have a minimal impact on emissions, and will unfortunately slow down the pace in which we can continue to make aviation more sustainable. The ATR 72-600, especially if powered by biofuel, is the optimal transportation on many of our routes and features the highest standards of environmental care.”

Christian Scherer, Chief Executive Officer of ATR, added, “Today’s challenge is to get a large-scale production of biofuels at affordable costs while avoiding a negative impact on the environment. Swedish airlines like BRA can take advantage of the massive expansion of its forests, along with the operation of fuel-efficient turboprops, to reach the ambitious goal of halving their CO2 emissions by 2025.”

BRA provides an essential air service to link their main hub of Stockholm-Bromma to twelve Swedish regions.

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