NetJets Europe is leading a consortium of 15 companies called A3 (Advanced Approaches for all Airports) to run advanced airport approach trials to as part of the Single European Sky research project SESAR.
The initiative aims to develop new approach and landing solutions that will increase the traffic throughput of Europe's airport network, but also reduce emissions and noise.
The A3 consortium will implement the augmented approaches to land project (AAL) – co-financed by the SESAR Joint Undertaking – and will perform more than 200 demonstration flights by 2016 to validate new approach and landing technologies. The flights will involve a significant number of aircraft types and an extensive range of airport environments.
The AAL project aims to carry out trials using curved approach paths guided by required navigation performance (RNP) ground and satellite-based augmentation systems (GBAS and SBAS), synthetic vision guidance systems (SVGS), and enhanced flight vision systems (EFVS). The ultimate intention is to prove systems that could replace the reliable but inflexible instrument landing system (ILS).
The consortium plans to apply enhanced and synthetic vision technologies to increase access for business aviation into small and regional airports in marginal weather conditions. The use of advanced SBAS RNP procedures will also improve access to large hubs, as well as small airports in metropolitan areas.
SESAR executive director Florian Guillermet says: "These latest demonstration projects are a fantastic opportunity to showcase innovations emerging from the SESAR research and innovation programme on a large scale and in real operational conditions.
“I am delighted to see so many stakeholders from around Europe taking part. With their support, I am confident that these projects will further convince the broader community that the first SESAR solutions are now fit for wider scale deployment.”
The A3 consortium includes NetJets Europe, the European Business Aviation Association, Lufthansa, Swiss, Honeywell Aerospace, Elbit Systems and air navigation service providers DFS, ANS CR and Skyguide, with support from German research agency DLR and Airbus ProSky. French ANSP DSNAwill provide airport operational procedure studies.
Manufacturer support will be provided by Dassault Aviation and Airbus, and airports taking part include smaller bases like Périgueux, Bergerac, Bordeaux, Ostrava and Bremen, alongside two large airports – Frankfurt and Zurich.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
