Archived press release

Thomson Airways launches biofuel flights

6 October 2011

Thomson Airways' test biofuels flight from Birmingham to Lanzarote is a hollow PR stunt that paves the way for rainforest destruction, Friends of the Earth warns today (Thursday 6 October) as the company launches the first UK commercial flight run on biofuels.

Thomson had originally planned to launch a series of test flights in July running on used cooking oil, but the company was unable to source enough fuel in time and had to postpone. Friends of the Earth says it would take the average person about a hundred years to save up enough chip fat to fly from Birmingham to Lanzarote on a one-way flight.

Thomson will fuel today's flight on used cooking oil but the charity is concerned that lack of availability will mean the company will use unsustainable alternatives when it launches daily biofuel flights next year.

Research has shown that biofuels from crops could be causing more climate-changing emissions than they save. Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to halt airport expansion and develop greener alternatives to flying such as better rail services to replace short-haul flights.

Friends of the Earth's biofuels campaigner Kenneth Richter said:

"Biofuels won't make flying any greener - their production is wrecking rainforests, pushing up food prices and causing yet more climate-changing emissions.

"It's not realistic to run daily flights to Lanzarote on used cooking oil - it would take about a hundred years for each passenger to save up enough chip fat.

"The Government must curb future demand for flights by halting airport expansion, promoting video conferencing, and developing faster, better and affordable rail services."

Notes to editor

1.            More information about today's flight can be found on Thomson's website. 

2.            TUI has a position paper on the introduction of biofuels into the Thomson Airways fleet. 

3.            Calculation workings: In the UK about 1.6 litres of collectable waste cooking oil are produced per person per year. When collected and turned into fuel that volume is reduced to approx. 1 litre of biofuel per person per year due to filtering, cleaning and processing. A flight from Birmingham to Arrecife uses about 100 litres of aviation fuel per passenger. Therefore Friends of the Earth calculates that one person would have to save chip fat for about 100 years before they had enough to fly themself on a one way flight.

 4.            A study by the Institute for European Environmental Policy this year found that biofuels could be causing more climate-changing emissions than they save. 

5.            Friends of the Earth recently slammed plans by the European aviation industry to fuel its planes with two million tonnes of biofuels by 2020.  

A Friends of the Earth Europe briefing 'Flying in the Face of Facts: Greenwashing the aviation industry with biofuels' reveals the likely environmental impacts of this target.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust