China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok.
The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said.
Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan.
At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability officer Ren Cheng (鄭智仁) said the Taoyuan-Bangkok flight, CI831, used a 40 percent blend of SAF supplied by CPC Corp, Taiwan, reducing carbon emissions by nearly 20 tonnes for the round trip.
The remaining carbon emissions would be offset through purchases from a globally recognized environmental, social and corporate governance-compliant carbon offset program, Cheng said.
The Taipei-Bangkok flight had about 7.7 tonnes of SAF added to the standard fuel, the airline said.
For the return flight, CI832, SAF was purchased from Thailand’s PTT Oil and Retail Business and blended at 1 percent, it said.
Apart from using SAF, the demonstration flight offered eco-friendly onboard services, including digital menus in all cabins, it said.
Utensils in the economy-class section were made of recycled stainless steel, while lids for meals, plastic cups, pillowcases, headrest covers and restroom supply containers were made of recycled polyethylene terephthalate, CAL said, adding that passengers were given forest stewardship council-certified paper cups and biodegradable dental floss sticks.
Plastic wraps for blankets were replaced with paper rings and each passenger was given an eco-friendly ballpoint pen made of cork as a souvenir, it said.
The airline also worked with Little Tree Food (小小樹食), a Taipei-based Michelin Green Star restaurant, to provide vegetarian cuisine on the CI831 flight, it said.
The vegetarian meals were Thai cuisine made with plant-based meat, with Thai rice and pandan coconut jelly as dessert, the airline said.
In addition to its partnerships with CPC, CAL in July signed a memorandum of understanding with Formosa Petrochemical Corp to procure more than 10,000 tonnes of SAF over the next three years.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
RSS