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The employment of air traffic management best
practices and initiatives by the Civil Aviation Authority of
Singapore (CAAS) contributed to significant reductions in flight
time, fuel consumption and carbon emissions by the world’s first
multi-sector demonstration green flight from Los Angeles to
Singapore via Tokyo.
The Singapore Airlines demonstration green
flight is another initiative under the Asia and Pacific Initiative
to Reduce Emissions (ASPIRE). ASPIRE aims to accelerate the
development and implementation of air traffic management
procedures, capitalise on innovations, technologies and best
practices, and facilitate harmonisation of air traffic management
on key Asia and Pacific routes towards reducing aviation emissions
globally.
Mr Yap Ong Heng, Director-General, CAAS, said,
“The first multi-sector demonstration green flight clearly
demonstrates the operational efficiency and environmental benefits
that can be realised from employing best practices and
technologies in air traffic management. The significant reductions
in flight time, fuel consumption and carbon emissions provide
benchmarks which Air Navigation Service Providers and airlines can
work towards in the air transport industry’s collaborative
commitment and efforts to cut down carbon emissions.”
Air Traffic Management Best Practices and
Initiatives
Fellow Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs)
in the United States and Japan collaborated with CAAS to allow the
Singapore Airlines aircraft to operate in optimum air traffic
conditions in all phases of the flight ie. from departure (phase
of the aircraft’s push-back from the parking bay at the departure
airport, taxiing to the runway and take-off) to
cruising (phase that the aircraft, after airborne, operates at a
constant altitude for a significant amount of time) to arrival
(phase when the aircraft starts to descent, land and taxi to the
parking stand at the arrival airport).
At the departure phase, the aircraft was
accorded priority clearance from air traffic control for taxiing
and departure. The time taken for the aircraft to get from the
parking bay to the runway was minimised by assigning it the
shortest possible route, and the aircraft was given an unimpeded
take-off without restrictions on speed or aircraft level. This
lessened the aircraft’s power consumption and thereby fuel burn.
At the cruising phase, the User Preferred Route
and Dynamic Airborne Reroute Procedures were employed allowing the
pilot to capitalise on prevailing wind patterns to alter the
aircraft’s flight path to shorten its flight time and achieve
greater flight efficiency. In addition, Performance Based
Navigation (PBN) procedures such as a reduction in the lateral and
longitudinal separation among flights were employed, allowing the
aircraft to use preferred flight paths and levels, enhanced flight
efficiency with no reduction in safety.
Finally, at the arrival phase, the Optimised
Profile Descent technique was used to allow the aircraft to fly
with engines set at idle in continuous descent from a high
altitude to land at Changi Airport, significantly reducing fuel
burn. Upon landing, the aircraft was also assigned the shortest
possible route from the runway to the parking bay to minimise fuel
consumption.
Encouraging Results
By implementing air traffic management best
practices for the aircraft throughout its flight, complementing
the measures implemented by the airline, the demonstration green
flight shaved off 30 minutes of flight time and cut 10,686
kilograms of fuel and 33,769 kilograms in carbon emissions, as
compared to a regular flight.
Mr Yap said, “The air traffic management best
practices employed for this flight from end-to-end have shown
encouraging results. CAAS, in its role as an air navigation
service provider, will work closely with the airlines on how the
procedures and techniques used for this ASPIRE flight can be
applied to more flights. CAAS will also continue with its efforts
and contributions to further improve air navigation to increase
flight efficiency and reduce aircraft carbon emissions.”
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