Lhasa, Tibet, China (July 1, 2008) – Air China successfully tested night flight service at Lhasa, Tibet, China’s Gongga Airport on June 27, the first night operations in the airport’s 43 year history. The flight, conducted in an Airbus A319 aircraft, was made possible through Required Navigation Performance (RNP) flight paths created and supported by Naverus.
RNP, used in conjunction with recently installed runway lighting at the airport, allows Lhasa to now receive flights around the clock.
“We congratulate Air China and the CAAC on achieving this important milestone,” said Steve Fulton, Naverus Chief Technical Officer. “We also applaud their continued leadership in expanding the use of RNP to reap additional benefits including reductions in fuel consumption and greenhouse emissions.”
Air China has been successfully conducting Naverus RNP operations at Lhasa during daylight since May 2005 to provide safe, all-weather operations into this high-elevation, rugged terrain environment. Initially, RNP operations at Lhasa were conducted in the Boeing 757; the A319 was added in August 2007. To achieve the goal of providing safe night operations at the airport, Naverus worked in close cooperation with Boeing and Airbus, CAAC, and Air China.
"The history of no night flights in Lhasa has ended," said Xu Bo, head of the Civil Aviation Administration's Tibet Branch. "It is of great significance to the tourism recovery and economic development in this autonomous region."
About Naverus
Naverus is the worldwide Required Navigation Performance leader having created the overwhelming majority of active RNP procedures worldwide. Uniquely combining expertise in avionics, aircraft operations, and procedure design, Naverus works with airlines and air navigation service providers to find optimal solutions to their specific routes and challenges. Airlines seek Naverus RNP flight paths to save fuel, reduce carbon emissions, reduce miles flown, reduce block times, and help air traffic systems to gain new efficiencies. The company's customers include Airbus, Air China, Air New Zealand, Boeing, CAAC, COPA, IATA, jetBlue, Jetstar, SkyEurope, Southwest, Qantas, Virgin Blue, and WestJet and others. Naverus Inc. is a privately-held Seattle company founded in 2003. www.naverus.com.
