AIRLINE INITIATED FUEL DISCREPANCY; NOTED BY DISPATCH SUPVR; AFTER A NUMBER OF FLTS HAD BEEN DISPATCHED UNDER AN IMPROPER FUEL RESERVE COMPUTATION METHOD ON SOME EXTENDED OVERWATER OPS FROM RJAA; FO.

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CAPT WAS ADVISED BY DISPATCH MGR ON MAR/WED/03 THAT FLT ABC ON MAR/THU/03 FROM NRT TO HNL WAS ILLEGALLY DISPATCHED. THE DISPATCHER UTILIZED ETOPS CRITICAL FUEL RESERVE COMPUTATIONS BASED ON HAWAII ETOPS CRITERIA; FOR DISPATCH WITH LIMITED OR NO ICING AS EXISTED THAT DAY FOR THE RTE. IT WAS SUBSEQUENTLY DETERMINED BY DISPATCH INVESTIGATORS THAT THIS METHOD IS CURRENTLY ONLY ACCEPTABLE FOR HAWAII-MAINLAND UNITED STATES FLTS; AND NOT ALL HAWAII FLTS. THEREFORE; THIS FLT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISPATCHED WITH FULL ANTI-ICE FUEL RESERVES. OPERATIONALLY; THERE WERE NO ADVERSE IMPLICATIONS; WITH NO WX AND NO ICING FORECAST NOR EXISTING; AND WITH AMPLE FUEL TO HAVE COVERED THE FULL ANTI-ICE REQUIREMENT. THE FLT WAS NORMAL IN ALL RESPECTS. SUPPLEMENT 8% ICING PENALTY FOR FLT ABC AND ALSO FLT DEE. I UNDERSTAND THAT WE DO NOT HAVE THE AUTH TO USE THE SPECIAL ICING RESERVES FOR THESE FLTS. WITH THE FREQUENCY OF FLTS THAT I DO; WITH THE SPECIAL ICING RESERVES MIXED IN WITH THE NON ICING RESERVES; IT CAN BE VERY EASY TO MIX UP THESE FLTS. NOW THAT I AM AWARE OF THIS ERROR; I WILL BE ACTIVELY LOOKING TO NOT REPEAT THE ERROR.