Today, arriving traffic is managed and sequenced in the airspace close to the airport. Faced with increasing traffic, airports are looking for ways to overcome congestion and reduce the need for holding.
Planning arrivals into a busy airport an hour or more before touchdown cuts down holding time, reduces noise and saves fuel. Extended-AMAN (E-AMAN) allows for the sequencing of arrival traffic much earlier than is currently the case, by extending the AMAN horizon from the airspace close to the airport to further upstream and so allowing more smooth traffic management.
Controllers in the upstream sectors, which may be in a different control centre or even a different functional airspace block (FAB), obtain system advisories to support an earlier pre-sequencing of aircraft. Controllers implement those advisories by, for example, instructing pilots to adjust the aircraft speed along the descent or even before top-of-descent, thus reducing the need for holding and decreasing fuel consumption.
E-AMAN is supported by sharing the airport’s arrival management information with upstream sectors in real time. All parties share the same information using a system-wide information management (SWIM) service. SESAR partners have shown that E-AMAN can be extended up to 200 nautical miles (NM) from the airport. This solution is available for industrialisation. The solution is part of synchronised deployment plans across Europe and has been implemented for the following airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Copenhagen, Warsaw Chopin, Dusseldorf, Munich, Vienna.
SJU references: #05/Release 4
Benefits
- Improved operational efficiency by reducing holding times
- Improved operational efficiency by reducing fuel burn and emissions
- Efficiency in terms of air navigation service provision
- Improved safety and quality of service
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