Upcoming China Eastern flight to be powered by sustainable aviation fuel

China Eastern Airlines announced on Wednesday that the maiden flight of its new A320neo will be partially powered by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The flight from Tianjin to Xi'an of Northwest China's Shaanxi province is scheduled for Friday morning.

SAF, which refers to fuel produced from waste-based feedstocks such as used cooking oils, can reduce carbon emissions by 85 percent.

The SAF that will be used in this flight was made from waste cooking oil by Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co., and comes from the first batch of mass produced SAF in China.

China Eastern Airlines completed its first successful test flight of an aircraft powered by biofuel in April 2013. The jet, which used a palm oil biofuel made by Sinopec, flew for 85 minutes after taking off from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport.