Air India will go green

With new flight plan system, national carrier hopes to save Rs80 crore and lower its carbon emissions as well

What started as a cost-cutting exercise, has become a movement with national carrier Air India (AI). Inspired by its savings of Rs50 crore, the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) has decided to go green. It is soon going to launch a new flight plan system that will help it save up to Rs80 crore annually on fuel.

On Saturday, NACIL declared that it is soon going to sign an agreement with a software company to develop a new flight plan system that will help save 36 per cent fuel annually.

“We are on the verge of signing the agreement with the company and this will help us save more fuel, money and lessen carbon emissions,” said Harpreet Singh, head of Quality Management Systems (QMS), on the sidelines of a fuel management seminar organised under the aegis of Aeronautical Society of India.

“Since September, we have already been working with a new flight plan that has helped us save 45,787,270 kg of turbine fuel.” The seminar aimed to discuss ways to reduce fuel consumption which in turn will lead to lower carbon emissions.

From September 2008, NACIL has been working with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to bring down its fuel cost. “Pilots should be made accountable for fuel conservation,” said Capt Marcel Martineau of IATA.