Airliners fly with lighter fuel load amid rising oil prices
Mods: feel free to move if this is wrong forum, if a duplicate posting of a story.
I was in Jakarta yesterday and this is from the front page of that venerable organ, The Jakarta Post. I was impressed to see that they interview Bp Adam, who is clearly a man of substance in the industry. It all seems all very "Indonesian" to me...
"
Amid skyrocketing global fuel prices, local airliners say they are forced to take any immediate efficiency measures to keep them staying airborne, including by filling aircraft with lesser fuel.
State-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines and privately held Mandala Airlines prefer to have their aircraft with lesser fuel load -- from the normally full tanks -- to help save fuel consumption.
State-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines corporate secretary Purwanto said, "We cannot fill the tanks full because we need to share the (aircraft) weight with passengers, cargo and some sacks of sand to help achieve smooth take off".
Merpati's Purwanto said the airline's fuel saving measures were part of its "flight planning".
He said flight plans included an estimation of the aircraft's fuel needs based on weather conditions and passenger numbers.
"We don't completely fill the aircraft's fuel tank, but fill it just enough for the flight and an emergency situation," Purwanto said.
"The decision on fuel will be based on weather conditions and airport restrictions."
Purwanto said before landing a plane, pilots regularly disposed of excess fuel on request from air traffic operators.
He said depending on weather conditions, air traffic operators often asked for excess fuel to be disposed of in order to reduce aircraft weight and to ensure a safe landing.
The most common forms of fuel disposal included flying laps around an airport, or by direct disposal into the atmosphere if the plane was running late, Purwanto said.
Purwanto said Merpati's practices were not against any safety regulations and were "usual among airline companies".
Privately held Mandala Airlines said it did not fill aircraft tanks to capacity unless a flight was more than five hours long.
President director of Mandala Airlines Nurdijono Nurjadin said to fill a full tank of a Boeing 737-400 aircraft, an airline would need 3,500 liters of aviation turbine (avtur) fuel at a cost of around Rp 31 million (US$3,370).
"But we don't give our planes a full tank unless the flight is going to take more than five hours," Nurdijono said.
"Our average flights usually require 80 percent of the tank to be filled, enough for landing at the nearest airport in case of emergencies."
The president and chief executive officer of Adam Air, Adam Aditya Suherman, said fuel costs accounted for more than 60 percent of an average flight cost.
"The average flight cost for a Boeing 737-400 is around $5,000 per hour," he said.
"But some $3,000 alone goes to fuel."
Adam said the local prices of avtur were higher compared to Singapore because of a 10 percent value-added tax.
Global oil prices were currently around $90 per barrel and local prices for avtur now stand at an average of Rp 8,800 per liter, after tax, up from around Rp 5,000 in 2005 -- but prices of avtur differ between airports.
In July last year, the European Union's Air Flight Safety, the continent's airline watchdog, banned all 51 Indonesian airlines from entering any EU country because of safety concerns.
The ban was imposed following a series of airplane accidents in Indonesia. (lva)"