Air India saves Rs 46 cr via fuel efficiency progs

Striving to become a 'green airline', Air India today said it has made savings of over Rs 46 crore in six months till this February by implementing several measures to enhance fuel efficiency.

Quoting experts of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), who carried out its fuel efficiency audits, the national carrier said the total fuel savings projected for the year with "revised processes" were over 4.56 crore kilolitres of fuel.
 
Further, Air India has "committed to becoming a green airline" and projected carbon dioxide savings of over 14.55 crore kilos, an airline official said here.

The IATA's Fuel Efficiency Gap Analysis (FEGA) team of experts, during its second visit to analyse the airline's performance, had indicated Air India saved Rs 46.11 crore between September last and February this year.

The airline, in what started as a cost-cutting measure, achieved this by implementing a comprehensive range of measures to make each flight as environment-friendly as possible, minimising fuel consumption and carbon emissions and reducing noise levels.

In a bid to reduce weight of the aircraft, the airline has controlled in intake of water and even the weight of the food trolleys and magazines inside the plane.

Carrying of contingency fuel has been reduced from five to three per cent, with the crew tasked to comply with this move, the official said.

Fuel burn was being checked continuously through various methods. These include flying the aircraft on a straight flight path at an optimum height and speed.
 
The flight crew have also been advised to carry out fuel efficient steps like a "continuous descent approach", landing with reduced flaps and taxiing with a single engine instead of using both.

On the ground, the aircraft are now pushed back from the terminal and towed as far as possible to avoid excessive use of engines, thereby saving considerable amount of fuel.

When the passengers board, the air-conditioning and other systems are being powered from ground power sources and not the aircraft's auxiliary power unit in most of the airports. These are among a series of steps being taken by the Indian flagship to save fuel, the official said.

The airline was also planning a new flight plan system, hoping to save Rs 80 crore annually on fuel and lower its carbon emissions.

Two years ago, Air India had introduced Halon Management to bring down the release of halogen into the atmosphere. Halogen, commonly used in air conditioners and fire extinguishers among other things, has bromine atoms which if released damages the ozone layer.