Qatar Airways has achieved a world first today by operating an Airbus A340-600 on a revenue flight powered by gas-to-liquid (GTL) kerosene.
The A340-600 took off today on the synthetic fuel demonstration flight from London Gatwick, operating the airline's regular QR076 service to Doha with a full load of passengers.
The A340 substituted for the regular A330 on the 6h flight, with all four of its Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines to be powered by a 50/50 blend of GTL and Jet A1 kerosene. On board the milestone flight was Qatar Airways chief executive, Akbar Al Baker and a small group of media that included Flightglobal. The remainder of the aircraft was occupied by fare-paying passengers who had been advised in advance about the nature of the flight.
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... venue.html