[photopress:747_jade_cargo.jpg,full,alignright]This is very important. Very safe. Easy to understand. China will reduce the vertical air space between aircraft starting from November 22. In doing this it is breaking no new ground, taking no undue risks, not breaking any barriers. The Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum, we will call it RVSM, it shortens the vertical space between aircraft from 2,000 feet (610 meters) to 1,000 feet (305 meters.)
First, is it safe? Yes. It is in use most places in the world and is fine provided all instruments have been checked to a fairly high level. If this is done then it makes not difference to safety. But it makes an immense difference to the available flying space, effectively doubling it.
Wang Changshun, CAAC’s deputy director, said, ‘We can make better use of the airspace, increase air traffic flow and reduce flight delays. It is good news for travelers who will have to spend less time sitting in cabins waiting for the aircraft to take off.’
Last year, flight delays topped the passengers’ complaint list. Air traffic control was a major reason for the delays.
CAAC has been under pressure to make better use of the limited airspace, as the aircraft fleet keeps expanding. RVSM, which the International Civil Aviation Organization introduced in the 1970s, is used in Europe, North America, the Pacific, the Atlantic, Japan and Republic of Korea.
CAAC carried out a pilot project in Sanya, South China’s Hainan Province in 2002, and has now decided to apply it nationwide in November, about eight months ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Local airlines will have to equip their aircraft with specially certified altimeters and autopilots before October 1.
Source: China Daily