Indigo Airline becomes first to use RNP for saving fuel

Low cost carriers operate on a no-frills approach and their chief concern is to provide cheap air tickets to passengers. To meet this end, these carriers always aim to operate with maximum efficiency by minimizing wastages. IndiGo Airlines, India’s premier LCC with overall second largest market share has not hesitated to use effective measures which lead to efficient operations. The latest move of using the RNP, an acronym for required navigation performance, to make significant fuel savings has further corroborated the proactive approach of airlines in adopting new technology that can increase efficiency levels.

The use of RNP will not be beneficial only for Indigo airlines but it will also herald a new era in the air traffic management at the airports in India. By enabling the airlines to operate in an environment of contained and secure flight trajectories, RNP reduces the flight path leading to greater savings on fuel. The test flight of Indigo using RNP approaches at the Kochi airport has demonstrated that as much as 75 kilometers of flight was reduced from one approach. This means that fuel up to 400 kg can be saved on each such landing. This is quite a significant figure and when the number of flights landing each day at various airports of the country is to be considered, this becomes an enormous saving of fuel. This saving results in reduction of greenhouse gases and promotes the cause of greener environment. For the passengers, this could also mean further lowering of flight tickets prices.

But, how does RNP work? Actually, it is a performance based navigation system which utilizes on-board facilities for navigation monitoring and alerting. This system allows the aircraft to fly between two defined points using GPS systems. This also facilitates easier management of air traffic in non-radar environments. Another important feature of RNP is that it provides necessary flexibility for overcoming terrain obstacles in trajectories.