A move to change flight paths for some aircraft landing at Edmonton means shorter travel times for passengers and quieter, cleaner skies for area residents, Nav Canada says.
The agency, which manages Canadian airspace, is bringing Required Navigation Performance, or RNP, to Edmonton International Airport. Essentially a GPS for airplanes, it allows shorter and more precise routes for specially equipped incoming aircraft. about 23 per cent of aircraft are equipped with modern flight management systems, but that percentage is expected to grow as airlines modernize fleets.
“What we’re looking at doing is further using some satellite-based navigation capabilities to design routes that are shorter and have a smaller environmental impact,” Nav Canada spokesman Jonathan Bagg said Wednesday. “It allows us to design routes that are much more precise, predictable and also more efficient.”
Currently, arriving aircraft fly toward ground-based navigational aids which send out signals. RNP means flight paths no longer have to be constrained by wher beacons can be placed.
“A key difference is that the RNP allows the aircraft to turn toward the airport sooner,” Bagg said. “It basically reduces the track miles that the airplane flies.” Flight times can be reduced up to three minutes a flight. The proposed route changes are expected to save 1,250 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year and reduce fuel burned by 500,000 litres a year.
The altered routes will have varying impacts on municipalities, depending on their locations.
“Some communities, wher some of the turns happen near their area, might see a small increase in overflights. Others might see a small decrease overall. Because of the distribution of traffic and the fact that not all aircraft can fly this type of approach, the degree of change is relatively small.”
RNP will also result in quieter landings because aircraft can continuously descend instead of havin to descend, level off, and descend repeatedly, Bagg said. “To stay level, the pilot has to increase throttle and when you do that, you’re producing more fuel burn and more noise and more GHGs.”
Heather Hamilton, spokeswoman for Edmonton International Airport, said passengers will have slightly shorter flights, residents should notice less noise and airlines will benefit with fuel savings. “At the community level, it’s a significant saving when it comes to greenhouse gases,” she said.
Devon Mayor Stephen Lindop said he doesn’t anticipate major concerns for his town northwest of the airport.
“If it goes according to what their plan is, it should be quieter in Devon because they will be moving a little bit east and they’re dropping quickly and doing a sharp turn,” Lindop said. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to work out very well.”
Nav Canada has been holding open houses in communities around the airport. Remaining events take place from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Devon Community Centre; Nov. 15 at Beaumont Composite High School; and Nov. 16 at the Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton.
