LATAM Airlines will upgrade over 200 A320 Family aircraft with Airbus’ fuel saving ‘Descent Profile Optimization’ (DPO) function. The DPO is an upgrade to the aircraft’s onboard Flight Management System (FMS) database.
On Wednesday (September 21, 2021), Airbus announced that LATAM Airlines will upgrade over 200 A320 Family aircraft with Airbus’ fuel saving ‘Descent Profile Optimization’ (DPO) function, becoming the largest Airbus fleet with the upgrade. The DPO is an enhancement to the aircraft’s onboard Flight Management System (FMS) database which allows aircraft to descend from cruise altitude using only idle engine thrust, which reduces fuel burn and the associated proportional CO2 and NOx emissions. All of the equipment kits for the installation of the DPO performance software will be delivered from the end of 2021 through early 2022.
Additionally, the DPO maximizes time spent at efficient cruise level by avoiding the start of descent too early, subsequently minimizing the amount of time spent at the inefficient ‘level off’ stage at the bottom of the descent. That is where engines must generate thrust to maintain level flight in dense air prior to final landing approach. Further efficiency improvements can be accomplished in coordination with Air Traffic Control through the optimization the aircraft’s flight trajectory. By upgrading their A320 Family fleet with the DPO software, LATAM Airlines will generate over 100 tons of fuel savings annually for each aircraft across their network. Likewise, this will reduce CO2 emissions by over 300 tons annually per aircraft for a total reduction of 60,000 tons per year.
The DPO upgrade is just one of several flight operations optimization offered by Airbus and their flight operations services subsidiary Navblue. Combined with improved Air Traffic Management, these fuel savings solutions allow airlines to start their decarbonization efforts now.
Source: Airbus