Through close coordination with air navigation providers in seven countries between the UAE and South Africa, Emirates was able to use techniques in-air and on the ground to reduce flight emissions and save over five ton of CO2 compared to the same aircraft flying a normal flight plan.
This was the first flight over the African continent for the Indian Ocean Strategic Partnership to Reduce Emissions (Inspire) program, which brings airlines, airports and air navigation service providers together to implement a range of best practice operational procedures to allow a "perfect flight."
These flights incorporate techniques to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, such as flying the most direct and optimum route between departure and destination.
It also includes using ground power (instead of the aircraft's auxiliary power unit, which burns jet fuel), minimizing on-ground delays, utilizing expedient taxi and preferential runways, conducting uninterrupted climb and descent paths.
The UAE delegation were welcomed at King Shaka International Airport by Patrick Dlamini, the chief executive officer of Air Traffic and Navigation Services South Africa (ATNS), the board of directors and executive committee members of South Africa's Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS).
ATNS organized the flight in conjunction with Emirates.
"Initiatives such as Inspire, which bring together closer cooperation between South Africa and the airlines that serve it, support the people of South Africa by protecting our incredible natural environment: Be it on the ground, at the airports, or above the clouds at 35,000 feet," said Dlamini.
"ATNS works closely with airlines such as Emirates to ensure the skies of South Africa are safe and open. Controlling approximately 10 percent of the world's air space, ATNS plays a key role in establishing good environmental policies."
The aircraft used for the Inspire flight from Dubai to Durban was a Boeing 777-300ER, one of the most fuel-efficient aircraft types in Emirates' fleet.
An Emirates Boeing 777-300ER has a fuel efficiency rate of 3.67 liters per one hundred passenger kilometers, some 32 percent better than the global fleet average, as measured by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
It is comparable to the fuel efficiency rates of modern compact cars.
