It has been two years since a new partnership was launched between the US Federal Aviation Administration and European Commission aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions on transatlantic flights through linking optimised air traffic management measures on both sides of the pond.
Unveiling the partnership at the Paris Air Show in 2007, the then FAA administrator Marion Blakey said the Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE) would focus on knitting the capabilities of a future NextGen air traffic management system together with the EU's Single European Sky (SESAR) initiative.
Partners who signed up early to AIRE included the civil aviation authorities of Ireland, Sweden and Portugal, Airbus and Boeing and Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines, FedEx, SAS Group, UPS and Virgin Atlantic Airways. Many other stakeholders have since signed up to the initiative.
Two years on and the latest step will be taken by American Airlines which was, as Flight Daily News was going to press, planning to fly at a precision altitude on a transatlantic flight last week, the start of testing of aircraft equipped with NextGen avionics.
The flight operated by American from Charles De Gaulle, Paris, to Miami was designed to showcase route optimisation with the carrier operating within a special envelope clear of other aircraft.
On the flight, American planned to use single- engine taxiing on departure and arrival, continuous climb out and descent, as well as optimised routing and a tailored arrival.
For the optimised routing over water, American planned to fly a more precise altitude of 32,400ft, (9,800m) rather than being confined to a normal altitude of 32,000ft or 33,000ft. Once lighter due to fuel burn, the Boeing 767 can then, in principal, climb another 1,000-2,000ft in 100-200ft increments with no increase in engine power, reducing fuel burn and carbon emissions.
CUTTING EMISSIONS
The plan for the tailored arrival into Miami allowed for an additional 80nm(148km) at cruise altitude before using a continuous descent with idle thrust prior to throttling up approximately five miles from landing, again saving fuel and cutting carbon emissions.
American is spending about $2.2 million per aircraft for its future air navigation system upgrade that includes a global positioning update to the flight management system and changes to the flight management computer that allow for the automatic downlink of an aircraft's position through controller pilot datalink communication. Fourteen of the carrier's 767s have been upgraded with the system.
In addition to the demonstration flight, American also plans to conduct two months of testing during June and July on its 777s used on flights from London Heathrow to Miami, mainly focusing on oceanic optimisation and tailored arrivals. The carrier also plans to add 777-operated flights from Madrid to Miami to its test schedule later this month.
'TAILORED ARRIVAL' APPROACHES
Elsewhere, Boeing last year reported that three air carriers saved significant amounts of fuel while cutting carbon emissions by more than 230t during 57 "tailored arrival" approaches to the San Francisco International Airport from December through March.
Flying a mix of Boeing 747-400s and 777-200ERs on continuous descent approaches to the airport, Air New Zealand, Japan Airlines and United Airlines cut fuel consumption on average 591kg (1,303lb) per arrival with the 777s and 1,039kg per approach with the 747s. Flying a traditional approach with "step-down" altitudes, a Boeing 777 burns roughly 1,739kg while the 747 uses about 2,600kg, according to Boeing.
The pace continues afoot on both sides of the Atlantic with Europe continuing with plans to conduct more than 100 transatlantic flight trials this year as part of the effort to perfect environmentally friendly flight procedures under real conditions.
The newly created SESAR Joint Undertaking, which is heading the Single European Sky modernisation of the European air traffic management system, is responsible for managing AIRE from a European perspective while the FAA heads the counterpart initiative in the US.
Seventeen European industry partners have signed up to test fuel-optimised gate-to-gate procedures through the programme of more than 100 trials and include Adacel, AENA, Aeroports de Paris, Airbus, Air France, Avtech, French air navigation service DSNA, Egis Avia, Iberia, Icelandair, INECO, Isavia, Swedish air traffic authority LFV, Nav Portugal, Novair, TAP Portugal and Thales.
Trials will be conducted for ground movements and terminal and oceanic procedures. In certain cases, the results of some trials will be coupled in order to have a "gate-to-gate" view of the flights
Such "greener" flight procedures could reduce environmental impact per flight by 10% - a saving of 4.6t in fuel and 14.4t of carbon dioxide emissions for a typical Stockholm-New York flight operated by an Airbus A330.
'GREEN GROUND MOVEMENT'
"Green ground movement" trials are also being conducted by Air France at Paris Charles de Gaulle, in co-operation with Aeroports de Paris and the DSNA who are seeking to demonstrate the effectiveness of a new collaborative decision-support system to minimise taxi time and allow for single-engine taxi operations, supported by enhanced time predictability.
Within terminal airspace, continuous-descent approaches and "green climb" trials will be carried out at Madrid, Paris and Stockholm with the participation of Air France and Iberia. The first required navigation performance (RNP) continuous-descent approach to be performed in Europe is planned for Stockholm Arlanda airport in partnership with Airbus. Oceanic procedures, meanwhile, will be developed with Nav Portugal and Iceland's Isavia and include carriers Air France, Icelandair and TAP Portugal.
Pioneers such as SASdid much to establish the AIRE initiative in its infancy, such as completing Europe's first ever commercial transatlantic "green approach", designed to reduce significantly the amount of fuel used during arrival and approach compared to standard procedures.
SAS Flight SK 904, an Airbus A330-300 carrying 260 passengers, landed at Stockholm Arlanda from New York Newark precisely at its estimated time of arrival, following a successful continuous descent approach on 8 December, 2007, providing invaluable data to support the initiative.
Source: Flight Daily News
