Airports have to keep operating safely, despite poor weather conditions. With the winter season fast approaching and likely to cause some disruptions in airport operations, ACI EUROPE and SESAR organised a workshop on improving low-visibility operations at airports on 23 November in Frankfurt, hosted by Frankfurt Airport.
The workshop, which was attended by 40 air traffic management (ATM) experts and other aviation representatives, allowed for the presentation of a number of SESAR solutions that help low-visibility operations at airports, such as the advanced safety nets for vehicle drivers and controllers, ‘Follow-the-Greens’ and virtual block control. Concrete examples of the validation, demonstration and implementation of these solutions at several European airports were presented by Fraport, Honeywell, Dassault Aviation, DSNA and PANSA. The presentation on the RETINA project by Bologna University was a good example of how emerging technologies, such as augmented reality, are being developed to enhance pilots and air traffic controllers’ situational awareness. Keynotes were made by Romy Wilczek, Deputy Chief Airport Operations Fraport, and Olivier Mongénie, Airport Programme Manager SESAR JU.
As a main conclusion, every airport is unique and so there is no one-size solution fits all. Recognising this, SESAR has several Solutions addressing low-visibility operations that can be adapted according to an airport’s specific needs. In SESAR 2020, work will continue to deliver solutions that meet the needs of airports of all sizes to maximise performance benefits across the entire network. The programme will also continue to encourage strong collaboration between stakeholders to ensure that the appropriate standardisation and regulation frameworks are in place.
Find out more about the SESAR Solutions presented at the workshop:
Videos:
- SESAR: A-SMGCS supported low-visibility operations with virtual stop bars (NLR)
- Surface management and airport safety nets (Eurocontrol)
- Augmented Approaches to Land (I - Honeywell)
- Augmented Approach to Land (II – Dassault Aviation)
- SESAR Solution Runway Status Lights (DSNA)
Websites
To view the photos of this workshop, please click here.
The SESAR Catalogue covers all SESAR Solutions. It is available here.