CAAS joins ASPIRE
CAAS and Singapore Airlines Partner For World's First Multi-Sector Green Flight
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) will be joining the Asia and Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions (ASPIRE) partnership, by signing the Joint Agreement on 1 February 2010.
The ASPIRE was initiated by the United States (US) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Airways New Zealand and Airservices Australia. The Japan Civil Aviation Bureau joined the ASPIRE when it signed the Joint Agreement in October 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
As a collaborative effort among Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), the ASPIRE aims to accelerate the development of air traffic management procedures, with innovation, technology and harmonisation on key Asia and Pacific routes, that will reduce aviation emissions worldwide.
Mr Yap Ong Heng, Director-General, CAAS, said, “CAAS’ participation in ASPIRE demonstrates its commitment to adopting best practices in air navigation to play its part in addressing aviation emissions and the environment.”
World’s First Multi-Sector Demonstration Green Flight
Under the ASPIRE, the partners work together with airlines on a series of demonstration green flights.
To mark its entry to the ASPIRE programme, CAAS is partnering Singapore Airlines (SIA) to conduct the world’s first multi-sector demonstration green flight.
SQ11, which operates from Los Angeles to Singapore via Tokyo, will be the fifth demonstration green flight under the ASPIRE programme and the first covering two sectors. Fellow ANSPs in the US and Japan will work together with CAAS and SIA to facilitate this flight end-to-end.
“Singapore Airlines is proud to participate by operating the first multi-sector demonstration green flight. The experience gained will not only set benchmarks in terms of best practices, but also help to encourage responsible environmental performance in the air transport industry,” said the airline's Senior Executive Vice-President Operations and Planning, Bey Soo Khiang.
Mr Yap said, “This ASPIRE flight is a collaborative effort requiring a high level of cooperation among three Air Navigation Service Providers in the US, Japan and Singapore, and Singapore Airlines, to demonstrate that an aircraft flying on its most optimal route can achieve significant reductions in fuel consumption and carbon emissions.”
Aside from ensuring that the aircraft flies through optimum air traffic conditions, other measures will be implemented throughout all phases of the flight to reduce fuel burn.
Mr Bey explained, “Even though we have a very young and modern fleet, we continue to adopt best industry practices to further improve fuel efficiency and therefore reduce carbon emissions. This includes strict control on the aircraft weight, regular engine wash, and airframe wash and polish programmes. For this particular flight, on top of these regular measures, we will employ real-time updates of weather conditions to chart the most efficient routing for the aircraft instead of flying a predetermined route. And upon arrival, a continuous descent approach to the airport will be adopted if conditions permit.”
SQ11 is scheduled to depart Los Angeles International Airport on 31 January at 1310hrs and reach Tokyo Narita International Airport at 1755hrs the next day. The Boeing 747-400 aircraft will depart Tokyo that same day at 1900hrs and arrive in Singapore on 2 February at 0135hrs (all times local).
The best practices and initiatives in air traffic management and flight operation procedures employed for the flight, as well as actual fuel savings and reduction of carbon emissions achieved by the flight will be announced on 2 February 2010.
About the Asia and Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions (ASPIRE)
The Asia and Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions (ASPIRE) is a partnership of air navigation service providers focused on environmental stewardship in the region. The ASPIRE Partnership is a comprehensive approach to environmental stewardship in a region where significant disparities exist in the level of available service provision. Under ASPIRE, current and future partners pledge to adopt and promote best practices that have demonstrated and proven successful in the reduction of greenhouse gases, as well as to the development of work programmes to promote future gains with respect to the environment.
The signatories of the ASPIRE Joint Statement are:
- US Federal Aviation Administration (February 2008)
- Airways New Zealand (February 2008)
- Airservices Australia (February 2008)
- Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (October 2009)
- Upcoming: Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (February 2010)
One of ASPIRE’s work programmes is the conduct of demonstration green flights to show the gate-to-gate fuel savings and emissions reductions that can be achieved using existing efficiency procedures with constraints removed where possible. Four demonstration green flights have been conducted to date:
- ASPIRE One (12 September 2008)
- Air New Zealand 8 from Auckland to San Francisco
- B777 aircraftAir New Zealand reported fuel and emissions savings of 3,500 kilograms of fuel and 11,200 kilograms of CO2
- ASPIRE Qantas (20 October 2008)
- Qantas 94 from Los Angeles to Melbourne
- A380 aircraft
- Qantas reported fuel and emissions savings of 8,900 kilograms of fuel and 28,000 kilograms of CO2
- ASPIRE United (14 November 2008)
- United 870 from Sydney to San Francisco
- B747-400 aircraft (new cabin configuration)
- United reported fuel and emissions savings (converted from USG) of 4,800 kilograms of fuel and 15,000 kilograms of CO2
- ASPIRE Japan Airlines (10 October 2009)
- Japan Airlines 077 from Honolulu to Osaka
- B747-400 aircraft
- Japan Airlines reported fuel and emissions savings (converted from USG): of 4,800 kilograms of fuel and 15,200 kilograms of CO2
About the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS)
CAAS’ mission is to “Grow a safe, vibrant air hub and civil aviation system, making a key contribution to Singapore's success”. CAAS' roles are to enable the growth of the air hub and aviation industry, oversee and promote safety in the industry, provide air navigation services, and develop Singapore as a centre of excellence for aviation knowledge and human resource development.
About Singapore Airlines
When Singapore Airlines was formed in 1972, it operated a modest fleet of 10 aircraft to just 22 cities in 18 countries. With a commitment to fleet modernisation, product and service innovation and market leadership, the Airline quickly distinguished itself as a world-class carrier.
Today, Singapore Airlines operates a modern passenger fleet of more than 100 aircraft and its network, including Singapore Airlines Cargo and SilkAir destinations, currently covers a total of 99 destinations in 40 countries.
In October 2007, Singapore Airlines, a member of the Star Alliance, made aviation history again as the first to fly the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380.
For more information, please contact:
Ms Satwinder Kaur
Senior Manager (Corporate Communications)
Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore
Tel: (65) 6541 2912
Mobile: (65) 9621 1087
Fax: (65) 6542 0246
Email: satwinder_kaur@caas.gov.sg
Website: www.caas.gov.sg
Singapore Airlines Public Affairs
Tel: (65) 6541-5880 (office hours)
Tel: (65) 9753-2126 (after office hours)
Fax: (65) 6545-6083
E mail: public_affairs@singaporeair.com.sg
URL: singaporeair.com