TAF Journal of Applied and Physical Sciences 2016, 2(2):32-36 JAPS Content from this work is copyrighted by TAF Publishing, which permits restricted commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium under a written permission. Users may print articles for educational and research uses only, provided the original author and source are credited. Any further utilization of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s), the title of the work and journal citation in the form of a proper scientific referencing. PRIMARY RESEARCH NO X and CO 2 emissions from current air traffic in ASEAN region and benefits of free route airspace implementation S. Aneeka 1, * , Z. W. Zhong 2 1, 2 School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Abstract— The ASEAN region is affected by many climate-change inducing factors such as Forest Fires, Transboundary Haze Pollution, and Forest Degradation. However, within the next few years there may be one more significant contributor in making the ASEAN region vulnerable to climate-change–Air Transportation. Air Traffic Demand in the ASEAN region is growing tremendously. It is expected that air traffic in the region will triple by the year 2033, thus, posing the need for reduction of Green House Gas emissions from aircraft to reduce air pollution. This paper highlights the estimated amount of key air pollutants such as NOX and CO2 emitted in the ASEAN region due to current air traffic demand and the potential benefits of free route airspace implementation in the region. The environmental emissions were estimated using System for Traffic Assignment and Analysis at a Macroscopic Level ȋSAAMȌ tool. A simplified version of EUROCONTROL’s Advanced Emission Model was adopted for estimating the environmental emissions. This paper also discusses future ATM technologies that may be implemented in the ASEAN region, which could support the feasibility of the Free Route Airspace Concept in the region. © 2016 TAF Publishing. All rights reserved. I. INTRODUCTION According to the Asian Development Bank’s report [ͳ], Southeast Asia’s long coast lines, tropical climate, increasing population and unique economic and social characteristics make it one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to climate change impacts [1]. Transboundary haze pollution has been occurring nearly every year over the last 20 years. Though there are significant efforts by * Corresponding author: S. Aneeka E-mail: ashafirah@ntu.edu.sg the ASEAN countries to mitigate climate change, one important aspect that must be now considered is the rising air traffic demand in the region. According to the Airbus Global Market Forecast (2013-2033) [2], Air Traffic in this region is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.5%, a rate at which traffic could triple by the 2030s. This suggests the need for increased flight efficiency to reduce fuel consumptions and emissions of Green House Gases such as NOX and CO2. The Free Route Airspace Concept, which is already implemented in Europe, allows pilots to fly freely between Index Terms NOX and CO2 Emissions Air Traffic Free Route ASEAN Region Received: 15 April 2016 Accepted: 23 May 2016 Published: 24 June 2016