NEW ROUTE BETWEEN ASIA AND EUROPE WELCOMED BY CARRIERS

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Thursday, 27 July 2006

Airlines will have more route options when flying between Asia and Europe, following a decision by China to approve a new route for international traffic. Currently only 30 per cent of Chinese airspace is available for civil aviation. This has resulted in a shortage of international air routes over China, as well as a restrictive flight planning policy when airlines plan their flight path. The insufficient airspace allocated for civil aviation has also resulted in air traffic delays at cities in the golden triangle, which is bounded by Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) worked closely with Chinese authorities in getting approval to implement a new route for international traffic which reduces flight times between China and Europe by an average of 30 minutes. Officially known as Y-1, it is often referred to as IATA-1, reflecting IATA’s role in achieving this in cooperation with the Chinese government. Initially 110 flights a week could potentially benefit from Y-1.

The route is expected to open for commercial traffic from 13 April following discussions dating back to 2000. Y-1, combined with Y-2 provides airlines with more route options when flying between Asia and Europe, allowing airlines to better optimise routings.

“Y-1 will result in US$30 million in savings on the airlines fuel bill. We appreciate the cooperation of the Chinese government in making airspace more efficient at a time where the airline industry is bleeding red ink from the record high price of oil,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and chief executive officer.

Y-1 will have a significant impact on the environment. The more direct routing will eliminate 2,860 hours of flight time, 27,000 tonnes of fuel consumption, 84,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission, and 340,000 kilos of nitrogen oxides emission annually.