Guangzhou, China -- A China Southern Airlines Airbus A319 has successfully completed validation flights at Lhasa Gonggar Airport, China for tailored Performance-based Navigation (PBN) procedures developed by Naverus, a part of GE Aviation. The procedures use an advanced form of PBN, called Required Navigation Performance (RNP), to provide fuel-efficient, all-weather arrival and departure paths at one of the world's highest and most challenging airports.
Nestled among the towering Himalayan Mountains, at an elevation of 11,700 feet, Lhasa is the capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, and is considered one of the most economically, culturally and historically significant cities in the region. Also, it is among the most challenging flight environments in the world.
The Naverus-designed RNP procedures will allow China Southern A319 aircraft to arrive and depart the airport through rugged mountainous terrain, even in adverse weather conditions, both day and night. Without RNP procedures the airport only is accessible in favorable weather during daylight hours. Earlier this year, China Southern became the world's first airline to fly RNP procedures in a widebody aircraft when it validated Naverus-designed RNP flights at Lhasa in its fleet of Airbus A330s. On January 27, the airline completed the validation flights in its narrow-body Airbus A319.
"China Southern's investment in RNP technology allows us to provide superior service to our customers and to provide reliable transportation to this important area of China," said Captain LIU Qian, vice president, China Southern Airlines Company Limited.
PBN engages the full potential of the aircraft to fly precisely-defined paths without relying on ground-based radio-navigation signals. RNP ensures the aircraft precisely follows the path and provides additional navigational flexibility, such as custom-tailored, curved paths through mountainous terrain or in congested airspace.
RNP procedures can be deployed at any airport, allowing aircraft to fly very precise paths with an accuracy of less than a wingspan. This precision allows pilots to land the aircraft in weather conditions that would otherwise require them to hold, divert to another airport, or even to cancel the flight before departure. In addition, since the procedures are very precise, they can be designed to shorten the distance an aircraft has to fly enroute, and to reduce noise, fuel burn and exhaust emissions. Because of RNP's precision and reliability, the technology can help air traffic controllers reduce flight delays and alleviate air traffic congestion.
About Naverus
Naverus Inc., part of GE Aviation Systems, is a global leader in the development and implementation of Performance-based Navigation and is working with aircraft operators and air traffic management providers in China, South and Central America, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Europe to implement PBN solutions. Learn more about Naverus at www.naverus.com.
GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet engines, components and integrated systems for commercial and military aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings. www.ge.com/aviation