Aircraft engines have become quieter but an aircraft’s flight path can also help reduce noise levels by following a smooth descent down to the runway threshold rather than a conventional stepped approach. Up until now, these continuous descent operations (CDOs) have been restricted to low and medium traffic density environments due to their impact on airport capacity. By combining it with point merge techniques, SESAR has extended the solution with Solution #11 "Continuous descent operations (CDO) using point merge" so it can be applied to high-density traffic environments at a lower altitude and in a small and very constrained airspace.
This SESAR solution #11 is now implemented in Austria, Germany, France, Hungary, Ireland and planned in Italy, Lithuania, Latvia and Portugal
