Air China Completes RNP Validation Flight

Air China successfully completed its Performance-based Navigation validation flight June 26 in a widebody Airbus A330-243 from Chengdu, China to Lhasa in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. The successful flight utilized Naverus-designed Performance-based Navigation (PBN) procedures. The Air China flight demonstrated specialized approaches and departures, using Required Navigation Performance (RNP), an advanced form of PBN.  The June 26 validation flight clears the way for Air China’s entire fleet of Airbus A330s to fly the Naverus-designed procedures at the Lhasa Gonggar Airport. The Airbus A330 is Air China’s third aircraft type certified for RNP procedures at Lhasa and the first widebody.  In addition to the A330, Naverus has assisted Air China in gaining approval for RNP procedures at Lhasa in the single-aisle Boeing 757 and the Airbus A319.