Sir Richard Branson, president of Virgin Atlantic, today announced that the airline soon would begin offering hydrogen-powered cars to provide limousine service to premium-class passengers through a partnership with General Motors, and said it had placed a $2.6 billion order for Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines to power the 15 787-9 aircraft that it ordered from Boeing last year.
The announcements came one week after Virgin successfully tested the use of biofuels as part of the fuel mix on a transatlantic flight. Branson today said that he now would like "to move forward rapidly to the next step, which is to find a sustainable source that doesn't affect food supplies." He said that he is confident that algae can work and envisions at least one airline testing it in the next 12 months.
During today's announcements, Virgin Atlantic COO Lyell Strambi voiced the airline's disappointment that the first phase of the U.S.-E.U. Open Skies agreement "did not go far enough" in relaxing restrictions on airline ownership and control
(BTNonline April 2, 2007), and that U.S. protectionism was threatening to collapse the agreement, which, he said, would be a loss for the industry.
Branson said the airline next month would begin using three Chevrolet Equinox Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars, which produce no carbon emissions, for Upper Class limousine service in Los Angeles, and said the airline would conduct a similar three-car test later this year in New York. Branson said the cities, which each have fleets of one dozen cars, were chosen because they are the only ones that currently have service stations that can refuel hydrogen vehicles.
James Guyette, president and CEO of Rolls Royce North America, said the new Trent 1000 aircraft engines, which will be delivered in three years, emit 30 percent fewer emissions than the previous model.
Strambi told
Business Travel News that the airline recently has been doing very well in acquiring new corporate accounts as a result of a more global sales approach and improvements at Heathrow that have enhanced ground and lounge services, including a dedicated security line for its premium passengers.
While Strambi acknowledged that the airline's green efforts had not affected pricing or become the driving consideration for a company's airline contracting efforts, he said it could be "a tie-breaker, when all other things are equal." He said that in the past year Virgin has taken between one-half and one full ton of weight off every aircraft, through a program called Weight Watchers, helping the airline to reduce about 1 percent of its fuel burn last year.