This will shave six hours off a flight from London to Fiji, which had to either stop in Los Angeles or Seoul en-route.
There’s a good side and a bad side to this.
The good side: Thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people traveling the Virgin Air (and other airlines) great circle route from London to Hawaii or Fiji will be able to see that the North polar ice cap has not melted away as some would believe have forecast.
The bad side: Sir Richard Branson, who has paired up with Al Gore in the past as a global eco champion, may take a hit from having planes spew jet exhaust in what some people call a highly sensitive region. I wonder if an EIR had to be filed for stratospheric effects? From The Independent:
Airlines cleared to use Santa’s short-cut
New destinations and shorter journey times on way after North Pole route is approved for passenger jets.
Hard-pressed airlines have been handed the perfect Christmas present: permission to fly twin-jet aircraft over the North Pole, saving millions on fuel costs, opening up new destinations and reducing damage to the environment.
…
Sir Richard Branson, president of Virgin Atlantic, told The Independent: “This new development really does open up a whole new world and will allow us to take our Dreamliners to more exciting and exotic places. Our new fleet of 787s could well be flying to Honolulu or even Fiji one day.” Fiji straddles the 180-degree line of latitude, and the most direct track passes directly over the North Pole – though because of the distance, over 10,000 miles, the payload would need to be restricted. The new policy could also make no-non-stop routes to Tahiti in the South Pacific and Anchorage in Alaska viable.
…
And Sir Richard Branson looked forward to new sightseeing opportunities: “Apart from the stunning destinations on arrival, the Arctic scenery will be just amazing on the way.”
================================================================
I look forward to all those tourist photos and video from the window seats saying;
“Gosh, look at all that ice, I thought the North Pole had melted according to the Guardian!”
Full story at The Independent
h/t to Dr. Ryan Maue
Addendum: Since some people haven’t clicked through the link to the article, they get the mistaken impression this is “new”. It’s only new for two engine jets, of which Branson has many. Four engine jets have been making great circle routes for years but two engine jets have been limited by ETOP rules related to an engine failing and distance to nearest airport. – Anthony
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Alex Cull says:
December 24, 2011 at 12:17 am
“Here’s to aviation, innovation and enterprise, and hoping they make a full recovery from the attack of the green meanies!”
At least Branson manages to play the green meanie convincingly himself, offering to kill climate skeptics to Rajendra K. Pachauri; a suggestion that Rajendra K. Pachauri and the audience find very funny indeed.
http://www.grist.org/climate-skeptics/2011-12-16-new-approach-to-climate-deniers-launch-them-into-space
Ecotretas has the video.
http://ecotretas.blogspot.com/2011/12/pachauri-openly-defends-killing.html
Look, here’s a picture of some strawmen…..
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8724098/British-explorers-row-450-miles-to-North-Pole-in-world-first-voyage.html
Even the super trustworthy and entirely unbiased BBC repeats the story…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-14464305
They all say the North Pole has melted – or are they just a bunch of sensationalist freeloading adventurers attempting to compensate for the fact that they’ve got very small willies?
/ varying sarc
Anyway, living as I do under the flightpath that leads to N America, this year I ran a small experiment in my garden with a couple of solar panels, an inverter and power monitor. (I trained as an Elec Engineer, can’t resist this stuff and wondered what all the hoo-ha was about)
Contrails devastate the output of PV solar panels and even when the trails are all ‘smeared out’ and, at first glance skywards have dispersed, their effect is noticeable to the tune of 30 to 40% reduction in PV output.
PV fail for me, although, as the wettest place in England is 30 miles south of me and the wettest place in Scotland is 30 miles north, I knew what the result would be anyway.
OT but VIp
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2011/dec/14dec2011a4.html
Mann plus Nature Magazine *climate editors need to be fired or replaced urgently
> M.A.Vukcevic says: December 24, 2011 at 1:16 am
>
> There are indeed dangers considering that at the poles stratosphere is as low as
> 9km (30,000ft) well below airlines cruising height.
> http://www-das.uwyo.edu/~geerts/cwx/notes/chap01/trop_height1.gif
What exactly are those dangers? Weather, as we know it, doesn’t exist above the tropopause. Jet streams will change speed/direction/location, but there’s no worry about running into cumulonimbus clouds, or freezing rain, or whatever.
“In the case of light twin engine aircraft, it is said that the remaining engine will always get you to the crash site. ;<))”
And I’m grateful my legs are as long as they are. If they weren’t, my feet wouldn’t touch the ground.
Without cheating, just guess, what time of year was this years ice cover the same as in the map above?
Since the typical “proof” of AGW is always something 99.9% of all people never see (drowning polar bears, Arctic ice, Antartic ice, Himalayan glaciers, Greenland ice, etc.) this is great news. Now people will be able to see for themselves.
I wonder if pilots will be forced to tell people to take a good like while it’s still there, and give bogus statistics about how much less ice there is with every trip, or other scare tactics. In other words “don’t believe your lying eyes”
So, who is it, Sir Richard Branson or the reporter from The Independent, who doesn’t know the difference between latitude and longitude?
crosspatch says:
December 24, 2011 at 12:36 am
============================
That was cool !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good article for Christmas Eve, Mr. Watts!
It reminded me of my late father, who proved the theorem of Great Circles when he was young.
I miss him. We used to argue about global warming ’til we were blue in our faces…
arguethefacts says:
December 24, 2011 at 4:34 am
================================
Google “north pole ice free”
9,000,000 results
read just a few
Ignorance is expensive, but cheap to cure
@argue the facts says:
…to see that the North polar ice cap has not melted away as some would believe.
What a stupid sentence. Name one person who says the North polar ice cap has melted away? This is terrible writing.
REPLY: Gladly, I’ll name three.
Al Gore (on his current TV website) and NASA climate scientist Jay Zwally
http://current.com/green/88653981_polar-ice-gone-by-2012.htm
Mark “death Spiral” Serreze from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22203980/ns/us_news-environment/t/rate-ice-melt-shocks-warming-experts/#.TvX25VbnuuM
Though since you got your panties in a twist, I edited the text to add “have forecast”. The routes won’t start until 2012, and that’s what I was saying in the sentence. Since you “arguethefacts” I presume now you’ll send a letter to Al Gore, Zwally, and Serreze telling them they are stupid for believing this? If you do, please send a copy to WUWT and we’ll gladly post it.- Anthony
So with more sonic booms traveling over the arctic, what will be the effect on polar bear sleep and reproduction? If the bears loose out on more sleep by being boomed awake, they will be grumpier. Are grumpy bears more prone to cannibalism of the young? Seems Dick Branson needs to rethink his priorities for the wildlife.
Think of your grandchildren. Will they even know what a polar bear looks like?
/sarc
24 Dec: MoneyControl: Reuters: China CATA to sue EU on airline carbon rule – media
“We deeply regretted that the United States lost the lawsuit. China will continue to steadfastly pursue a lawsuit,” Chai Haibo, deputy secretary of China Air Transport Association, was quoted by the Economic Observer for its Monday edition as saying.
China Daily on Friday also quoted Chai as saying that China’s four major state-run airlines have reached an agreement with CATA to jointly sue the EU in Germany at the end of this month.
“We know that the prospect of victory is dim, but we want to show our firm opposition by launching a lawsuit,” Chai was quoted by China Daily as saying…
The case before the Wednesday ruling by the EU’s highest court has triggered hostile reaction from airlines around the world, as well as blocking legistration in the U.S. Congress and a threat from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton…
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/wire-news/china-cata-to-sue-euairline-carbon-rule-media_639096.html
reuters gets a quote from WWF on this!
23 Dec: Reuters: Barbara Lewis: Q+A-UPDATE 1-What next in the EU versus airlines dispute?
In the latest of a flurry of statements from airlines and their associations, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) called on the EU to abandon its plans.
“This dispute needs to be resolved through constructive political dialogue, rather than embarking on a bruising trade war,” the AAPA said on Friday. “We urge the EU to scrap plans to include foreign airlines within the EU ETS.”…
Many in Europe dismissed the threats of retaliation as rhetoric.
“No one wants to see a trade war. No one wants to pay huge fines. There is a lot of sabre-rattling,” Jean Leston, senior transport policy adviser at WWF, said…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/23/eu-airlines-idUSL6E7NN1VF20111223
That does it! Santa has had enough…
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/a1b7018f17/drunk-santa-caught-on-tape
Happy Holidays!
arguethefacts…
Can you please provide a link to those satellite photos of the arctic from 1970?
What is being hyped here , is that the FAA have just approved a 330 minutes ETOPS rule for the 787 and certain engine installations. That means 5.5 hrs flying on a single engine from a diversion airfield .
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/boeing-to-offer-330-minute-etops-on-777s-365910/
As a Powerplant Engineer at a fairly well known airline , regardless of any hypothetical environmental benefits, you will not find me on one of these !!
Typo , should be 777 not 787
Alexander Feht says:
December 24, 2011 at 5:32 am
So, who is it, Sir Richard Branson or the reporter from The Independent, who doesn’t know the difference between latitude and longitude?
=================================================
Don’t leave out any editor that approved it !!
arguethefacts says:
December 24, 2011 at 4:34 am
What a stupid sentence.
Seems you were just trying to take a political swipe at environmentalists using a straw dog argument.
This is terrible writing. Please correct this sentence.
@richard G says:
December 23, 2011 at 11:20 pm
How about a route over the south pole to NZ?
In fact the Aerolineas Argentinas flight from Buenos Aires to Auckland and Australia has existed for decades, not flying exactly over the South Pole but over a large stretch of Antarctica. Aerolineas has now been re-nationalized by the crazy Kirchner government of Argentina (the firm is being supported by the govt at a rate of over $2 million per day, timetables are shaky and staff strikes are frequent). The flight may have been discontinued or soon to be, but it was a great idea.
To Anthony all the contributors, moderators and poster, Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
May the Good Ship Watts be fully provisioned, with full sails and kept on a steady course. This is a copper bottomed ship.
Regards
S
I was told by a pilot friend that ETOPS stood for “Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim”
arguethefacts says:
December 24, 2011 at 4:34 am
…to see that the North polar ice cap has not melted away as some would believe.
What a stupid sentence. Name one person who says the North polar ice cap has melted away? This is terrible writing. The North Polar ice cap is melting (provable, just look at satellite shots for 2011 and compare them with 1970), but no one says they’ve melted. Please correct this sentence. Seems you were just trying to take a political swipe at environmentalists using a straw dog argument.
I tend to agree. We all dislike it when alarmists call us “climate change deniers” (like, whoever denied that climate changes?) so it’s kind of stooping to their level to misrepresent their position as they continually misrepresent ours.
Alexander Feht says:
December 24, 2011 at 5:32 am
50/50 evens, but consider that, a few years back, Branson seemed to believe that his train drivers had steering wheels…