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Environment

Better Management of Aircraft on the Ground before Departure

On ground managementAirport delays can stop aircraft landing or taking off on time.

Those in the air can then stay in holding patterns around the destination airport burning fuel unnecessarily. Delays cannot always be avoided, but we can avoid wasting fuel and creating unnecessary emissions.

We are working with airlines to hold aircraft on the ground prior to departure in the case of delays at the destination airport. This procedure is call pre-departure tactical management.

Aircraft use less fuel and create less emissions when they are on the ground, indeed when the engines are shut off they don’t create any at all.

Just five minutes delay on the ground can save hundreds of kilograms of CO2 emissions on a typical Melbourne to Sydney flight.

Holding at the gate, with engines off, reduces the greenhouse gas emissions. Even holding the plane on a taxiway, at idle power settings, uses only about a quarter as much fuel as in flight.

We routinely manage departure times for flights in to Sydney and are now trialling the service for flights to Melbourne.

Related links

Some Causes for Airport Delays

Last Updated: August 12, 2008