AirNZ weathers the storms with RNP technology
AUCKLAND – Air New Zealand’s ability to fly its domestic and international customers into and out of Queenstown over the busy winter season has been enhanced with 18 aircraft now fitted with advanced navigation technology.
Required Navigation Performance (RNP), introduced onto six of Air New Zealand’s 737s two years ago, has now been extended to the airline’s A320 aircraft, making it the first airline in the world to have an entire A320 fleet RNP enabled.
Air New Zealand general manager airline operations, Captain David Morgan, says RNP has been used to assist domestic jet arrivals and departures into Queenstown more than 2100 times.
Without the use of RNP, at least 150 services would have been cancelled, significantly delayed or diverted.
“In the past two weeks we’ve used RNP around 50 times, enabling at least 15 flights that would previously have been disrupted by the wintery weather.”
RNP enables specially trained pilots to fly to lower altitudes with a more precise and efficient route into the airport, helping reduce the impact of bad weather on services.
Because of its high precision, RNP also reduces noise emissions and can significantly reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions by using much shorter, curved approaches to airports.
Queenstown is one of New Zealand’s most challenging airports due to its mountainous terrain and pilots require special training to be able to fly into the destination.
Work is underway with the Australian Civil Aviation Authority to gain regulatory approval to operate RNP into both Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and the airline is already using RNP at Port Vila in Vanuatu.
Ian Jarrett
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025