To cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, Boeing has sped up its ecoDemonstrator programme to support its partner airlines, including those in Vietnam.

A Boeing airplane. (Photo: Boeing)

With the first testament Etihad Airways in the UAE, the ecoDemonstrator programme this year aims to bring less noisy flights, sterilised aircraft cabins and cockpits with UV lights, digital communications and time-based management arrivals as well as the use of less fuel leading to fewer CO2 emissions.

According to the technical leader for the ecoDemonstrator programme, Doug Christensen, the firm worked with NASA to test noise on the aeroplanes. He added a noise measurement system around the landing gear has also been installed to develop a solution for reducing the noise coming from aircraft engines. 

Christensen told local media via an online meeting: “The noise reduction technology will help big cities in Vietnam like HCM City and Da Nang, with busy airports in or near the city centre."

To deal with the pandemic, Boeing will produce ultraviolet light wands, which help to sterilise aircraft cabins and cockpits without the need for conventional disinfectants, he said. Together with many new sterilisation technologies being developed, the Boeing also works with airlines to investigate the transmission mechanisms of the disease. 

He also added in the co-operation with Etihad Airways, they will use the sustainable fuels that can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 75%, saying: “The sustainable fuels proposed by Boeing for use in this programme will contribute to reducing emissions in the skies of Vietnam and the world.”

The ecoDemonstrator programme, running since 2012, focuses on technology to create safer and more sustainable flights. These technologies will be applied in Boeing aeroplanes around the world.