British Airways, in partnership with the Solena Group, is to establish Europe’s first sustainable jet-fuel plant and plans to use the low-carbon fuel to power part of its fleet from 2014.

The new fuel will be derived from waste biomass and manufactured in a state-of-the-art facility that can convert a variety of waste materials, destined for landfill, into aviation fuel.

The self-contained plant, likely to be sited in east London, will convert 500,000 tonnes of waste per year into 16 million gallons of green jet fuel through a process that offers lifecycle greenhouse gas savings of up to 95 per cent compared to fossil-fuel derived jet kerosene.

This volume of fuel would be more than twice the amount required to make all of British Airways’ flights at nearby London City Airport carbon-neutral.

Put another way, the fuel’s reduction in carbon emissions would be the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road per year.

The project will make further major savings in greenhouse emissions by reducing the volume of waste sent to landfill, thus avoiding production of the powerful global warming agent, methane, and generating 20MW of electricity a year from renewable sources.

British Airways has signed a letter of intent to purchase all the fuel produced by the plant, which will be built by the Solena Group Inc., an advanced bio energy and bio fuels company based in Washington DC.

Four sites in the east of London are among those under consideration for the construction of the bio-jet fuel plant. The scheme will lead to the creation of up to 1,200 jobs in the area and could reduce significantly local authority landfill tax bills.

Willie Walsh, British Airways’ chief executive, said: “This unique partnership with Solena will pave the way for realising our ambitious goal of reducing net carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2050. We believe it will lead to the production of a real sustainable alternative to jet kerosene. We are absolutely determined to reduce our impact on climate change and are proud to lead the way on aviation’s environmental initiatives.”

Dr Robert Do, chairman and chief executive of the Solena Group said: “The Solena – British Airways BioJetFuel project will efficiently convert biomass into clean renewable fuels and electricity and is completely carbon neutral. The plant will be a state-of-the-art renewable fuel manufacturing facility, distinct from a standard waste to energy incinerator facility. It will not produce any polluting emissions or undesirable by-products.”

The Mayor of London has recently set out his vision to save millions from the city’s waste bills. This project could be part of the solution. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “I welcome this fantastic new ‘carbon lite’ fuel production facility in London. City Hall has been working with British Airways and Solena to drive this project forward to help untap the massive potential to generate cleaner, less polluting energy from waste, otherwise destined for landfill. We are working to bring together more organisations in this way to harvest the capital’s rubbish to fuel homes, businesses and even transport.”

Technical notes to editors:

1.The green fuel will be produced by feeding waste into a patented high temperature gasifier, producing BioSynGas. An established process known as Fischer Tropsch then converts the gas into biofuels to produce biojet fuel and bionaphtha. Bionaphtha is used as a blending component in petrol and also as a feedstock for the petrochemicals industry.

2.The plant will emit oxygen, plus small quantities of nitrogen, argon, steam (water vapour), and CO2. The plant itself will be CO2 neutral. The Fischer Tropsch tail gas can be used to produce 20MW of excess electricity for export to the national grid or converted into steam to be used in a district heating system. The only solid waste product is an inert vitrified slag material, which can be used as an alternative to aggregates used in construction.

3.The overall equivalent CO2 reduction as a result of the plant producing sustainable energy and fuel is approximately 550,000 tonnes per year. This includes a 250,000 tonne saving from diverting mixed waste from landfill, 145,000 tonne lifecycle saving of the biofuel compared to fossil fuel, 86,000 tonnes from the renewable 20MW of electricity and a further 72,000 tonnes from the naphtha.

4.500,000 tonnes of biomass feedstock will be utilised per year, which could otherwise be destined for landfill. Local authorities pay for the disposal of waste to landfill through a landfill tax. This is currently £40 per tonne, rising to £72 per tonne by 2013/14. Based on the 500,000 figure, this alone will save £36 million in landfill costs for local authorities which could be used to lower council tax.

5.Solena Group Inc is a leader in Reliable, Renewable and Revolutionary Energy Solutions. Headquartered in Washington DC, Solena works with key partners to establish its next generation zero emissions bio-energy solutions around the world. The core of Solena's solutions is its patented Solena Plasma Gasification ('SPG') technology, which is capable of producing a synthetic fuel gas ("BioSynGas") from the thermal conversion of bio-based hydrocarbons with the highest energy conversion efficiencies in the industry. Arcadis UK have been the lead consultants on this project.

6.The Mayor of London launched the ‘Foodwaste to Fuel Alliance’ last year to speed up the development of infrastructure to convert London’s food waste into eco-fuel to cut landfill rates and carbon emissions. Every year, London produces a nearly three million tonnes of organic waste, mainly from food. Nearly two thirds of this waste is currently burnt in incinerators or buried in landfill, which produces potent climate change gases. The ‘Foodwaste to Fuel Alliance’ will bring together developers, food producers, energy companies and others key parties to provide the new infrastructure needed in London to extract the fuel from the capital’s leftover food. This will act as an alternative to fossil fuels to produce a greener energy to heat and power homes and power public transport and other vehicles. The Mayor wants the Alliance, supported by London’s Waste and Recycling Board, to deliver five exemplar new ‘bio-fuel’ plants in the capital by 2012. For more information, visit: http://www.lwarb.gov.uk

British Airways’ new First took off on February 10, 2010 on a Boeing 777 bound for Chicago, The Windy City.

The airline has invested £100 million in its flagship brand drawing on its rich heritage to create an exclusive experience based on classic design and understated luxury.

The new key features include:

•A 60 per cent wider bed at the shoulders
•Personal wardrobe
•Personal electronic blinds
•A 15” in-flight entertainment screen
•USB port, RCA jack and noise-cancelling headsets
•Fully integrated ambient and mood lighting
•Anya Hindmarch washbag and amenities by D.R. Harris & Co.
•Leather bound writing table

The airline’s Coat of Arms with the motto ‘To fly to serve’ is a core feature and the 1920s pioneering era of luxury travel is captured through motifs such as Cyril Kenneth Bird’s ‘Care in the Air’ character.

The design of the new cabin is inspired by premium brands like Aston Martin and Jaguar. At the heart of its Quink blue and cream design is an enhanced bed - wider with a new ‘intelligent’ mattress and the finest 400-thread Egyptian cotton bed linen.

British Airways frequent flyer, actress Rachel Weisz, said: ”For style, stellar service and complete luxury, it doesn’t get better than British Airways’ new First cabin.”

British Airways’ head of customer experience Mark Hassell, said: “We have contemporised First and created an intimate private jet experience onboard. We have resisted gadgets and gimmicks and focused instead on simplicity and quality. Every feature has been carefully considered and researched to ensure we are giving our customers what they want.”

Each individual suite has its own personal wardrobe, a leather-bound writing desk that converts into a dining table, a new 15” in-flight entertainment screen and a buddy seat to enable customers to dine together. The lighting and electronic blinds can be modified to reflect mood and time of day.

A seat control unit replaces the switches to activate the bed and give the customer precision control over the seat position and pneumatic panels to support the head and lumbar positions.

A new premium service style has been developed for cabin crew to ensure world-class service for customers who can eat, sleep and work whenever they want to.

Notes to editors:
•British Airways was the first commercial airline to introduce a fully flat bed in First class in 1996. The airline then went on to pioneer fully flat beds in business class in 2000.
•Photos are available on http://www.newscast.co.uk

THE DIFFERENCE A DECADE MAKES

British Airways’ top ten landmark moments in the evolution of air travel in the noughties

Online check-in. Farewell to Concorde. The world’s first fully flat flying bed. The last ten years has arguably been one of the most eventful and revolutionary periods in the history of air travel. As the new decade commences, British Airways takes a look back at the innovations brought to the skies during the ‘noughties’ as well as some of the company’s fascinating landmarks.
Below are some of the ground-breaking developments of the last ten years:

• British Airways launches the world’s fully flat bed in business class (2000)
The start of the new millennium saw a new era in comfort for British Airways passengers with the introduction of the world’s first fully flat business class bed. Towards the end of the same year, the new-look First cabin offered improved cushioning, bedding and in-seat telephones and laptop power. In another commitment to innovation and customer service, British Airways will be unveiling its latest state-of-the-art First class suite offering in February 2010.

• A fourth class (2000)
In the year 2000, British Airways introduced World Traveller Plus, its premium economy product. The airline was the first global commercial carrier to introduce a fourth class of travel back in 2000.
The service was aimed at both the cost conscious business traveller and the discerning leisure passenger requiring more space and privacy than in World Traveller.
It followed extensive research, which showed that customers wanted greater comfort and quality at an affordable price.

• Online check-in (2000)
The noughties was the decade of online check-in and in 2000,, British Airways launched its online check-in service facility which is now available on over 97% of British Airways’ routes. Over 25,000 customers daily choose to check in for their flight using ba.com’s online check-in tool, significantly reducing the time needed and stress encountered at the airport. Cited as the innovation of the decade in a recent survey by the Business and Travel Meetings Show, online check in enables customers to arrive at the airport ready to travel, simply needing to drop luggage and proceed to security. In Europe, 31% of passengers checked in online last month.

• The retirement of Concorde (2003)
Following a brief return to service in the early part of the decade, in October 2003, British Airways finally announced the retirement of its seven-strong Concorde fleet, signalling the closure of the world’s only supersonic passenger service.

• Iris recognition technology (2003)
In 2003, the UK Government announced that ground-breaking iris-recognition technology was to be installed at 10 British airports following a successful trial involving British Airways passengers. The technology was to be made available to all passengers travelling through the airports and provided automated clearance through immigration for certain frequent travellers, further cutting down transfer time through the airport. As of April 2008, IRIS was available in Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

• ba.com (1995 – ongoing)
The noughties saw the evolution of ba.com to become a one-stop shop for British Airways customers, giving them greater control over their travel plans. The site has become increasingly popular over the course of the decade, with an average 2.5 million people visiting the site each week. Since its launch in 1995,the website is now available in 11 main languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Polish, Hungarian, Chinese and Japanese and was voted, “Best Airline Website” at the 2008 Travolution Awards. The website also allows customers to book flights, manage their booking, check-in online and much more. In 2009, the website introduced a dynamic packaging facility, enabling customers to book hotels, car hire, local sightseeing tours, attractions and tickets to create the entire travel experience from one website. The facility roll out of this facility to different markets continues.

• Launch of the online boarding pass (2004)
British Airways launched its new online boarding pass in 2004, allowing passengers to print their own boarding pass from home. Today it is available on over 95% of British Airways routes. Today more that 70% of BA passengers travelling from Heathrow check-in online or print their own boarding pass at ba.com.

• Sustainable travel (2005)
With climate change increasingly at the top of the global agenda, British Airways was the first airline anywhere in the world to introduce a voluntary scheme enabling customers to help offset the carbon dioxide emissions from their flights. In one easy transaction when booking flights on ba.com, customers donate money which goes towards supporting projects in developing countries and typically focus on providing new sources of renewable energy and in promoting energy efficient schemes. In addition the chosen projects promote energy-efficiency schemes and must also bring social and economic benefits to the communities in which they are based, often also bringing health benefits from improvements to local air quality. Among the projects supported by the scheme are a wind farm in China and a sustainable power plant in Brazil.

• Mobile check-in (2008)
In a ground-breaking development of the online check-in facility, in 2008 British Airways unveiled its remote check-in via mobile phones with wireless connectivity.
The free facility is available in 11 languages, without any need to download accompanying software.

By logging on to http://www.ba.com/mobile using any mobile device with wireless connectivity, customers can access the British Airways timetable, as well as select seats and check-in for departure or return flights. British Airways was the first UK airline to offer a remote check-in service in 11 languages and it followed the success of the iPhone Apple application, which allowed iPhone users the opportunity to check-in for British Airways flights via their handsets.

• Redefining the airport experience – the birth of Heathrow Terminal Five (2008)
Heathrow’s Terminal Five was given the go-ahead in 2002 and opened in March 2008. The terminal redefined the airport experience, seeking to replace the queues, the crowds and the stress with space, light and calm. T5 boasts 100 stylish shops and restaurants as well as the luxurious Galleries lounges, one of the world’s largest airport lounge complexes featuring champagne bars and spa treatments, for premium travellers. In its first year, over 20 million passengers passed through its doors to enjoy an upgraded airport experience and today 92% of British Airways flights at London Heathrow fly from or through Terminal 5.

• Onboard connectivity (2009)
2009 saw the launch of the UK’s first mobile internet access on a transatlantic route with the introduction of OnAir, available on the British Airways service between London City and New York JFK. OnAir, which is exclusive to British Airways, provides onboard access to email, text messages and the Internet via passengers’ mobile phones once the aircraft has reached an altitude of 10,000 feet, which is normally around ten minutes after take-off.

As British Airways looks forward to another decade of first class customer service, Jean-Pierre Martin, Sales Manager British Airways Belgium and Luxembourg commented, “Huge advances in technology in the past ten years have allowed us to offer customers a faster, efficient and more comfortable travelling experience than ever before.

“Our challenge going forward is to harness these technological advances to refine and improve on this service; potential developments in the world of mobile applications is just one area we are very excited about.”

“Managing our environmental impact is, of course, vitally important and the next few years will see British Airways launching more fuel efficient aircraft, using more sustainable materials and exploring new operating methods ensuring that our commitment to combating climate change is at the forefront of everything we do.”

For more information on the history of British Airways, please visit http://www.ba.com/heritage
For the latest information on British Airways’ great value fares and to book, please visit http://www.ba.com