Qantas Leads The Way On The World’s Newest Air Route

Qantas has become the first airline in the world to develop and fly a new high-altitude route between Asia and Europe over China.

Executive General Manager, Aircraft Operations, David Forsyth, said while many airlines, including Qantas, currently flew over Chinese airspace, this new route was the first in the world to overfly the Tibetan Plateau using sophisticated navigation equipment.

Qantas made the first commercial passenger flight on The Silk Road Route, named because it closely follows traditional trade routes between Asia and Europe, from London to Sydney via Bangkok, arriving in Sydney last night.

“Qantas has spent six years in research and development with the aim of finding a more efficient route from Asia to Europe,” Mr Forsyth said.

“With The Silk Road Route we are able to avoid the nightly congestion over the Middle East, representing a time-saving of about 30 minutes for passengers, together with fuel and other efficiency savings for the airline.

“Development of this route places Qantas and Australia at the forefront of innovations in the international aviation industry.”

Mr Forsyth said the airline’s development of The Silk Road Route would not have been possible without the support of the Chinese authorities and other industry partners.

“The final stages of this route development really have been a cooperative effort between Qantas, the Air Traffic Management Bureau of the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC), Boeing, AirServices Australia and ARINC,” he said.

“Each of these organisations has played a role in bringing this project to fruition.”

Mr Forsyth said the traditional Asia-Europe air routes were developed in the early days of the 747 aircraft, which required a re-fuelling stop in the Middle East. As technology advanced, and aircraft were able to fly non-stop from Asia to Europe, the re-fuelling stop in the Middle East was no longer required. However, the old routes remained relatively unchanged.

The Silk Road Route was the culmination of a study of possible new routes between Asia and Europe commenced by Qantas in 1994. This study showed the optimum routes passed north of the Himalayas and over southern and western China, overflying the Tibetan Plateau.

“The Plateau has some of the consistently highest terrain in the world, with some mountains as high as 20 000ft,” Mr Forsyth said.

“Navigating this type of terrain presented a unique challenge.

“Boeing’s development of the Future Air Navigation System (FANS-1) avionics package in 1994 provided the sophisticated navigation system required to traverse this terrain and allowed us to further develop The Silk Road Route.”

The FANS-1 package utilises a combination of data link communications, Global Satellite Positioning System capabilities and a state-of-the-art surveillance system to provide advanced air traffic control communications.
Mr Forsyth said Qantas developed the final stages of The Silk Road Route in conjunction with the Air Traffic Management Bureau (ATMB) of the Civil Aviation Authority of China.

“We have worked very closely with the ATMB to finalise The Silk Road Route and ensure Chinese air traffic control systems are compatible with the FANS-1 navigation package,” Mr Forsyth said.

“The first flight on The Silk Road represented a major milestone for Qantas as well as the aviation industries of Australia and China.

“The Silk Road Route has brought new technology to the aviation industry of China and paves the way for a more efficient and flexible route structure for airlines.”