An Etihad Airways Airbus A330-200 has become the first aircraft in the region to perform the environment friendly RNP-AR (Required Navigation Performance – Authorization Required) approach to Abu Dhabi International Airport.
According to a press release issued here on Tuesday, this high precision navigation technology, designed by Airbus’ Performance Based Navigation (PBN) subsidiary, Quovadis, utilizes continuous descent operations and shorter trajectories that in turn shorten the approach paths to the runway thereby reducing noise, flight times and minimising fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Etihad Airways’ Chief Operations Officer, Richard Hill, said “Etihad Airways is keen on promoting efficient flights with as little environmental impact as possible. We have partnered with Quovadis, ADAC and GCAA to make Abu Dhabi’s air space more efficient, and look forward to flying RNP-AR approaches in our destinations.”
“This project illustrates the potential for better Air Traffic Management (ATM) practices. Airbus has assembled a suite of innovative technologies and procedures to optimize operations in busy airspaces,” Christian Scherer, Airbus’ Executive Vice President of strategy and future programs said.
