Virgin Atlantic’s Jetliners Taken to Starting Grid before Takeoff

Virgin Atlantic has started testing a procedure to reduce the time that airliners run their engines on the ground and so reduce the amount of pollution they cause. The airline’s Boeing 747 jets departing from London Heathrow and Gatwick this month are being towed to a “starting grid” close to the runway before their engines are fired up.

A “starting grid” is a holding area, close to a runway, consisting of several parking bays for aircraft. It means that aircraft can be towed closer to a runway before take-off, substantially reducing the time that engines need to be running. An aircraft would only need to start its engines once on the grid, around 10 minutes before actual take-off.

The experiment is being conducted in cooperation with airport operator British Airports Authority and the air traffic control authority in a climate of increased awareness of the environmental damage being done by carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft. The test runs this month are to be followed up with longer and more detailed trials in the first quarter of 2007.

Environment campaigners have dismissed the action as a token gesture and are calling for less commercial flying and an end to airport expansion as a more urgent need to combat climate change.

Virgin Atlantic claims that reducing the time that aircraft engines are running on the ground will make a small contribution to cutting pollution.

Towing aircraft closer to the runway has substantial implications also for people who live close to the airports. They stand to benefit from much lower noise levels because of aircraft taxiing without their engines running, and from much cleaner air on the ground.

The move by Virgin Atlantic follow Sir Richard Branson’s commitment for Virgin Group to invest $3 billion over the next ten years in renewable energy initiatives.