NATS professes to have saved airlines over £115m in fuel costs (based on current rates) and achieved an average 4.3% decrease in CO2 emissions per flight, surpassing its own target of a 4% reduction by the end of 2014. Over 300 changes to UK airspace have been made over the past six years in an effort to find better and more efficient routes for airlines. More flexible use of military airspace alone accounts for savings of around 30,000 tonnes of CO2. Additional changes include the implementation of more efficient procedures such as continuous ascents and descents by aircraft, and the introduction of new air traffic control technologies. Despite a promising start, NATS says it will be a challenge to reach its longer term goal of a 10% cut per flight by 2020.
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NATS report annual CO2 reductions of around one million tonnes
According to UK air traffic services company NATS, reductions in aviation-related CO2 emissions now amount to around 1m tonnes a year, owing to improvements introduced since 2006.
