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The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has been shortlisted in the Innovation category of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) Energy Awards 2011. The IAA's entry is the ENSURE project which was developed by the IAA in conjunction with other international air traffic agencies. ENSURE - En-Route Shannon Upper Airspace Re-Design - removes the myriad of outdated air routes which existed in Irish airspace and allows airlines to plan their flights to route directly through Irish airspace, resulting in energy and time savings.

Figure 1: the configuration of Irish airspace under the ENSURE project. The complex network of air routes (right) have been removed to enable airlines to flight plan direct routes through Irish airspace resulting in time and cost savings. 

‘ENSURE is one example of the IAA's aim to safely increase the efficiency of airline operations, reduce the environmental impact of air travel, support sustainable aviation and provide adequate capacity out to 2020', according to IAA chief executive, Eamonn Brennan. Significant savings are expected as a direct result of ENSURE, including; 14,800 tonnes of fuel, 46,800 tonnes of CO2, 2.2 million kilometres, and 195,500 minutes of flight time.

The results of the SEAI Energy Awards will be announced in November.

See IAA's environmental initiatives http://www.iaa.ie/index.jsp?p=158&n=517

Visit SEAI website http://www.seai.ie/Your_Business/Sustainable_Energy_Awards/