Scandinavian Airlines tests Trans-Atlantic Green Flights

SAS Scandinavian Airlines has just concluded a commercial trans-Atlantic green approach trial, which is designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. SK904, an Airbus A330, from New York's Newark airport arrived at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, following a successful Continuous Descent Approach (CDA).

With this initiative, SAS is one of the first airlines in Europe to materialize its commitment to the emissions and noise reduction program AIRE (Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions). AIRE is a joint initiative from the European Commission and the US Federal Aviation Administration. SAS is carrying out the CDA program with partners Stockholm-Arlanda airport, Airbus and the Swedish state-owned aviation service company LFV.

SAS has already carried out over 2000 A-CDAs (Advanced Continuous Descent Approach) on flights in Sweden with a Boeing 737 and is one of the only commercial airlines worldwide to have invested in the environmentally conscious program and tested it during a number of years. A trans-Atlantic green approach with an Airbus A330 is estimated to save initially approximately 150 kilos of aircraft fuel and 470 kilos  of carbon dioxide (CO2).

"The approach carried out at Arlanda was in fact very easy for us pilots. The engines were running at idle power from our cruise altitude, until the final stage of the approach. The aircraft's Flight Management System was automatically flying the whole approach routing and the passengers conceived the approach as nothing but smooth and quiet," said Sigmund Lockert, Airbus 340/330 Fleet Chief  Pilot, Scandinavian Airlines, who was also First Officer the trial flight.

"This is a big step for the aviation industry, and Scandinavian Airlines is proud to once again lead the way when it comes to environmental issues. Next year we will continue with this type of demonstrations, as we are truly committed to support research in this area and make all SAS International flights as environmentally-friendly as possible in the future," Lars Sandahl Sørensen, Chief Executive Officer, SAS International, added.

Scandinavian Airlines will continue to test green approaches on trans-Atlantic flights from Chicago and New York to Stockholm arriving on off-peak slots. At present, this means flights arriving from the US on weekends. In a future optimized Air Traffic Management system, and assuming SAS International would conduct CDAs on all its approaches, an estimated 492 tons of fuel and 1,550 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) would be saved per year.

SAS has demonstrated over 2,000 green approaches with a Boeing 737, with each landing saving approximately 150 kilos of fuel and 470 kilos of carbon dioxide (CO2). When launched, savings totaled approximately 100 kilos of fuel and 315 kilos of carbon dioxide per green approach.

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