The Boeing 737 flight, from Amsterdam to Madrid, used 500 litres of sustainable kerosene produced by Shell. The fuel is based on CO2, water and renewable energy from sun and wind.

The trial came as start-up company Synkero announced it was collaborating with Port of Amsterdam, Schiphol, KLM and SkyNRG on the realisation of a commercial synthetic sustainable kerosene factory at Amsterdam port.

Another initiative is the construction of a demonstration factory in Rotterdam for sustainable kerosene using captured CO2 from the air as a raw material.
 

Pieter Elbers, KLM chief executive, said: "The transition from fossil fuel to sustainable alternatives is one of the largest challenges in aviation. 

"Fleet renewal contributed significantly to the reduction of CO2 emissions, but the upscaling of production and the use of sustainable aviation fuel will make the biggest difference for the current generation of aircraft. 

"That is why we teamed up with various partners some time ago to stimulate the development of sustainable synthetic kerosene. This first flight on synthetic kerosene shows that it is possible in practice and that we can move forward."