Business Travel

Waste management: Airlines go eco - friendly

Airlines have embraced the value of waste management and recycling . The concept which touches upon a number of green business initiatives as it is estimated that as many as 4,000 chemical products such as paints, varnishes, cleaning agents, glues and plasma powder can be used in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) procedures.

At Ethiopian Airlines a waste treatment plant has been in use since 1994. The plant capable of treating 6.5 cubic metres of waste per hour is being used to neutralize electroplating liquid runoff.

The environment is a global concern and Ethiopian, like all African carriers is working very hard to take such measures as within our means said CEO Ethiopian Airlines Girma Wake.

Japan Airlines(JAL)is introducing more sufficient equipment that reduces the amount of fluid used in anti-ice and de-icing operations. "The principal ingrediant of anti-ice and de-icing fluid is propylene glycol which is also used as a food additive and thickening agent and there are fears it may be a factor in causing an over abundance of nutrients when released into lakes and rivers said vice president Environment Affairs JAL Osumu Yoshida.

Another technique being trialled is an aircraft pass under a giant heater while taxiing. An infrared device is employed to melt the ice.

Meanwhile Cathay Pacific is arranging for inflight waste. It has introduced a program for the collection and disposal of aluminium and plastic. In 2006 it estimates it recovered 64% of plastic bottles and 27% of cans from its inbound flights, equaling to approximately eight tonnes of aluminium and nine tonnes of plastic.

The material is taken to a waste contractor and then moved on for recycling. Even at the end of their life span, aircraft are doing their bit for the environment.

The company TARMAC AEROSAVE -comprising Airbus, SITA France, Snecma Services; Equip'Aero;TASC aviation and Aeroconseil is actually the next phase of the process for Advanced Management and End-of Life Aircraft (PAMELA) test project, which experimented with the recycling of materials in 2006. The objective was to demonstrate that by 2015 85% of an aircraft 's parts could be reused, recovered or recycled in a secure and environment friendly manner.

The company is implementing a dismantling and recycling platform at Tarbes Airport France, which will be operational by mid 2008.

The number of civil aircraft arriving at end of life in the next 20 years is estimated at 6,200 or about 300 each year. (courtesy - Airlines International, a publication by IATA)

EU certification to train Aircraft Maintenance personnel

SriLankan Airlines is now one of the few companies in Asia to receive the globally recognised EASA 147 certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency, to provide training in Aircraft Maintenance to foreign and local students.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is the European Union's authority on aviation standards and safety.

Only one other company in Asia, outside the Middle East and China, has obtained EASA 147 certification, among only 23 non-European organisations to have it.

A spokesman for SriLankan Airlines, said: "EASA's stringent standards are recognized around the world. It is another feather in the cap of SriLankan Engineering & Maintenance to be awarded this prestigious certification."

SriLankan Technical Training provides training for Aircraft Engineers, Technicians and Pilots. These already include foreign students from Pakistan, the Maldives, Oman and India, and staff of other airlines.

Chief Technical Officer, Capt. Dick Hutton, said: "We at SriLankan have placed great emphasis in recent times on modernising and upgrading our facilities. We are pleased to receive EASA 147 certification, only four months after receiving EASA 145 accreditation for our aircraft maintenance facilities."

The airline's Technical Training Manager, Harsha Priyadarshan, said: "We intend using the EASA 147 certification to actively market our training services throughout Asia. We were already recognised by aviation authorities of several South Asian nations."

SriLankan Technical Training's two-year Training Course in Aircraft Maintenance is already in big demand among locals and foreigners, men and women who intend embarking on a career in aviation. The Avionics and Airframe subjects are taught according to the EASA syllabus by its 11 highly trained academic staff.

It is also authorised by Airbus Industries to conduct training for external students and organisations in A320 maintenance.

SriLankan Technical training also provides training and certification of Aircraft Engineers of airlines that are contracted by SriLankan to certify SriLankan's aircraft in other countries.

It provides Type Training to handle maintenance needs of different types of aircraft including Airbus A340, A330, A320, and other aircraft. It also handles the aircraft engineering aspects in the training of Cadet Pilots for SriLankan.

2D bar code to ease airline check-in

International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced a two dimensional (2D)bar code standard that will pave the way for global mobile phone check in.

According to Airlines International, a report by IATA under this system passengers will have to register their mobile numbers with their airline at the time of booking to receive a text message with a 2D bar code, or instructions to download it.

The bar code acts as a boarding pass and could be read directly from the screen of the mobile device eliminating paper completely from the check- in process. The industry has set an end 2010 deadline to implement 100% bar coded boarding passes (BCBP). Upon full implementation BCBP will save over US$ 500m annually.

According to the report regional formats combines with the previous generation of bar code scanners had hindered a global solution. However the latest 2D scanners, known as imagers can read all the existing codes used by the IATA standard: Aztec and Datamatrix. in Europe and North America and QR in Japan.

The move not only gives passengers the convenience of self service options but also speeds up processes and pushes down costs. During the next few months IATA will work with its members to develop standardized processes and guidelines that facilitate global implementation.

At present this is being practised by Japanese commuters at Tokyo's Shinjuku JR East train station.