China urges pre-flight toilet training to save fuel
CHINA: A Chinese airline has calculated that it takes a litre
of fuel to flush the toilet at 30,000 feet and is urging passengers to
go to the bathroom before they board.
As Chinese airlines come under increasing pressure to cut fuel
expenditures, China Southern's latest strategy is to encourage
passengers "to spend their pennies before boarding the aircraft", Xinhua
news agency reported on Thursday.
"The energy used in one flush is enough for an economical car to run
at least 10 kilometres," Captain Liu Zhiyuan, who flies regularly
between Hangzhou and Beijing, was quoted as saying.
Citing a survey by the company's logistics department, Liu said
carrying one kilogram of items such as blankets and pillows by air for
one hour uses 0.2 kg of fuel.
"This means the blankets and pillows on board the aircraft eat up 60
tonnes of fuel every day. If each seat is loaded with three 450-gram
magazines, another 60 tonnes will be consumed," Liu explained.
Another cost-saving technique will keep 47 million yuan ($6 million)
a year in the airline's coffers, Xinhua said.
"The company has asked logistics staff to fill the water tank only 60
percent full."
In the first half of the year, the "aggregated loss" of Chinese
airlines was estimated at around 3 billion yuan, Xinhua said. ($1=7.835
Yuan)
BEIJING, Thursday, Reuters |