ANA, space agency to look into possibility of using satellite system to find optimal flight paths

ANA Holdings and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have joined forces to look into the feasibility of using a satellite system to find the best flight paths for airplanes by observing wind and other conditions, thus cutting fuel consumption and costs. The major Japanese airline group and the space agency signed a contract in January, aiming to conduct joint research with other parties, including Keio University, until next January. The project is based on a proposal by Ayako Matsumoto, a 35-year-old ANA official who won the top award with the idea at the 2017 “S-Booster” space business contest organised by the Cabinet Office in cooperation with JAXA, the airline and other companies. Some 100,000 flights are operated daily around the world and if airlines are able to reduce aircraft fuel consumption by just 1%, it would be possible to save 3.65m tons of fuel annually, according to Matsumoto. Aircraft fuel consumption is significantly affected by wind direction and intensity, especially by jet streams, which are relatively narrow bands of strong wind in the upper levels of the Earth’s atmosphere. Aircraft carrying unnecessary fuel consume more due to the plane’s weight. Usually, airplanes fly on set routes in accordance with flight plans submitted beforehand. But ANA, over the last decade or so, has switched flight paths of airplanes in service over the Pacific after takeoff to the most efficient ones based on up-to-date weather forecast data, following proposals by Japanese and US aviation authorities. However, fuel-saving effects were limited because it is not possible to set fixed observation points over the ocean, unlike onshore, and only limited data on winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere were available.<br/>