Airbus, partners sign agreements to develop aircraft fuel-saving concept

2nd October 2020

By: Rebecca Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Europe-based global aerospace group Airbus has signed agreements with two airlines and three air navigation service providers (ANSPs) to determine the operational feasibility of the manufacturer’s ‘fello’fly’ aviation emissions reduction demonstration project. The airlines are French low-cost but long-haul carrier French bee and SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). The ANSPs are Eurocontrol (which provides air traffic control – ATC – services for 41 mainly European countries, but including Israel and Morocco; it is not an agency of the European Union), France’s Direction des Services de la Navigation Aérienne (DSNA), and the UK’s NATS (which originally stood for National Air Traffic Services; this full name is no longer used).

The fello’fly is a biomimicry concept, that is, it is derived from nature. It is focused on exploiting wake energy, a phenomenon employed, for example, by migrating geese. More specifically, geese make use of wake-energy retrieval, which Airbus describes as “surfing the upwash of a leader bird”. This reduces the energy needed by the follower birds (and explains why migrating geese characteristically fly in V-shaped formations); the role of leader bird is rotated within the ‘gaggle’ of geese, so that all of them benefit.

Initial test flights by Airbus indicate that emulating this technique by having two wide-body airlines fly relatively close to each other could cut fuel expenditure by 5% to 10% for each flight. Applied globally, this could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by large passenger aircraft by between three-million and four-million tons a year.

But there is a difference between test pilots flying wake-energy retrieval formations in demonstration missions and airline pilots and ANSPs doing it routinely with passenger-laden aircraft. Hence, the need to demonstrate that the technique is feasible for normal operations.

For fello’fly to work, the two wide-body airliners would need to be separated horizontally by only 3 km (1.5 nautical miles), instead of the 55 km to 90 km separation, in oceanic airspace, currently required by regulations. However, Airbus highlights that this is still some ten times greater than the 1 000 ft (some 305 m) vertical separation between aircraft required by current regulations.

Currently, ATC directs aircraft operating on transatlantic routes to enter those routes at specified times and altitudes, through an assigned oceanic ‘clearance point’. With fello’fly, ATC would direct two aircraft to the same clearance point, but at different flight levels, 1 000 ft apart. “Once both fello’fly aircraft have reached the clearance point, they will collaborate to manoeuvre into the rendezvous position, which is when the follower aircraft is 1.5 nautical miles behind the leader aircraft and separated [vertically] by 1 000 feet,” explained Airbus. “From here, pilots will use flight assistance functions to move the aircraft safely to a position in the updraft where it is saving fuel through wake-energy retrieval. When both aircraft need to separate to head to their destinations, one aircraft will reposition itself into the spare flight level and inform ATC, which will again start identifying them as individual aircraft within the ATC system.”

The agreements between Airbus, French bee, SAS, Eurocontrol, the DSNA and NATS will allow the development of concept of operations for fello’fly flights that would be realistic and safe. This is the necessary precondition for the drawing up of future regulations for fello’fly operations.

The two airlines will provide expertise in flight planning and operations in a collaborative manner, before and during a fello’fly flight. The three ANSPs will supply ATC expertise in how to bring two airliners together, safely, with the minimum impact on current procedures. And Airbus will continue work on developing technology that will help the pilots keep their aircraft safely positioned. Airbus flight tests will continue during this year, employing two A350 aircraft. The airlines and ANSPs will become involved later, probably next year, using oceanic airspace. Airbus hopes that it will be possible to start phasing the technique into operational service by 2025.

“In the aviation industry, achieving our emission-reduction targets will require implementing innovative new ways to use aircraft in the skies,” pointed out fello’fly demonstration leader Nick Macdonald. “Our collaboration with our airline partners and ANSPs on fello’fly shows that we’re making good progress towards these goals.”

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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