IndiGo amongst the front runners to herald an era of fuel conservation in Indian aviation
India. IndiGo steered Indian Civil aviation in a new era of fuel efficiency, in partnership with Ministry of Civil aviation, DGCA and AAI. In its endeavour to add to environment friendly initiatives, 6E 303 landed at Hyderabad’s Shamshabad airport from Delhi at 0848 hrs April 29th after being dispatched under the principle of ‘Dispatch with no destination alternate’. In order to showcase the proof of concept, IndiGo planned to operate 7 trial flights out of which 5 have already completed their journey successfully.
Current regulations require every flight to plan a destination alternate aerodrome and carry enough fuel to fly to the destination and the alternate. This entails carriage of additional fuel which is not used if there is no diversion from the intended destination to the alternate. The heavier the aircraft, the more the fuel consumption.
Under umbrella of environment friendly initiatives, ICAO has recommended a shift from prescriptive regulation to performance-based regulation, meaning that regulator defines the outcome and airline operators define the path to that outcome. Provisions exist in the regulations to dispatch flights without an alternate, without compromising on safety issues.
Captain Ashim Mittra, Senior Vice President – Flight Operations, IndiGo said, “As a testament to our vision of moving towards a fuel-efficient and sustainable future, we successfully operated our flight 6E 303 from Delhi to Hyderabad on April 29, 2019 under the principle of ‘Dispatch with no destination alternate’. These eco-friendly initiatives will help us save 2100tonnes of ATF while reducing carbon emissions by 6615 tonnes per year. We have already completed 5 trial flights successfully in our endeavour to shift towards fuel-efficient, environment-friendly initiatives, effectively showcasing performance-based regulation.”
He further added, “IndiGo will stay committed to conducting all the business activities responsibly with due regard to environmental impact and sustainable performance.”
IndiGo has always been committed towards environment sustainability by adopting modern technology and taking aircraft weight reduction initiatives by evolving improved operational procedures within the paradigm of regulatory framework. An Airbus A320/A321 aircraft from New Delhi – Hyderabad, flying under the principle of ‘Dispatch with no destination alternate’, would save at least 150 kgs of fuel for each flight planned without a destination alternate.
