Air India ushers in new era in fuel conservation and emission reduction

National carrier Air India (AI) marked the beginning of a new era in fuel conservation and emission reduction as its AI 560 flight landed at Hyderabad's Shamshabad airport from New Delhi without provision for additional fuel.

The flight operated by Captain Amitabh Singh, Air India's Director Operations, and accompanied by Capt Digvijay Singh, Capt Rajneesh Sharma and Capt Akhil Gupta scripted history by flying without carrying any additional fuel which was hitherto necessary to carry in case of flight diversion. As per current norms, every flight is required to plan an alternate route and carry enough fuel to fly to the destination and the alternate, Air India told in a release.

"This is the first flight in the country that has flown without filing an alternate destination and carrying any additional fuel. The savings in fuel consumption would multiply in direct proportion to the number of flights. We will be implementing the same procedure for all our 15 flights that are coming to Hyderabad daily, over a period of time," the release said.

According to the AI release, the 'Dispatch with no destination alternate' is a collective initiative of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Air Traffic Control India Meteorological Department and AI, Indigo, Spicejet and Air Asia and Air India is the first implement it. This requires the destination airport to be equipped with two runways and good weather condition.

The fuel requirement for a Boeing 777 flying from New Delhi to Hyderabad, may be reduced by about 4 tons (4000 kg) and a consequential reduction in fuel consumption of about 140 kg. Once other operators also start operating under the same provision, it will result in huge fuel savings and a resultant decrease in emissions, the operator added in the release.