Reducing the fuel consumption of aircraft leads directly to reducing environmental impact. From early on, we have actively undertaken a variety of reductions in fuel consumption, including in aircraft and in flight. Below are examples of the ANA Group’s initiatives.
A small wing attached to the tip of a main wing can reduce the air resistance generated during flight. Winglets on the Boeing 767- 300ER on long-haul flights have reduced fuel consumption by approximately 5%, and have reduced annual CO2 emissions by 2,100 tons per aircraft.
Descending continuously from the start of descent to landing, without leveling off, is effective in reducing CO2 emissions and noise. We are expanding the practice at targeted airports, beginning with late-night and early-morning time slots at Kansai International Airport.
Normally, parked aircraft use an internal compact gas turbine to supply electricity for air conditioning, lighting and other purposes. However, the ANA Group proactively supplies electricity to aircraft from more power-efficient ground power units and maintenance-use power supply vehicles, which greatly reduces CO2 emissions.
The ANA Group washes engine compressor sections with water, using specialized vehicles developed by the Group. During engine use, the compressor section collects fine dust and fuel efficiency drops. For this reason, we perform regular washings to maintain engine peak performance. Degradation of parts through engine use over long periods is another cause of reduced fuel efficiency. We have replaced a total of 30 engines on Boeing 767, 747, and 777 aircraft with new units.
To reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions and to address noise issues and limited air space, the ANA Group conducts the majority of its training and evaluation of pilots using ground-based flight simulators.
We continuously reduce the size, weight, and number of all items carried on board flights. We have rethought the number of reserve items on board, reduced the weight of our in-flight shopping catalogue ANA Sky Shop by changing the paper quality and reducing the page count, and lightened tableware and glasses. From April 2012, we switched the manuals carried by cabin crew to digital versions using tablet devices, cutting the weight of manuals carried per person to one third. In addition, the ANA Group has introduced and uses 700 new lightweight cargo containers. By changing the materials of each container to carbon fiber-reinforced plastic for exterior portions and a stain- and water-resistant canvas material for the opening section, we achieved a weight reduction of 30 kilograms (about 30%) compared with a conventional aluminum container.
Furthermore, the amount of water carried on board both domestic and overseas routes is regularly reviewed to further reduce weight on flights. Since 2010, we have been reusing water remaining on aircraft as recycled wastewater in our company facilities at Haneda Airport.
