Report
Teaser, summary, work performed and final results
Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PJ25 XSTREAM (Cross Border SESAR Trials for Enhanced Arrival Management)
Teaser
In major hub airports, during peak hours, variation in aircraft arrival times exceed the capacity of the destination airport to handle them without incurring airborne delay. These delays can be computed through Arrival Management systems (AMAN), that take into consideration...
Summary
In major hub airports, during peak hours, variation in aircraft arrival times exceed the capacity of the destination airport to handle them without incurring airborne delay. These delays can be computed through Arrival Management systems (AMAN), that take into consideration runway capacities, aircraft characteristics and separation standards to compute an arrival sequence. However, in today’s operation, the arrival management strategy is decided & implemented at a late stage of the flight since most of AMANs have limited horizon, capability and accuracy. Because of this late implementation, the tendency is to absorb those delays at low levels in the TMA, generating high workload for Air Traffic Control Operators (ATCO), extra costs for airlines and poor environmental efficiency.
The objective of the xStream project is to demonstrate, at a very large-scale, new extended arrival management tools and techniques that improve flight efficiency and flight predictability at airports, in TMA, Extended TMA, and in upstream ACC. To meet this objective, the project will define concept and tools for:
• Computing an extended arrival sequence with an horizon of at least 200 NM,
• Defining a delay sharing strategy between TMA, extended TMA and en-route sectors taking into account the overall network capacity and airspace users preferences;
• Providing the calculated arrival constraints to upstream Area Control Centres (ACC) and to relevant aircrafts with AMAN Allocated Time (AAT), Target Time of Arrival (TTA), Time to Lose (TTL), Miles in Trails, Speed advisory, etc,
• Executing the delay sharing strategy.
Demonstrations will consist in flight live trials in major European hub airports:
• London Gatwick & Heathrow airports,
• Paris CDG & Orly airports,
• Zurich airport.
• Frankfurt airport.
For a global picture, the project will also assess the compatibility of these concepts with the handling of inbound flows to multiple airports in the sectors of upstream ACCs. The objective is to avoid cumulative effects that could degrade the upstream sectors capacity or flight efficiency.
They will involve the largest number of upstream ACCs (actually most of ACCs of the Core Area) around those platforms.
Some trials will also be performed in en-route airspace to demonstrate how multiple arrival constraints can be handled.
The project will also associate Airspace Users in order to implement collaborative processes for the management of arrival sequence (A-Flex).
As part of the SESAR 2020 programme, the demonstrations will contribute to SESAR CONOPS definition and engineering standardization work concerning the benefits brought by Extended Arrival Management (E-AMAN).
Work performed
The following work towards the achievement of the objective of this project has been carried out:
Conops: based on SESAR1 work and inputs from demonstration sites, a high-level framework was defined to ensure compatibility and complementarity of trials.
Performance assessment : development of a performance assessment framework, providing a set of KPI. Results analysis started after completion of first trials.
London trials :
- Gatwick : after upgrade of technical infrastructure between Gatwick and Swanwick Terminal control, an operational evaluation was launched in December 2018 with AMAN-DMAN HMI.
- Heathrow : concept and use cases baselined with upstream ACCs. Development of AMAN prototype started.
Paris trials : three exercises were already conducted.
- Paris Orly Extended AMAN : evaluated during summer 2017. After E-AMAN prototype upgrade, trial restarted in November 2018, to assess benefits for the management of LVP procedures.
- COP Sequencer : trial design performed. A first trial was conducted between March and October 2018 on CDG South-East arrivals, with participation of Milan, Zurich, Geneva and Reims ACCs. Technical requirements were consolidated for CDG North-East arrival scenario with participation of Maastricht and Karlsruhe UAC.
- Improved Arrival planning : trial design performed. A first trial was performed between June and October 2018 on CDG arrival peaks.
Zurich trials :
- Arrival planning management & NM integration exercise completed in 2018, with trials between September and October.
- Collaborative tool between Airspace Users, ATC and NM : UDPP prototype is under development. Shadow mode trials are planned in 2019.
- Extended Arrival Management : use case and technical requirements under consolidation.
- Trial design and preparation: performed for Paris, London and Zurich trials, involving all concerned ACCs, airspace users and the network manager.
- Definition of system requirements and development: technical interfaces between partners were defined. To support the trials, E-AMAN prototype was developed for Paris, and is in development for Zurich and London Heathrow.
Integrating multiple AMAN in UAC :
- Exercise design is underway.
Final results
The objective of PJ25 project is to pave the way for evaluating concepts from the PCP, within an integrated global collaborative management of arrivals, including Airports, ACCs and Airlines. The objective is to reduce ATFCM and ASMA delays in the TMA/E-TMA and increase flight efficiency. The major benefits are on the following Key Performance Areas (KPAs):
• Capacity : Airspace capacity,
• Cost efficiency: ANS Cost efficiency,
• Environment : Fuel efficiency,
• Predictability and punctuality,
• Flexibility: ATM System & Airport ability to respond to changes in planned flights and mission,
• Safety: Accidents/incidents with ATM contribution,
• Interoperability: Capability of ANSP systems to share/manage arrival constraints.
The concepts developed in PJ-25 are expected to enhance arrival management, by providing less penalizing, sharper and more efficient ATFCM and Queue Management tools. The project will demonstrate the feasibility of TTA, dDCB and delay sharing concepts in an operational environment. The success of these demonstrations will lead to a quick operational implementation in participating units, in order to comply with the PCP. Demonstration report and gathered expertise, by air navigation service providers, industrials and end-users, will enable to extend the use of the developed tools on other platforms.
First trials showed very promising benefits of the Extended AMAN concept and Improved arrival planning. Performance analysis is underway.