Aircraft

Qantas Airways' has confirmed that its inaugural Airbus A380 commercial flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles participated in a carbon emissions reduction programme called Aspire, a joint initiative of the US FAA and Australia and New Zealand's air navigation service providers.

The Oneworld carrier conducted the inaugural flight on the 20 October and in a statement today it says the commercial flight was able to save thousands of kilograms of carbon emissions under the Airservices Australia and the Asia and South Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions (Aspire).

"Under the Aspire initiative, Qantas' first A380, operating as QF94, used electrical power on the ground in Los Angeles rather than running its auxiliary power unit and was given: priority clearance from air traffic control for taxiing and departure, a priority departure route out of Los Angeles, unimpeded climb through to cruise altitude", the most efficient flight path that took into account winds and aircraft weight.

Qantas also says the flight crew received real-time updates on weather and wind conditions so they could modify the flight path.

"By working with key industry partners like Airservices Australia, we can fly the most efficient flight paths which, if translated across our fleet, would deliver significant reductions in fuel burn and reduce the impact on the environment," it adds.