With fanfare, biofuels and rivalry, Paris Air Show kicks off

Paris: The biennial air show at Le Bourget, Paris doesn't officially start until Monday, but over the week-end, there is little doubt that the posturing and courting for business and headlines is well under way as the global aviation industry's titans landed their latest prized aircraft to much fanfare.
Already, it's clear that alternative energy sources are set to be a big theme of the 49th Paris Air show – where over 138,000 trade visitors are expected. Lausanne, Switzerland-based Solar Impulse kicked off the show with the arrival of its solar-only powered jet on Tuesday.
After a delayed start, the HB-SIA prototype – which is being billed as the ‘special guest' of the show – landed after a 16 something hour trip from Brussels, and is set to show its capabilities with daily flights, weather permitting of course.
Biofuel is also all the rage, with the US-based Honeywell completing the first-ever transatlantic flight of a plane on Saturday, partly powered by oilseed crop camelina.
The Gulfstream G450 jet made the journey from Morristown New Jersey, half powered by bio and petroleum based fuel – a mixture that saved it around five-and-a-half tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, the airline says. It will shortly be followed by Boeing, which will use a 15 per cent camelina fuel to debut its 747-8 freighter plane on Monday. The company's new passenger jet, the 747-8 Intercontinental, touched down on Sunday morning.
19/06/11 Vidya Ram/Business Line

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Categories: Airshow Paris 2011, Foreign Jun 2011