Kent, WA USA – March 24, 2014 – GE Aviation is providing technical support to air navigation service provider Airports Authority of India (AAI) to accelerate the deployment of Required Navigation Performance (RNP) flight paths throughout India. Through a U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) grant, GE Aviation and AAI will work together to deploy the efficient procedures at India’s Bengaluru, Mangalore and Guwahati airports to improve airspace efficiency.
GE will also work with India’s regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to support RNP operations approval for an Indian airline. Once the flight paths are deployed and in use, a report documenting the actual benefits of the flight paths will be published.
India’s aviation sector is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world according to the Center for Aviation (CAPA). In the last decade, domestic air traffic has more than quadrupled to 60 million while international traffic more than tripled to 40 million. The use of RNP flight paths can alleviate traffic congestion, excess fuel burn, noise levels around airports and flight delays from increased traffic.
“India has more than 50 mid-sized airports, including Mangalore, which could benefit immediately with track mile and fuel savings from RNP,” said Giovanni Spitale, general manager of GE Aviation’s Flight Efficiency Services. “In the long term, India could realize 80,000 tons of fuel and 252,000 tons of CO2 reduced annually by implementing RNP across the country.”
Bengaluru is the nation’s fourth busiest airport for overall passenger traffic and can benefit from the capacity improvements promoted by RNP paths. Aircraft operating into Guwahati, located in the remote and mountainous northeast area of India, can benefit from the schedule reliability of RNP, furthering the economic growth and social inclusion agenda for the region.
Performance-based Navigation (PBN) technology allows pilots to use on-board technology to follow a precise track, independent of ground-based navigation beacons that limit where the aircraft can go. RNP procedures, an advanced form of PBN technology, can be designed to shorten the distance an aircraft has to fly en-route, and to reduce fuel burn, exhaust emissions and noise pollution in communities near airports. Because of RNP’s precision and reliability, the technology can help air traffic controllers reduce flight delays and alleviate air traffic congestion.
GE Aviation’s Flight Efficiency Services is harnessing the power of the Industrial Internet and using software and analytics to make its machines smarter and more efficient. GE is using data analytics to identify ways to reduce operating costs, increase aircraft utilization and improve the business of flight.
About GE Aviation
GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet engines, components and integrated systems for commercial and military aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings. For more information, visit us at www.ge.com/aviation.
