Air Transport

Required navigation performance procedures designed by Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen for operations at Linzhi airport in the mountainous region of Tibet were last week demonstrated using a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-700.

Linzhi lies at an elevation of 9,670ft (2,950m). Chinese operators are working to implement RNP technology in areas with difficult terrain and weather like Tibet and Sichuan in the hope of improving air safety.

Air China began testing RNP in Tibet last year as part of a project involving Boeing and Naverus, the Seattle-based company that helped develop RNP approaches for Canada's WestJet Airlines.

In September 2006, Air China received CAAC approval to use RNP at Linzhi, after successfully completing flight tests of the procedures on a Boeing 757.

RNP operations require specially equipped flight management systems in the cockpit and satellite navigation technology to enable crews to fly into and out of airports without using traditional ground-based navigational aids.