Since its inception more than a century ago, commercial aviation has evolved. Passenger planes, which are considered the safest means of transportation in the world, have become less noisy and polluting. However, they still have a long way to go.
These giants of titanium and steel that rise into the air to transport millions of people every day are a headache for many. Living next to an airport can be irritating, and flights account for 2-3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Planes have to be even less noisy and polluting
Fully electric aircraft are presented as one of the ideal solutions to these problems. And although they have been made major technological advancesand the concept has completed its maiden flight, we will have to wait many years until its adoption becomes widespread, if it happens, that is.
Meanwhile, the sector tries to adapt the current aviation model to mitigate the aforementioned problems. His efforts include the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and new engine designs. But there is something else: a more efficient method of descent.
Currently, according to the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), most landings are done in a “staged” way. Air traffic controllers guide pilots to the runway through various levels or “steps.”
It is an alternative that keeps engines with a certain level of demand and, consequently, consume fuel. The Continuous Descent Approach (CDA), in combination with a feature called Descent Profile Optimization (DOP), bets on efficiency.
Using DOP, pilots can decrease the thrust of the aircraft’s engines and perform the descent process at idle to maximize the time spent in the aircraft. efficient cruising level. As explained by Airbus, which has this function in the A320 family, this technique translates into lower fuel consumption and limits noise levels.
The FAA estimates that the use of CDA will save about 7.5 million liters of fuel per airport each year, which represents about 18,143 tons of CO2. But the adoption of these optimized descent procedures is happening gradually.
Many aircraft require an onboard Flight Management System (FMS) upgrade to acquire DOP capabilities. On the other hand, airports must give the go-ahead for this type of landing, since it requires exhaustive collaboration from flight controllers.
In the case of Spain, the country’s air navigation manager (ENAIRE) authorized at the end of last year that 36% of the approaches are made in continuous descent. The airlines EasyJet and Latam, for their part, began to update part of their fleet with DPO capabilities to optimize the descent procedure for passenger aircraft.
Images: Sebastian Grochowicz
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