Since aircraft are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, some airlines want to restructure the way they book flights to reduce their carbon footprint.
CNN reported that airspace is relatively empty with the newly clear air thanks to the pandemic that stops most of the journey. An agreement between NATS and NAV Canada, the agencies that oversee air travel within the UK and Canadian airspace, said they would temporarily ignore the prescribed itineraries that pilots are required to follow so airlines can choose their routes “based on the optimal route, speed and trajectory.”
“The dramatic drop in traffic we have seen across the Atlantic has given us a chance to do things differently and introduce things faster than would otherwise be possible,” NATS officials told reporters.
The adoption of new flight routes offers airlines the opportunity to identify possible ways that save fuel and emit less carbon into the atmosphere.
“Our hope is that analyzing these flights, along with other table exercises, will give us the evidence base we need to decide on the value of more permanent changes,” NATS said.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued for the first time ever regulations on the release of airlines at the end of 2020.