Air India focuses on fuel efficiency

Striving to become a ”green airline”, Air India said it has been able to save more than Rs460 million (US$9.23 million)from September 2008 until February 2009 by implementing several measures to enhance fuel efficiency. Quoting experts of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which carried out its fuel efficiency audits, India’s national carrier said the total fuel savings projected for the year with “revised processes” were over Rs4.56 crore (US$915,023) kiloliters of fuel. The airline’s cost-cutting and environmental measures include weight reduction of the plane’s cargo and equipment, reduction of the amount of contingency fuel aboard the plane and carrying out of a “continuous descent approach” by pilots, where they land with reduced flaps and taxi with a single engine instead of two. The airline is also planning a new flight plan system, it said, hoping to save Rs800 million (US$16.05 million) annually on fuel and lower its carbon emissions. (April 11, 2009)