A commercial airliner powered partly by biofuel has completed its first flight, billed as heralding a new eco-friendlier era of air travel. The Boeing 747 operated by Virgin Atlantic flew from London to Amsterdam with one of its four engines using fuel derived from plant-based oils. Virgin Atlantic chief Richard Branson hailed the demonstration flight as a breakthrough for the airline industry and proof that there were viable alternatives to traditional jet fuel. The flight will "enable those of us who are serious about reducing our carbon emissions to go on developing the fuels of the future, fuels which will power our aircraft in the years ahead through sustainable next-generation oils, such as algae," he said in a statement. The fuel used in the flight was a mixture of oils from coconuts and from the babassu nut, which grows in rainforests.