With a quickly growing number of commercial airlines watching the economy, the environment and research and development of cleaner, more efficient jet fuel, Qatar Airways aims to be the first to use a high mixture of gas-based synthetic fuel by the end of 2009.

The Middle Eastern airline recently hosted a press conference in Qatar, during which time, airline officials presented plans to add Houston as a non-stop route to the already-established U.S. flight paths from New York and Washington, D.C., into Doha. In addition, Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker discussed gas-to-liquids (GTL) fuel usage with a high ratio to kerosene and no engine modification requirements to help increase fuel efficiency, reduce emissions and increase environmental stewardship.

Why Houston?

“Qatar Airways looks forward to welcoming you onboard our flight, which will be the longest nonstop flight [17 hours] linking the energy capitals of the Middle East and the USA — Doha and Houston — connecting these two worlds’ energy capitals and which will, of course, feed into the important cities within the Middle East and the United States,” Al Baker said.

Why Qatar Airways and GTL-kerosene 50-50 blend?

“We are pioneers with the research of GTL-kerosene [the jet fuel will be 50/50] mix, which gives the airline an advantage over others others in the sense that we will emit less carbon dioxide, and at the same time, as GTL has higher volume, we will be able to fly [further], because GTL has a higher density as a fuel than the normal kerosene. With the same amount of GTL-kerosene mix, we will be able to fly 15% longer distance with the same amount of fuel,” Al Baker said.

In addition, Qatar is home to the third-largest global gas reserves with 400 Tcf, behind Russia and Iran with 1,695 Tcf and 929 Tcf, respectively. Qatar also is working its way up the ladder to become a significant player in gas exportation. In late December 2008, The Gas Exporting Countries Forum — a group of the world’s largest natural gas suppliers — established a charter and picked Doha (over Russia, Iran and Algeria) as the home for its permanent secretariat, signaling Qatar’s growing importance in the natural gas market.

The future?

All that’s left to do before the synthetic jet fuel can officially be used, Al Baker said, are further tests and certifications. “As soon as all this is achieved, we hope that by the end of this year, we will be able to fuel our airplanes with a GTL-kerosene mix,” he noted. He sees Qatar Airways as the “bright spot in the gloom of the aviation industry.” As cutbacks, plane groundings and reductions are occurring seemingly left and right, Qatar Airways is keeping its figurative head down and moving forward, appearing unscathed, making it unique in the industry.

“We will have more destinations, more frequencies, expansion of fleet, more capacity, larger airplanes …” Al Baker said. “To say simply, we will be receiving just over one airplane every month this year. We have a solid, locked down growth strategy. We are committed to expansion; we are first-class on our geographical location being in the heart of the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council in the Middle East].”

Why the extended outlook?

The answer to the burning question of why Qatar Airways is on the forefront of its industry with high-tech in-flight entertainment systems that go as far as to have live TV broadcasts, coming soon; the extensive research into GTL use for jet fuel; the expansions; a new Doha international airport scheduled to open in the middle of 2011; the luxuries and more is “very simple,” Al Baker said.

“We want to be the airline that has the youngest team in the world so the aircraft work order will not exceed 5 years,” he said. “So the oldest airplane in our fleet in Qatar Airways will be 5 years old. We will replace those with modern, state-of-the-art, fuel efficient airplanes. Qatar Airways is a global network carrier and will continue to tap into opportunities in key business cities around the world. Therefore, Houston is the launch in March.”

The airline is preparing festivities around the launch date of March 30, but is keeping the specific events close to its chest. 

On a side note, according to an excerpt by Dan Reed today from Today in the Sky, an online component of USA Today:

The U.S. government, environmentalists and even the big oil companies are working together to develop alternative fuels from these and other sources. Their goal: to replace a significant portion of the 19 billion gal of kerosene that U.S. carriers burn in their planes each year and to do it by the end of the next decade. If they succeed, airlines will reduce their carbon footprint — and save big money that could possibly help hold down fares.

The U.S. Air Force also is pushing development. By next year, it wants all of its planes certified to operate on a 50/50 mix of conventional jet fuel, known as Jet A, and alternative fuel. Air Force generals don’t want their planes grounded by a geopolitical event that pushes oil prices through the stratosphere or stops the flow of foreign oil.

The alternative fuel industry only now is beginning to move beyond the research-and-development stage into commercialization. Yet, enough progress is being made that it’s safe to say it won’t be long before Air Force pilots and commercial travelers will be flying in planes powered, in part or entirely, by synthetic or biofuels.

“We’re looking at 5-year time horizons, not 20-year time horizons,” said Continental Airlines Chief Executive Officer Larry Kellner. “This isn’t going to happen in 2010, but it needs to happen before 2020.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 at 5:00 pm and is filed under Out and About. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.