As a part of its “fello’fly” programme, Airbus has tested a bird-like formation with its A350s, believing that flying aircraft one behind the other could result in significant fuel savings.
Beginning on 12 March Airbus conducted comparison flight tests using A350, in order to gather information about the effectiveness of formation flying. The manufacturer flew a single aircraft an 11-hour journey from Toulouse to Canada to Iceland to Greenland and repeated this with a second Airbus aircraft following. If the programme proves to be effective, it could increase airlines efficiency through considerable reductions on fuel costs and emissions.
The proposed formation would see the FAA approved separation distance of five nm changed to 1.5nm, hoping to result in a reduction of 10-15% in fuel burn in the follower aircraft.
The fello’fly programme aims to “demonstrate the technical, operational and commercial viability of two aircraft flying together for long-haul flights.”
However there are many issues with the proposal. Having two aircraft following on a busy route would increase the possibility of incidents were it not monitored closely. It would also require aircraft to take off together, adding pressure to air traffic control and creating crowding in airport terminals as more passengers wait for coordinated flights.
