Wellington  - Air New Zealand successfully conducted the world's first commercial aviation test flight powered by fuel from the seeds of the African jatropha plant on Tuesday.

Chief executive Rob Fyfe said after the jumbo jet's two-hour flight from Auckland, "It is Air New Zealand's long-term goal to become the world's most environmentally sustainable airline and we have today made further significant progress towards this."

A biofuel blend of 50-50 jatropha and Jet A1 fuel was used to power one of the airline's Boeing 747-400's Rolls-Royce engines.

Air New Zealand, which described jatropha as a sustainable second-generation biofuel, said that more than a dozen key performance tests were undertaken during the flight.

The airline's chief pilot, Captain David Morgan, told reporters that information obtained during the flight would be reviewed with Boeing and Rolls-Royce, as part of a drive to have jatropha certified as an aviation fuel.

Fyfe said, "We stand at the earliest stages of sustainable fuel development and it is exciting to be a part of this important moment in aviation history."

The airline said the jatropha oil used for the flight came from seeds grown on environmentally sustainable farms in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and India.

A statement said jatropha was a plant that grows about 3-metres high and produces seeds that contain inedible lipid oil used to produce fuel.

Jatropha can be grown in a range of difficult conditions, including arid and otherwise non-arable areas, meaning that prime farming areas remain available for food crops. (dpa)