Flights will soon take straight routes from Chennai to Mumbai,Delhi and Kolkata and save time and fuel as pilots will not have to take detours to avoid military airspace. The aviation and defence ministries have approved flexible use of military airspace, and have set up a mechanism to allow commercial flights through restricted airspace.
When perfected and extended to other routes , the move will save time and fuel on flights connecting ChennaiwithM adurai ,Bangalore andThiruvananthapuram . Flying time is likely to reduce by six to 15 minutes on different routes . Fuel savings are expected to be 20,29 ,380 kg a year and emissions are likely to reduce by 63,93,600 kg a year on theseven busiest routes—Chennai-Mumbai , Chennai-Delhi , Chennai-Kolkata , Delhi-H yderabad , Delhi-Mumbai , Delhi-Kolkata , and Delhi-B angalore . These routes have been selected because the air trafficcontrolsystem is automated andcivil and military flight plans can be shared electronically .
29/03/13 Economic Times
