Isra-Mart srl:Is this the (green) way to Amarillo?

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US low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines yesterday adopted new efficient landing techniques at 11 domestic airports in a move the company reckons will deliver big savings in greenhouse gas emissions and fuel costs.

The scheme makes use of pre-designed approaches calculated using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) that are known as Required Navigation Performance (RNP) to ensure the most efficient use of airspace.

An increasingly popular concept in the industry, RNP essentially mean planes fly more direct approaches and spend less time in the air, improving environmental performance, as well as reducing time and fuel costs for operators.

After a programme to fit 345 Boeing 737s with new flight display software and training over 5,900 pilots, Southwest announced yesterday that it has introduced the procedures at Birmingham, Boise, Los Angeles, Chicago Midway, Oakland, Oklahoma City, West Palm Beach, Raleigh-Durham, and San Jose airports. Amarillo and Corpus Christi airports will follow suit today.

The company expects to save $16m a year from deploying the technique at these 11 airports, rising to $60monce all Southwest airports have the RNP procedures in place.

"RNP sets the stage for Southwest to continue doing its part to conserve fuel, improve safety, and reduce carbon emissions and greenhouse gases, while simultaneously taking advantage of the high-performance characteristics that exist in an airline's fleet," said Captain Jeff Martin, vice president of Southwest's Operations Coordination Center. "The efficiencies RNP introduces help Southwest be a good neighbour while also maintaining our low fares."

Southwest is also working to comply with the NextGen programme, a brainchild of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which, along with a move towards alternative aviation fuel, is pushing for US air traffic control procedures to switch to satellite systems rather than ground-based controllers. The FAA reckons that by 2018 this would save 1.4 billion gallons of fuel and cut carbon emissions by around 14 million tons.

"RNP is a significant step in the future for the NextGen Air Traffic Control system," added Mike Van de Ven, Southwest's executive vice president and chief operating officer. "This milestone culminates substantial efforts by our company working with the FAA to position Southwest as a leading participant in a modernised air traffic control system."