Air New Zealand has become the first A320 operator to achieve a new standard of required navigation performance (RNP) minima after completing a landing to RNP0.1 levels.
The first touchdown was made at Rotorua on New Zealand's North Island on 15 May, after a flight from Sydney when the cloud level was down to 400ft (122m). The flightcrew used the navigation technology to guide the aircraft below the cloud down to 301ft above the runway threshold, the lowest RNP minima available.
RNP 0.1 is the lowest level approved by Airbus. ANZ flew the Rotorua arrival the day after it received clearance to operate below the RNP 0.3 level. Rotorua has a particularly challenging approach with low cloud often prevalent around the surrounding hills, prompting the carrier to identify the airport for RNP approaches.
The airline has RNP operations at Queenstown, Port Vila, Brisbane and Gold Coast airports. It introduced RNP on its Boeing 737-300s three years ago for use into Queenstown, with the initiative so successful, it was extended to the airline's 13 A320s.
Source: Flight International
