Global warming makes the air rarefied, reducing the portion of the aircraft: to be able to take off they will need to reduce the weight if the slopes are short.
Climate change will reduce the number of passengers on European planes, including those who start from Rome Ciampino and Pantelleria. A study provides for this, published in the magazine Aerospacewhich simulated the repercussions of global warming on 30 airports of the old continent: the 25 busiest, plus 5 others known for some critical issues. The research is part of the Aeroplane project, which wants to deepen the impact of climate change on airport and flight operations.
“Heavier” planes. By 2065, they estimate researchers – meteorologists of the University of Reading (UK) and climate analysis experts of the Italian company Amigo – the take -off operations of passenger planes risk being compromised by increasingly high temperatures. The heat, in fact, reduces the density of the air: therefore, It will be necessary to fly at higher speeds To generate portion, that is, the force (perpendicular to the direction of the air flow) that supports the plane.
“With an average temperature of 30 ° C”, explains one of the signatories of the research, Marco Venturini «is as if the plane became heavier than half a tons. And if the airport has short take -off slopes, or close to hills or mountains, it can face safety problems: the increase in speed would not be enough to compensate for the least portion. That’s why the only solution to reduce the weight is Cut the number of passengers on board, on average about ten people». And this, if the emissions remain high, will often happen: “For some airports until the middle of the times in the summer months”.
Less passengers. The researchers made several simulations by applying the data of 10 climatic models to 30 European airports: the 25 busiest, plus 5 others already known for their critical issues. And they calculated the impact of temperatures on one of the most used commercial aircraft, the Airbus A320, which weighs 78 tons at full load.
Result: if in the coming years the greenhouse gas emissions remain high, the authors warn, Useful restrictions could affect up to 60% of summer flightsespecially in 4 airports, of which the Italians Italians: Rome Ciampino, Pantelleria, Chio (Greece) and San Sebastian (Spain). They are airports that arise near hills and mountains or do not have take-off slopes longer than 4 km: the heat will increase by 50-100 meters by the necessary distance to take off. «By 2065 they will be able to reach Losing from 5 to 12 passengers per flight», The researchers warn. “And in high emissions scenarios, you can exceed 20 less passengers, more than 10% of the total capacity of the A320”.
Greece and London. “The research”, reveals Venturini, “was born because the year after some airports in Greece (in particular those of Kos and Athens) had reported similar cases. And after the publication of the study we discovered that the problem also grips the airport of London-Lucon: last summer he had to erase several flights for this reason. The situation must be monitored carefully: we have investigated the temperature and pressure effects, but also humidity could competebecause the lift is reduced when there is more water vapor, which is lighter than air ».
Noises, prices and slopes. What relapses does this discovery have? “AND It is likely that noise complaints increase in the future if higher take -offs are necessary for airports that have limited length tracks “, observes the study. But the most immediate consequences will be for airport management companies: «In some cases it may be necessary, where possible, stretch the take -off tracks», Venturini replies. “But, at least, it will be necessary to reorganize the earth operations, in particular a different way of using the slopes since some flights begin their acceleration in correspondence with the intersections rather than at the ends of the track”. Will the cutting of the capacity on flights rise the price of summer tickets? «Probable, but it is difficult to make predictions. Of course, airports will have to deal more and more often with global warming: But if they adopt adaptation plans they will limit the damage. In short, they will not be forced to cancel the flights at the last moment ».
