Airliners-India

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 772 Location: Singapore

Japan Airlines (JAL) will implement a "Shades Closed Exercise" across 17 domestic airports in Japan and 5 airports overseas, where window shades of parked aircraft will be shut in order to block out the sunlight to keep temperatures in the interior from rising. By doing so, the amount of air conditioning required in the cabin prior to boarding and flight will be significantly reduced, which in turn can reduce the amount of energy consumed and carbon dioxide (CO2) gas emitted.
The JAL Eco Jet, a Boeing 777 aircraft painted in a special green livery to promote environmental awareness, was also included in the trial. With the participation of passengers who traveled on the Eco Jet and who helped close the shades of the side of the aircraft facing the sun before disembarking, a total of 0.8 tonnes of CO2 emissions was reduced over the 18 flights conducted during the trial period as a result of shortening the time needed for air conditioning for each flight by 23 minutes.
Following the significant findings from the trial, it has been decided to expand this ecological measure to even more airports in Japan and around the world where JAL flies to. From October 1, 2009, aircraft parked at participating airports Honolulu, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Guam and Taipei, will have their shades closed. While ground staff will close the shades of aircraft parked overnight, passengers will otherwise be requested to support this environmental action by helping to close the shades before leaving the aircraft.
JAL recognizes that there are small but yet significant ways by which the airline can lessen the burden of its operations on the environment, and will continue seeking ways to contribute to environment conservation. The "Shades Close Exercise" will be one measure used in the JAL ASPIRE Flight - another environmental activity that JAL will participate in. The JAL ASPIRE Flight seeks to demonstrate the potentials in achieving ultimate environmental efficiency in flights, and will be conducted on October 10, 2009.

During the summer this year, from July 14 to July 24, JAL conducted a trial in domestic airports in Japan, whereby window shades of aircraft that were parked overnight were closed by ground staff during cabin cleaning. Results have showed that on average, the amount of time needed for air conditioning for large aircraft were reduced by 35 minutes and for small aircraft by 21 minutes. The combined effect of the 650 flights that were involved in the trial is a substantial drop in CO2 emissions by 55 tonnes.

Nimish · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:25 am Post subject:

This should be a huge hit in India!
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ssbmat · Member Joined: 20 Dec 2006 Posts: 691

From asking passengers to relieve themselves before boarding to closing window shades, I think JAL has begun to look funny.

Pretty soon, its check-in counters will look 'not-so-funny' if they try to continue these crazy stunts.

It looks like the handiwork of some crazy accountants in the airline, trying to hedge carbon credits.

If they were so concerned about carbon emissions they would stop flying those 40 minute cattle-class 747/777 flights from Tokyo to Osaka/Nagoya/Fukuoka and leave it entirely to the excellent train service.

airindia787 · Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 1:14 am Post subject:

stealthpilot · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 1294 Location: Bangalore

Actually this closing the window shades business is not a new concept and it helps a lot (IMO a lot more than asking pax to use the lavs in the terminal)

If an aircraft is going to be parked in the sun for a prolonged time closing the shades makes a huge difference. I have seen domestic carriers do it if the a/c is on ground for an hour or so during the day ….
Technically even if the aircraft was doing a 40 mins turnaround in BOM/DEL having the shades closed will keep it slightly cooler, sounds a little insane but hey some airlines count the number of coke bottles they uplift Smile

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iflytb20 · Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:29 pm Post subject: