Our aim: to lower CO2 emissions

Madrid, 31 of March of 2011
Iberia is working to lower CO2 emissions and to save fuel in its flights.

The airline has carried out its first tests during flights as part of the DORIS (Dynamic Optimization of the Route In Flight) program, whose aim is to optimize routes between Europe and North America, improving the efficiency of North Atlantic air space. On the ground the best route is sought on the basis of winds, and if one is found that is more favourable than that in the original flight plan, the aircraft is advised so that the course may be altered in real time, as long as it is authorized to do so by air traffic control. Initial analyses indicate that an average of 2 per cent of fuel per flight may be saved. For an Airbus A340 like those used by Iberia on transatlantic routes, this would amount to a savings of some 400 kg. of aviation fuel on a flight from Madrid to Guatemala City, for example.

Iberia also participates in another AIRE program called RETACDA (Reduction of Emissions in Terminal Areas using Continuous Descent Approaches), that consists of using continuous or “green” landing approaches at low engine speeds. This practice cuts fuel consumption and can lower CO2 emissions by as much as 25 per cent, while reducing noise to a minimum. Further information

Additionally, Iberia, Airbus, the Spanish government and the state company Senasa have signed an agreement to develop a complete Spanish ‘value chain’ for sustainable and renewable aviation bio-fuel for commercial use. The agreement promotes the development of a complete bio-fuel production chain for Spanish aviation, using sustainable resources from production to consumption in commercial aviation.