Air France Successfully Flies the Eco-Friendler Skies

April 12, 2010 at 11:30 AM | by JetSetCD | Comment (1)

In the race to become the greenest airline, with obviously the lowest fuel costs, we've got British Airways trying out garbage juice as fuel, Southwest building a green plane and Thai Airways adding carbon footprints to their in-flight menu information. But that's not all—the creativity and competition is only just getting started as Air France edges into the lead by actually operating a "green flight" across the Atlantic.

The flight, from Paris-CDG to Miami, reduced its fuel consumption, emissions and noise by enacting several measured in-flight changes. The hugely collaborative effort was successful in cutting CO2 emissions by 6-9 metric tons and saving 2-3 metric tons of jet fuel.

So how'd they do it? Find out after the jump

The key to the green Air France flight lies in Air France working with aviation authorities to assure that they had right-of-way. No wasting gas on the taxiway waiting to take off and no wasting gas in the skies, waiting to land. Here are the full details of the measures that saved them extra green while making them green:

· Shorter taxiing times, coordinated with A�roports de Paris at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and with the FAA at Miami airport;
· Continuous climb, coordinated with DSNA, the DGAC�s air traffic control authority;
· During the cruise phase, optimum altitude and speed were constantly selected to cut fuel consumption in conjunction with en route air traffic control centres in France (DSNA), the UK (NATS), Portugal (NAV Portugal) and the US (FAA);
· Continuous descent, coordinated by US air traffic control (FAA).

Related Stories:
· British Airways Wants to Burn Garbage Juice for Fuel by 2014 [Jaunted]
· Green Transatlantic Flight Deliver Reduced Noise and Emissions [AsiaTravelTips]
· Green Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wiki Commons]

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