Airbus’s A320 Family production facility in the USA has delivered its first aircraft to be partially powered by sustainable jet fuel.

The latest A321 for the American low-cost airline JetBlue left Mobile on 20 September with 15% sustainable jet fuel in its tanks.

In total, five A321 aircraft are due to be delivered (by the end of 2018) to JetBlue from Mobile, using sustainable fuel. All of the fuel will be supplied and certified by Air BP.

Since May 2016, Airbus has offered customers the option of taking delivery of new aircraft from Toulouse (France) using a blend of sustainable jet fuel.

Following the deliveries to JetBlue, Airbus will determine the next steps towards offering this option to more customers taking aircraft deliveries from Mobile.

In the longer term, Airbus envisages supporting industrial production of sustainable fuels for aviation in the south-eastern USA.

Frederic Eychenne, head of New Energies at Airbus (www.airbus.com), said: “Our goal is to source sustainable fuels in the south-eastern United States.

"It is an opportunity to work closely with local stakeholders to scale up production and the commercialisation of sustainable aviation fuels in the region.

"We are actively seeking ideas to ‘leverage’ Airbus’s strategy into opportunities for new economic development in Alabama.”

Air BP’s CEO, Matt Elliott, said: “The air-line industry has ambitious carbon-reduction targets; in a growing industry, these will only be achieved with support from across the entire supply chain.

"We are working closely with airlines and aircraft manufacturers — such as Airbus — to drive change by promoting and
securing the supply of sustainable alternative jet fuel.”

In another commitment to sustainability, Airbus announced that its manufacturing facility in Mobile has officially received ISO 14001 certification.

This is an internationally recognised standard that sets out the criteria for an environment management system.

This latest approval means that Airbus is the first aircraft manufacturer to be certified to ISO 14001 for all its sites — 20 in seven countries, with over 56,000 employees.