Skyguide increases energy efficiency by over 40 percent

As a federally owned company, skyguide is committed to the Swiss Confederation to reduce air traffic emissions and its own responsible energy consumption through operational improvements. To this end, skyguide invests in efficiency measures on the ground and in improved traffic handling in the air, while maintaining or increasing safety levels.

Swiss air navigation service provider skyguide guides aircraft as directly as possible to their destinations in order to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gases in air traffic. The company has therefore developed a network of direct flight routes over Switzerland, reducing aircraft waiting times and improving various technical systems. This optimized Approach traffic at Zurich Airport saves 700t of kerosene, 2100t of CO2 emissions and 90% of aircraft waiting time in the air every year. This results not only in a considerable saving in fuel consumption but also in better planning.

Also the Satellite navigation is now more environmentally compatible: it enables flight paths to be flown independently of ground-based facilities, thus allowing more flexible routing. This leads to more efficient flight routes and to lower kerosene consumption, CO2 and noise emissions. To date, skyguide has already implemented more than 200 satellite-based approach procedures. Some conventional land-based navigation systems can be deactivated in this way.

For communication between air traffic controllers and pilots, skyguide operates a Radio system with 700 voice radios and 46 transmitting and receiving stations. The "Smart Radio" project launched in 2012 to renew the entire main radio system will now be completed in 2021. The latest generation radio equipment also significantly improves energy efficiency. Compared to the previous equipment, it 30% consumes less energy, saving up to 200MWh of electricity per year.

Also with the Office infrastructure skyguide is committed to energy-optimized systems, whether in the areas of IT, lighting or paper consumption. In 2019, for example, skyguide significantly improved its average paper consumption of 6kg per person per year compared with the previous year, thanks to its digitization strategy and equipment featuring the latest technology and greater energy efficiency. As a result, skyguide reduced its energy consumption in this area by 89%, equivalent to an annual saving of 30MWh.

"We are proud that we are also successfully doing our homework in the areas of energy and climate year after year, and that we are meeting the strategic targets set by the Swiss Confederation," says Alex Bristol, CEO of skyguide. "Moreover, we are also looking to the future and have committed ourselves to the Swiss Confederation to further increase the efficiency of air traffic - while maintaining a high level of safety."

Further information can be found at:

www.skyguide.ch/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/VBE_Jahresbericht_2019_DE.pdf 

www.skyguide.ch/de/company/environment/  

www.vorbild-energie-klima.ch