Flights to Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia may now get shorter.

A three-month user-preferred routing (UPR) trial will be conducted on 38 different scheduled routes between cities in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Singapore.

"Under UPR, the sky is an open canvas; pilots have the flexibility to choose the most efficient and direct routes to their destinations without having to stick to predefined highways in the sky," said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) in a press release.

Typically, planes use a fixed network of airways to get from one point to another, like how cars get to places via highways.

However, since Aug. 5, 2024, pilots on select flight routes have been given the flexibility to choose the most direct and efficient paths across the airspaces of the countries involved.

The UPR will allow better use of airspaces and help cut flight time and carbon emissions, CAAS said.

The trial involves national flag carriers Singapore Airlines (SIA), Garuda, Qantas and Air New Zealand, and the routes include those from Singapore to Auckland, Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Christchurch, Darwin, Melbourne and Perth, as well as the Sydney to Singapore route.

Responding to Mothership's queries, SIA said that the airline is conducting the UPR trials on selected flights between Singapore and several destinations, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Christchurch, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

A total of 15 SIA flights will be a part of the trial.

"Through our participation in the trial, SIA expects to achieve time and fuel savings when wind conditions are favourable on these routes. This will potentially enhance our customers’ convenience when they fly with us and reduce SIA’s emissions," the airline said.

Top photo via Saif Zaman/Unsplash