Airports are the nodes of the airspace network, linking flights for seamless traffic flow. They can also act as bottlenecks of the network and need to be integrated into the system as a whole. The network operates according to a pre-defined network operations plan (NOP), so why not airports? SESAR is introducing the additional means to manage airport operations in a collaborative and proactive way, through the airport operations plan (AOP) and the airport operations centre (APOC).
The AOP is a single, common and collaboratively-agreed rolling plan for an individual airport. The AOP relies on information from different players including airlines, ground handlers, air traffic control, security, emergency services, meteorology and airport management. Set against specific performance targets, the airport monitors the progress of the plan and mitigates the impact of any deviations that may occur. Daily airport operations are managed by the APOC, which can be a physical facility or a virtual collaboration between stakeholders. The alignment between planned and executed operations is continuously monitored, with changes being made to the AOP as required.
As stakeholders update their intentions, or accurate flight progress information is received, the AOP is refined and used to manage resources and coordinate operations. Integration with the NOP extends the planning activities to include air traffic demand and improved target time coordination. The aim with this solution is to provide processes and tools to maintain airport performance in all operating conditions, and to share information with the wider network. Two principal services are provided by this solution: to establish appropriate performance goals and to monitor the performance during the execution timeframe. Ultimately the AOP and APOC make airports more resilient to disruptions by enhancing the common situational awareness of ATM stakeholders through the sharing of real-time information
The full solution is available for industrialisation and is part of European synchronised deployment. It has already been implemented at Amsterdam, London Heathrow and Helsinki airports.
SJU references: #21/ Release 5
Benefits
-Enhanced predictability
-Improved airport resilience/limiting capacity reduction in degraded situations
Datapack
Service description 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5