Air New Zealand has postponed an historic biofuel test flight, originally scheduled for this Wednesday, as the airline comes to terms with the tragic loss of four employees in an Airbus A320 crash off the coast of France.

The world-first biofuel flight will now take place in early January next year.

The two hour 747-400 flight from Auckland had planned to use a jatropha-based fuel, sourced from seeds grown on environmentally sustainable farms.