June 5 (Bloomberg) — Air New Zealand Ltd., the nation's biggest airline, plans to meet at least 10 percent of its annual fuel bill with crop-based alternatives by 2013.
The company will test fuel made from the jatropha plant in the fourth quarter in a joint trial with Boeing Co. and Rolls Royce Group Plc, Chief Executive Officer Rob Fyfe said in a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg News. Development of alternative fuels is accelerating and the company expects to be using at least one million barrels of it a year by 2013, Fyfe said.
Air New Zealand promotes the country's clean environmental image to fill international services which account for about two-thirds of its revenue. It is buying fuel-efficient jetliners to cut emissions and fuel costs and earlier this year offered customers carbon credits to offset pollution from their travel.
Air New Zealand rose 2 cents, or 1.8 percent, to NZ$1.16 at the 5 p.m. market close in Wellington.
Any alternative fuels the airline adopts must be cheaper than jet fuel, technically as good, environmentally sustainable and must not compete with food crops, Fyfe said.
Airlines, engine makers and aircraft builders are working hard to deliver the new fuels in commercial quantities and a “step change'' may occur in the industry sooner than many people think, he said.
