It's not just about massive orders for new aircraft!

Although most of the media attention is on the orders for new generation planes, there have also been some important smaller stories coming out of this year's Paris Air Show.

Boeing and American Airlines have teamed up for the first Eco Demonstrator programme, whereby two of American Airline's in-service aircraft will be used as testing platforms for a range of modifications that can increase fuel efficiency. The first aircraft will be a Boeing 737-800 and the second will be a wide-body plane. The initial modifications include: Adaptable trailing edge technology (it reduces noise and emissions during all phases of flight including take-off, cruise and landing), Variable area fan nozzle (reduces community noise and enables advanced engine efficiency technologies), Flight trajectory optimization for in-flight planning (enables airlines to determine and fly more fuel-efficient routes and provides flight crews the ability to reroute for weather and other constraints) and regenerative fuel cells for onboard power.

GE Aviation has signed an agreement with Chinese civil aviation authorities to develop special air traffic management procedures at Jiuzhai Airport, located at 3,448 meters in the Himalayan Mountains. The procedures, known as Required Navigation Performance or RNP, are very precise flight paths that can be designed to shorten the distance an aircraft has to fly en-route, and to reduce fuel burn, exhaust emissions and noise pollution in communities near airports. Because of RNP's precision and reliability, the technology can help air traffic controllers reduce flight delays and alleviate air traffic congestion. GE has designed and deployed more than 345 RNP flight paths around the world since 2003.

Safran and Honeywell have announced a cooperation agreement to develop a powered nose wheel for aircraft. This would allow an aircraft to taxi from the gate to the runway without using its main engines - using a lot less power and therefore a lot less fuel. This would particularly be important at congested airports where flights can taxi for a long time, but it is estimated by Honeywell and Safran that around five million tonnes of fuel are used each year during taxiing at airports and a device like this could save an airline around 4% of its annual fuel use. That's pretty significant!

But there was an aircraft that everyone was watching very closely - the Bombardier CSeries. It is an all-new aircraft and is aimed at the smaller end of the market for aircraft with 110-130 seats. It picked up a number of orders at the Paris Air Show, which is great news for this very eco-efficient aircraft. The team at Bombardier produced this video before the air show which shows progress on the aircraft so far... it doesn't mention the exciting news of around 60 new aircraft from four different customers (including Korean Air) being purchased or signed for at Le Bourget!

Fonte: Enviroaero