runaway – Airport Benchmarking

Airports exploring new EU funding opportunities

Karima Kouidri — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 14:46:56 +0000

There was strong participation by airport operators in the last Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)

Transport Call, launched on 6 October, which made €290 million available for co-funding, with a specific focus on accelerating the renewal and updating of European airports’ Air Traffic Control (ATC) infrastructure. What is so remarkable about this? Luc Laveyne reports.

“This unique partnership has allowed the 4th biggest UK airport, which is now at record passenger numbers and continuing to grow, to introduce vehicle transponders within the airside environment, which are part of a suite of safety-focused Pilot Common Project (PCP) deployments.” (Monika Simonaityte, Stansted Airport)

The SESAR Deployment Airport Grouping (SDAG, part of ACI EUROPE) has been working hard to highlight funding opportunities to airports. In recent times, it has noticed that this is having an impact, with an increasing awareness and interest by European airports in obtaining public funding for their Air Traffic Management (ATM)-related investments in the past months. It is very interesting to see the growing number of multi-stakeholder projects presented. For example, one multi-stakeholder’s project proposal “Synchronised stakeholder decision on process optimisation at airport level”, addressing one of the European Commission’s priorities for this call, has been coordinated by Brussels Airport with the support of SDAG. The joint application aims at improving the efficiency of airside operations through real-time information sharing. It sees the involvement of 13 airport operators, 2 ANSPs and 1 Airspace User with an indicative budget of €90m of investment. The proposal currently has the endorsement of the involved Member States and will be submitted for the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA)’s evaluation at the beginning of April 2018.
In parallel, another project – “Enablers for Airport Surface Movement related to Safety Net” is already being executed. This project is a multi-stakeholder project (12 Airport Operators, 1 ANSP and 1 Airspace User) awarded by INEA for its co-funding through the 2016 CEF Call and coordinated by Groupe ADP with SDAG support. It aims at synchronised deployment of the Advanced-Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS) throughout Europe – a system that provides guidance and surveillance for the control of aircraft and vehicles in order to maintain airport throughput under all weather conditions, while keeping the required level of safety.

In particular, Stansted Airport, one of the project contributors, has already successfully implemented its part of the project last summer. “This unique partnership has allowed the 4th biggest UK airport, which is now at record passenger numbers and continuing to grow, to introduce vehicle transponders within the airside environment, which are part of a suite of safety-focused Pilot Common Project (PCP) deployments. The objective of the project was to equip airside vehicles that have access to the runway and operate in the manoeuvring area of London Stansted Airport with a vehicle transponder, to improve situational awareness, reduce the risk of runway incursions and contribute to the overall airport safety culture. London Stansted Airport will continue to collaborate with European stakeholders to introduce other such technological and operational solutions that will not only facilitate the airport’s growth efficiently and safely, but also effectively play a vital role in a coordinated European Air Traffic Management network. The INEA funding as part of this joint project has expedited the implementation of this and other PCP mandated projects here at Stansted” (Monika Simonaityte, Stansted Airport).
These two experiences are a clear proof that airport operators are currently leading the way in terms of presenting joint applications. What it also shows is that they are supporting the coordinated and synchronised execution of their implementation projects to enhance the ATM modernisation, thus complying with the obligations stemming from the Pilot Common Project Regulation. However, since CEF initiatives do not always fully correspond to different airports’ needs, SDAG’s priority for the next months is to explore other forms of funding (mainly on the basis of the investment plans) and to better understand airports’ needs, in order to foster alignment with the policy plans of the European Commission.
Let SDAG know what your airport’s plans and needs are for the next years (in terms of investments, innovations, etc.) so that SDAG can explore the possibilities of different funding initiatives.
SDAG is open to questions for clarification and potential investigation. You can visit the SDAG website (www.aci-europe.org/sdag.html) and contact SDAG on the following email addresses: barbora.smolikova@airportgrouping.org and luc.laveyne@aci-europe.org.

source : https://tinyurl.com/y8rsv95b

Netherlands Will be the First to Build a Circular Runway for Commercial Jets and Drones

Karima Kouidri — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 12:12:38 +0000

The engineer who suggested the idea of “circular runways” to the aviation sector now wants to use the same concept for drones.

In 2016, there were about 3.8 billion air passengers. Surprisingly, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates this number will nearly double (7.2 billion) by 2035.

Basically, this passenger demand means more flights that will add to the already existing pressure of airport congestion. To accommodate the rising flight demand, airports can’t just keep expanding their runway capacities forever.

But what about circular or “endless” runways? Believe it or not, this futuristic concept is being explored as a potential long-term solution to air traffic population.

If it works on a big scale, then it stands to reason that it will work on a small scale. Hence now circular runways being suggested as a way to handle fleets of delivery drones.

A Runway That Never Ends

Many aspects of air travel have drastically changed over the 20^th century, from aircraft to robot guides to biometric identification. Airports, however, have remained pretty much the same.

Do airport runways should always be a straight line? According to European engineers, they don’t necessarily have to be.

Since 2012, the Aerospace Center of the Netherlands (NLR) has been working on the Endless Runway project, the brainchild of Dutch engineer Henk Hesselink.

The concept of circular runways could potentially increase the capacity of airports, dissipate noise pollution evenly, and put an end to the problem of headwinds.

Built as a 3km wide circle around a terminal, circular runways have no beginning or end. This would allow for a high volume of traffic as several takeoffs and landings could take place simultaneously.

In addition, pilots won’t have to navigate through crosswind no matter its direction.

Those aren’t the only benefits to the circular runway design. In fact, this project could help eliminate air traffic noise from certain parts of the surrounding area. Or, if the airport is surrounded by residential areas, the air traffic controllers could balance the amount of noise evenly. This would be accomplished by having aircraft approach the runway from a specified direction, as all 360 degrees of the approach are available.

The physics seem to agree as well. Due to the slight turn required to land on a circular runway, the centrifugal forces will cause the plane to naturally fly slower. What’s more, the plane will automatically be pulled toward the center of the circle. Hesselink says “Pilots and passengers will not feel like they are in a rollercoaster.”

According to Hesselink’s team, one circular runway can handle the traffic of 4 regular straight runways.

To execute the Endless Runway project, NLR has partnered with four other European research centers. These centers have homes in Germany, France, Poland, and Spain.

Circular Runways for Delivery Drones

Every year, drones are gaining in autonomy and versatility. In the coming years, delivery drones are poised to become commonplace. When that comes to be, would drones use the already constrained airports (and follow severe aviation guidelines), or will there be a need for new infrastructure?

This issue is even more challenging when it comes to the logistics of big drones.

We don’t know if Amazon, in its ongoing drone patents frenzy, has thought about this looming logistical problem.

While the concept of circular runways has proven to be divisive among experts in the aviation industry, Henk Hesselink is now suggesting using it for delivery drones.

According to the BBC, Hesselink wants to scale back his endless runway design for UAVs and has already taken a concrete step toward that goal.

In collaboration with Valkenburg airport in the Netherlands, Hesselink will build a circular test runway for drones in a site near The Hague out of a decommissioned naval base.

Such a design for a drone airport would make efficient use of space as “a 300kg unmanned aircraft would only require a runway diameter of 600m.” Hesselink is currently looking for financial backers to help him bring his idea to fruition.

Be sure to check out this BBC podcast to hear the latest update from Hesselink.

Do you see any issues with this new circular runway design? Or could it be the solution to the growing problem of congestion in modern aviation?

source : https://tinyurl.com/ybkflwso