Qantas flies first LA-Melbourne commercial flight on carinata-based blend

In Australia, the world’s first dedicated biofuel flight between the United States and Australia, QF96 from Los Angeles to Melbourne, departed on Sunday. The historic trans-Pacific 15-hour flight operated with approximately 24,000kg of blended biofuel, saving 18,000kg in carbon emissions.

Qantas will used biofuel processed from Brassica Carinata, a non-food, industrial type of mustard seed, developed by Canadian-based agricultural-technology company, Agrisoma Biosciences (Agrisoma).

The flight is part of the partnership announced in 2017 which will also see the companies work with Australian farmers to grow the country’s first commercial aviation biofuel seed crop by 2020.