Qantas marks eighth year of RNP flights to Queenstown

Qantas has announced its eighth year of operating Boeing 737-800 RNP (Required Navigation Performance) flights into New Zealand’s Queenstown Airport, with over 25 million passengers transported since the airline’s introduction of the GPS based precision approach technology in 2004.

“RNP is a win-win for airlines looking to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, passengers who might otherwise have been diverted in bad weather and governments wanting to increase airspace efficiency,” Qantas Technical Pilot, Technology Development, Captain Alex Passerini said.

“Along with the USA, Canada and China, the Australia/New Zealand region is leading the way in pioneering this important technology – and Queenstown has now been doing so for seven years. We are recognised as a global leader in RNP flying – around 50 per cent of our B737-800 flights currently utilise RNP,” Passerini continued.

“We are now planning to introduce the technology to a number of our Boeing 767 aircraft, which operate high frequency domestic services across Australia.”