Aircraft in free flight and formation along
‘express skyways’
•
Highly intelligent aircraft would be able to
“self-organize” and select the most efficient and
environmentally friendly routes (“free flight”), making
the optimum use of prevailing weather and atmospheric
conditions.
•
High frequency routes would also allow aircraft to
benefit from flying in formation like birds during
cruise bringing efficiency improvements due to drag
reduction and lower energy use.
Low-noise, free-glide approaches and landings
•
Aircraft allowed to take free glide approaches into
airports that reduce emissions during the overall decent
and reduce noise during the steeper approach as there is
no need for engine thrust or air breaking.
•
These approaches would also reduce the landing speed
earlier which would make shorter landing distances
achievable (less runway needed).
Low emission ground operations
•
On landing aircraft engines could be switched off sooner
and runways cleared faster, ground handling emissions
could be cut.
•
Technology could optimize an aircraft’s landing position
with enough accuracy for an autonomous renewably powered
taxiing carriage to be ready, so aircraft could be
transported away from runways quicker, which would
optimize terminal space, and remove runway and gate
limitations.
Powering future aircraft and infrastructure
•
The use of sustainable biofuels and other potential
alternative energy sources (such as electricity,
hydrogen, solar etc) will be necessary to secure supply
and further reduce aviation’s environmental footprint in
the long term. This will allow the extensive
introduction of regionally sourced renewable energy
close to airports, feeding both aircraft and
infrastructure requirements sustainably.
Airbus is already working on a number of innovative
solutions today to meet the challenges of sustainable
aviation in the future, whether it be the development
and use of alternative fuels; investment in aircraft
design; or in supporting more efficient ATM.
Airbus is also one of the major actors of the NEXTGEN
and SESAR programs - which seek to enhance the
performance of the ATM system through a better use of
aircraft capabilities, changes in infrastructure and
organization. These new capabilities are designed to
reduce traffic congestion and delays, will allow more
direct routes, better flight profiles, and should help
reduce the cost of air navigation services through
advanced communications and technologies.
“We know people want to fly more in the future and
our forecasts support this. We also know that they
don’t want to fly at any cost,” says Charles
Champion. Our focus at Airbus is on meeting this
continuous growth in demand, keeping the passenger,
our customers and the environment at the centre of
our thinking. The future of sustainable aviation is
the sum of many parts and success will require
collaboration amongst all the parties who are
passionate about ensuring a successful prospect for
aviation.”
|