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An Air Canada Airbus A319 has performed the first ‘perfect flight’ in North America, which Airbus says has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 40 per cent.
The flight, AC991 from Toronto to Mexico City, was powered by a 50 per cent blend of biofuel, and also employed advanced air traffic management techniques such as optimised routing and continuous descent approach to help reduce fuel burn.
“Today’s flight with Air Canada proves that the aviation industry is in a strong position to reduce emissions and fly many more Perfect Flights,” said Fabrice Brégier, Airbus president and CEO. “To make this a day-to-day commercial reality, it requires now a political will to foster incentives to scale up the use of sustainable biofuels and accelerate modernisation of the air-traffic-management system. We need a clear endorsement by governments and all aviation stakeholders to venture beyond today’s limitations.”
Locally, Airservices and airlines including Emirates, Qantas and United Airlines have conducted similar flights to and from Australia under the INSPIRE and ASPIRE initiatives, which have also involved other air navigation services providers.
