low cost strategy

[organza]

Hi Jonathan!!!
What a surprise to find ya here!

What do u think to read some boeing slides? I have them!
:p

[-8AS]

Hope this helps.

Flying a great circle route - as most people know, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line and if pushed might define a straight line as a line that does not bend or deviate. When we come to look at lines on the earth we find that this definition is no good, there are lines of constant direction but they are not the shortest distance between two points.

On the surface of the earth, lines that form the shortest distance between two points have changing direction, not because they are bent but because of the way direction is measured - this is a result of the converging meridians (known as convergency). These shortest distance lines are called great circles.

It is an obvious advantage to be able to take the shortest track between two points so great circle tracks are used for navigation whenever possible. As Ryanair Boeing 737-800's are fitted with Inertial Reference Systemes and GPS, they are able to fly Great Circle Tracks with use of the Flight Management Computer. FMC LNAV guidance provides great circle courses between waypoints. (Not so during arrival/approach).

Benefits of a visual approach.

The flying of a visual approach has most benefit at an airport where no radar service is available. At such airports, normally a full instrument flight rules procedure must be flown in order to allign the aircraft on the runway centre line. However, if meterological conditions permit a visual approach, significant trackmiles can be cut from an approach. This has the benefit of saving both time and fuel, both of which help the companies bottom line.

Thus, both visual approaches and the flying of Great Circle Tracks have the benefit of saving time / fuel and therefore money.

Winglet / weight to follow.

[-8AS]

Winglets.

IMPROVED TAKEOFF PERFORMANCE

By allowing a steeper climb, winglets pay off in better takeoff performance, especially from obstacle-limited, high, hot, weight-limited, and/or noise-restricted airports. Performance Improved climb gradients increase 737-800 allowable takeoff weight (TOW).

Better climb performance also allows lower thrust settings, thus extending engine life and reducing maintenance costs. Lower Required Thrust Levels Extend On-Wing Life.

Takeoff - Winglets allow up to 3% incremental derate.

Cruise - Reduced cruise thrust. Cruise fuel flow is reduced by up to 6% giving savings in fuel costs and increasing range.

INCREASED PAYLOAD RANGE

The addition of Aviation Partners Blended Winglets to Ryanair's 737-800 has demonstrated drag reduction in the 5 to 7% range that measurably increases range and fuel efficiency . In addition, the Blended Winglets allow the 737-800to take off from higher, hotter airports with increased payload.

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY

Winglets enhance performance at noise-restricted airports and cut the affected area by 6.5 percent, saving money on airport noise quotas or fines. By reducing fuel consumption, winglets help lower NOx emissions by 5%.

IMPROVED OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY

By increasing Payload Range and Overall Performance, Blended Winglets add flexibility to fleet operations and route selection. Helps avoid step climb. With Blended Winglets, can (depending on aircraft wight) climb direct to 41,000 feet where traffic congestion is much less and we can take advantage of direct routings and shortcuts.

[The SSK]

For information benefits from more direct routings, you could have a look at the Eurocontrol Performance Review:
http://www.eurocontrol.int/prc/gallery/content/public/Docs/PRR_2006.pdf

No-one is (yet) talking about aircraft flying Great Circle, but tidying up European airspace, redesigning the airways network according to demand rather than national frontiers, more flexible use of military airspace and improving the capacity of the system to allow most aircraft to fly at optimum altitude/speed as well as most direct route, will save the industry millions if not billions of € per year - plus cut down hugely on CO2 emissions.

[The Real Slim Shady]

Marco

Please PM me with your email address. I have some PDF documents on winglet technology.

Rgds
Slim

[LoadMan]

-graphics on how the 737-800s' winglets affects the thrust, drag and fuel consumption
This topic is intensively covered in many pubilcations, still, explicit graphs are rare and not public. Likewise performance graphs of commercial in-service aircraft.

-graphics on how extra weight on the 737 800 affects the fuel consumption
Just take a guess: B737 Manual or QRH, compare fuel flow of different weights at similar speeds. The weight is not so dramatic after all.

-Benefits of flying Great cicle routes compared to the ones effectively flown
Another pretty easy task: calculate great circle distances between the few long-range east-west connections of either airline, and then compare to constant heading distance. Actually, this is moderately difficult geometry. Probably ask a sailor.

[My names Turkish]

Airports on which Visual Approach grants remarkably savings for the airline

Bergamo Airport, Coming From the North in all directions and routing Via ORI VOR, if you elect to perform a visual approach you can easily save 2-5 mins and 200Kgs of fuel instead of the ILS Tango procedure (A Tear Drop procedure).

It must be noted though that this is not a strategic aim of the company. We are flight planned for the full arrival. Visual approaches are not so popular in the company recently and it wouldn't surprise me if they were banned in the future.

[AKAFresh]

Turkish...

"Visual approaches are not so popular in the company recently and it wouldn't surprise me if they were banned in the future."

Not having a go... but could you explain why this is the case at your company??

Just curious...

Aka