Qatar Airways to use synthetic fuel blend
November 23rd, 2011 - 5:02 pm ICT by IANSKolkata, Nov 23 (IANS) With the world’s largest gas-to-liquid (GTL) plant in Qatar set to commence commercial production of the synthetic fuel by 2012, Qatar Airways Wednesday said it aims to fuel all its flights from its hub at Doha with a 50 percent blend of GTL kerosene.
“GTL is a zero soot, zero sulphur-emitting clean synthetic fuel. With the plant getting operational by 2012, we aim to fuel all our outward flights with GTL. Though the fuel is comparatively costlier, its consumption rate is low, which mitigates the cost,” Qatar Airways chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker told a media meet here.
The plant — Pearl GTL, jointly built by petrochem giant Shell and Qatar Petroleum at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar — will produce one million tonnes of GTL kerosene a year.
As an alternative to conventional aviation fuel, the GTL will contribute to diversification of aviation fuel supply, and being environmental friendly, it is an attractive proposition for improving local air quality at busy airports, said Baker.
Baker, who was here to announce the airlines’ expansion plans, also said 10 more destinations will be added to its existing 100 destinations by 2012. It will also be acquiring 250 aircraft over a period of time.
“India is an economic power and it has tremendous potential. We have already added Kolkata to our destinations and we may add more. It is also an attractive market for cargo handling as it allows unlimited movement,” said Baker.
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