Avionics provider ACSS (hall 4, B15) says Airbus is on track to certificate its T3CAS system for forward-fit A320 family installations by year-end, with entry into service early next year.

Along with traffic alert and collision avoidance and terrain awareness warning, the new system integrates a mode S transponder with automatic dependent surveillance broadcast in and out capabilities into the same box, allowing for a variety of "green" procedures, including in-trail procedures at the start and staggered approaches with wake alerting later.

Once certificated, the Airbus plans to make T3CAS the standard surveillance package for its A330 and A340 line as well, making it the first airframer to offer such a system with forward-fit installation, says ACSS president Kris Ganase.

ACSS has been a trailblazer in the application of ADS-B to revenue flights, and the savings it generates, initially with its SafeRoute applications for UPS starting in 2007.

Based on ADS-B, SafeRoute is a series of software tools that provides separation information on a cockpit display, thus allowing for closer separation distances between aircraft fitted with the system, even in adverse weather. UPS uses the system for merging and spacing on approaches as well as fuel-saving and noise-reduction continuous descent approaches at its Louisville hub.

For Airbus and other ACSS customers, T3CAS will in future allow a broad suite of new capabilities to be incorporated via service bulletin software loads over time. Planned new SafeRoute functions include the ability to use closely spaced parallel runways for staggered landings, with the goal of allowing for parallel approaches to such runways.

The capability, in theory, will allow airports to build new parallel runways between existing parallel runways, which are typically 1,310m (4,300ft) apart for staggered approaches, increasing capacity by one-third, says Ganase.

An associated application will be related to wake vortex management, which will take advantage of the wealth of data shared by aircraft with ADS-B out capability to compute how closely aircraft can fly laterally on an approach.

Source: Flight Daily News

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