Air New Zealand and key aviation partners will today demonstrate the potential for the commercial aviation industry to reduce carbon emissions by millions of tonnes annually, with a test flight between Auckland and San Francisco.
The commercial Boeing 777 flight NZ8, re-named ASPIRE 1, will take off from Auckland Airport at 7.30pm (NZ time).
It will operate under optimum flight planning conditions through the involvement of partners Airways New Zealand, the Federal Aviation Administration and Airservices Australia. This should result in around 4400 litres in fuel savings and 11 tonnes less carbon dioxide being emitted.
"By operating under these optimum planning conditions we will be able to demonstrate how many millions of tonnes of fuel and carbon emissions can be saved by airlines globally if they are permitted to utilise concepts and technologies in flight efficiency in all phases of commercial flight," says Air New Zealand's General Manager Airline Operations, Captain David Morgan.
"ASPIRE 1 further demonstrates Air New Zealand's commitment to sustainable air travel, following on from our involvement in the tailored arrivals initiative into San Francisco, a number of fuel savings measures we've implemented and our bio-fuel aspirations."
ASPIRE 1 will be under a fully optimised flight planning and operating regime effectively being unconstrained from pushback to arrival at the destination gate in San Francisco.
When ASPIRE 1 arrives in San Francisco, it will be met by the Mayor of San Francisco and senior representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration, who will hold a media conference to mark this historic flight.
Airways New Zealand, the Federal Aviation Administration and Airservices Australia formed ASPIRE (Asia and South Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions) last year, with the goal of making commercial air travel more environmentally sustainable. The group have a long history of working together, including introducing Future Air Navigation Services with airline, aircraft manufacturers and other industry partners. This involves improvements to communications, navigation and surveillance, which have already resulted in fuel and emission reduction benefits being delivered.
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Issued by Air New Zealand Public Affairs ph +64 9 336 2761
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Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Aegean Airlines, Air India, and TAM have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers 19,700 daily flights to 1,077 airports in 175 countries.
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