Initiatives build Christchurch's reputation as an environmentally-led aviation centre of excellence
(photo: CIAL)
Tue 9 Nov 2010 – The Christchurch Engine Center, a joint venture between Air New Zealand and Pratt & Whitney, is to perform EcoPower engine washes on all existing and future turbofan types within the Air New Zealand fleet. Under a one-year agreement, extendable up to five years, the Center will be able to wash other engine types and provide the service to third-party customers and to carry out washes in either Auckland or Christchurch using portable equipment. Pratt & Whitney claims its EcoPower system can reduce fuel burn by as much as 1.2 percent, as well as extend on-wing time. Meanwhile, Christchurch International Airport has won two environmental honours, including the sustainability reporting award for small-to-medium enterprises at the inaugural New Zealand Sustainability Reporting Awards.
Pratt & Whitney Product Line Management Vice President Andrew Tanner said the EcoPower system would help Air New Zealand reduce fuel burn by an additional 500,000 gallons per year.
“Air New Zealand has a reputation as one of the world’s most environmentally friendly airlines,” he said. “EcoPower engine wash is an innovative way for Air New Zealand to further lessen its environmental footprint while reducing operating costs.”
Vanessa Stoddart, Group General Manager of Technical Operations, Air New Zealand, said: “The closed-loop system means the EcoPower engine wash also collects and recycles water, making it an environmentally sound process. This is a win-win. We can help improve our bottom line and help the environment.”
The Christchurch International Airport (CIAL) sustainability reporting award was recognition of the considerable efforts the airport company had made in recent years to understand and improve the airport’s overall environmental performance, commented Rhys Boswell, CIAL’s General Manager of Planning and Environment.
The judges noted how in the company’s annual report there was “a clear articulation of its sustainability approach, and explanations of how it is integrated into its community and its obligations about aircraft noise and landing.”
CIAL has implemented a number of environmental initiatives over the past few years, including a comprehensive energy management programme, which has resulted in a 12% reduction in electricity use, provision of public place recycling bins in the airport terminal, stormwater and groundwater protection programmes, and the measurement and management of its carbon emissions. CIAL has been awarded carboNZero certification by Landcare Research three years in a row.
CIAL won another award recently at the New Zealand Airports Association conference concerning its airfield pavement maintenance work. CIAL and Fulton Hogan, a major Australasian civil contractor, won the Project of the Year following the runway maintenance programme’s use of recycled asphalt and Fulton Hogan’s CoolPave with LEA (low emissions asphalt).
“This project has so many positives,” said CIAL General Manager Operations and Infrastructure Andy Lester. “It’s a positive collaboration between CIAL and Fulton Hogan, it’s positive environmentally, and it’s positive financially. It demonstrates how what’s good for the environment can also be good for the financial bottom line, and is an example of true partnership.”
