Owing to safety and global aviation regulatory compliance reasons, aircraft descent is not in straight slant. Instead, during the descending process, the aircraft brings down its altitude by taking a small dip before flying straight for a while.
National carrier Air India has asked air traffic manager Airport Authority of India (AAI) to allow its aircraft to land with 'constant descent approach' at the runway to let it save fuel, which forms about 40 per cent of the airline's operating cost.
Owing to safety and global aviation regulatory compliance reasons, aircraft descent is not in straight slant. Instead, during the descending process, the aircraft brings down its altitude by taking a small dip before flying straight for a while. The process continues in small cycles till the final landing on the runway.
While talking about AI's environment conservation programme, Harpreet Singh, executive director (flight safety), said that the initiative has been taken positively by the AAI. "If the idea gets implemented without compromising on any safety issue, then it will help us in saving fuel and thereby aid us save not only on carbon footprint but also save crucial foreign exchange," said Singh.
According to the airline officials, such landing can be made possible on certain airports, especially during the non-peak hours when there are not much plane movement around. The officials said that the consequence of low fuel might lead to lowering of air fares for the passengers.
However, AAI officials could not be immediately contacted for the comments on the issue.
Speaking further on the airline's initiative on fuel saving, Singh said that the their pilots are being trained to be more persistent in asking for higher altitude while flying as that this helps in saving fuel. "There is no harm in asking for it from the ATC. If there is any possibility, the ATC personnel may even allow it," Singh said.
As per the data available with the airline, so far in the last one year ending March, the airline has saved 225 million kilogram of carbon emission footprint. With reduction of seven per cent in carbon emission in the past over five years and about further two per cent reduction in the next two years, Air India plans to turn carbon emission neutral by the year 2020.
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