Friday February 12th 2021
New freedom in the empty sky
Pilots can fly however they want
Air traffic control authorities are daring an experiment that would have been inconceivable before the pandemic: Because traffic has almost come to a standstill above the clouds, pilots can now determine their own routes across the Atlantic. This has some advantages.
Due to the corona lockdown, there is currently less flown than it has been since the 1980s. The industry is groaning, climate protectors are cheering. The drastic collapse in air traffic also creates space for one-off experiments that are extremely valuable for airlines.
In view of the yawning emptiness above the clouds, pilots in transatlantic traffic have recently been given a free hand in choosing their flight routes. You decide "exclusively on the basis of an optimal route, speed and trajectory," reports the US news broadcaster CNN, citing information from the air traffic control authorities NATS and NAV Canada, which control British and Canadian airspace.
Such an experiment would not have been possible before Corona. The route between Europe and the USA is the most flown in the world. Before the pandemic, there was rush hour traffic and air traffic controllers were indispensable. Today, instead of 1700, there are just 500 planes a day on the route. Because the situation is much more relaxed, pilots can now navigate their flight destinations using the shortest route and taking into account the best wind conditions.
Changing flight routes helps immediately
"The dramatic decline in traffic across the Atlantic has given us the opportunity to do things differently and introduce things faster than otherwise would have been possible," CNN quoted a NATS spokesman as saying. The result is astonishing: the routes they choose themselves save the aircraft a considerable amount of fuel and thus also have a significantly lower CO2 footprint. Airlines can save money while reducing harmful emissions.
Researchers at the University of Reading in England have analyzed 35,000 transatlantic flights and found that better use of the wind can reduce fuel consumption by up to 16 percent. According to the international aviation organization IATA, this can be compared with a generation leap in aircraft. "We estimate that each new generation of aircraft increases fuel efficiency by 15 to 20 percent," says Environment Director Michael Gill.
The prospects are good for the airlines. Fuel accounts for around 30 percent of operating costs and is the largest single item for airlines. However, there is no information about how long the new freedom above the clouds will apply. "We hope that the analysis of these flights together with other calculations gives us the necessary basis to decide on more permanent changes," said the NATS spokesman for CNN.
That would be good not only for the airlines, but also for the climate. Before Corona, the aviation sector caused around two percent of global greenhouse gases. And the trend is rising, as all forecasts suggest that the total number of flights will increase dramatically in the next few years. The global aviation industry presented a plan just a few days ago according to which it wants to become climate neutral by 2050. Efficient and climate-friendly aircraft are expensive and can take years to develop. Changing flight routes, on the other hand, is cheaper and works immediately.
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