North-South 'Highway Air Route': Is a 1% fuel reduction a lot or a little?

For the first time, Vietnam has a North-South "high-speed air route" based on advanced navigation features according to the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

According to experts, although it only saves 1% fuel and reduces 1-2 minutes of flight time for the entire route, more importantly, the "highway" flight route will increase safety; optimize and enhance capacity, and avoid congestion in the airspace...

The "high-speed, parallel, one-way North-South air route" system was put into operation by the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation on August 18, based on the advanced navigation feature RNAV5 according to ICAO standards. This is also the flight system being applied by advanced countries in the world, giving priority to long-distance flights at optimal flight levels.

The "High-speed Air Route" scheme parallel to the North-South flight axis has been in operation since August 18.

Mr. Pham Viet Dung, General Director of Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation, said that Vietnam's flight information region is located in the center of the corridor connecting key economic regions of West and Southwest Asia with East and Northeast Asia, with the highest flight density and growth rate in the world with a traffic volume of over 2,000 flights per day.

It is expected that in 2016, Vietnam will operate more than 730,000 flights through the area under its responsibility. Vietnam's North-South route alone is ranked as one of the busiest routes in the world, with nearly 700 flights per day, accounting for about 35% of Vietnam's entire flight network. The rapid growth in flight activities has prompted authorities to soon research and establish a "high-speed air route".

Previously, the North-South flight axis operated in a mixed two-way manner. Separating into two one-way flight routes will double the air transport capacity. At Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports, aircraft taking off and landing on two independent routes will help resolve conflicts in flight trajectories. Pilots and flight operators will have less worry about confrontations in the air during takeoff and landing, which will result in safer, better traffic flow and less congestion in the airspace.

Aviation experts believe that in terms of operational efficiency, a one-way flight at the optimal altitude will save about 1% of fuel and reduce 1-2 minutes of flight time on the entire North-South route. However, more importantly, flight safety is improved. Previously, flights on the North-South axis were separated from each other through the air traffic controller's designation of different distances and altitudes. Therefore, avoiding collisions with each other, especially during the phase of increasing and decreasing altitude, is very complicated for both pilots and air traffic controllers.

According to Mr. Phan Xuan Duc, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Airlines, the airspace clearance and better flight path flow will reduce the situations that need to be handled on the flight path and flight time. Moreover, when flying in a straight line, maintaining a relatively stable flight rhythm and stable altitude, fuel consumption will decrease and CO2 emissions will also decrease.

Mr. Lai Xuan Thanh, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, said that previously, many flights arriving at Tan Son Nhat Airport had to "wait" for 15 to 60 minutes, but when the routes were divided, the "waiting" time would be significantly reduced or diverted to alternate airports due to insufficient fuel to "wait" for their turn to land. The exploitation of one-way parallel routes helps improve the airspace's capacity to absorb, enhance flight safety, and specifically help reduce the workload for air traffic controllers and flight crews.

According to Hanoimoi