Application

Due to the increase in traffic volume, one year after the newly established second runway was put into use, airport ZXXX hopes to improve the flight efficiency and predictability while ensuring airport safety. For this purpose, a leadership team was assembled. 

The leadership team then established an interdisciplinary project team to set the key performance areas as: Efficiency, Predictability and Safety for the project

Quantify Objectives

The project team monitored the following indicators:

•    KPI01 Departure punctuality;
•    KPI02 Taxi-out additional time;
•    KPI08 Additional time in terminal airspace; and
•    KPI10 Airport peak throughput

The project team used the AN-SPA tool and determined that the appropriate objectives are:

1 Avoid taxi-out additional time resulting from adverse conditions

1.1 Avoid slow taxi-out

1.1.1 Avoid slow taxi-out due to taxiway congestion

1.1.2 Avoid slow taxi-out due to weather conditions

1.1.3 Avoid slow taxi-out due to ATC and/or pilot

1.2 Avoid longer taxi-out routes

1.2.1 Avoid longer taxi-out routes due to unavailability of taxiways

1.2.2 Avoid longer taxi-out routes due to taxi errors

2 Reduce taxi-out stops before reaching the departure RWY

2.1 Reduce holding time on apron after push-back

2.1.1 Reduce time for engine start-up

2.1.2 Avoid holding due to other inbound or outbound traffic on the apron

2.2 Reduce time on de-icing pads

2.2.1 Avoid queueing at the de-icing pad

2.2.2 Speed up de-icing

2.2.3 Do de-icing at the gate

2.3 Reduce taxi-out stops due to conflicting traffic

2.3.1 Reduce need to cross active RWYs during taxi-out

2.3.2 Reduce conflict points of taxi-out flows

2.3.2.1 Introduce 4D planning of taxi-out surface movements

2.3.2.2 Build additional taxiways

2.3.3 Reduce ATC constraints during low visibility taxi-out

3 Reduce unimpeded taxi-in time

3.1Reduce distance between arrival RWY and gate/stand

3.1.1 Improve geometric layout of airport

3.1.2 Assign best arrival RWY where there is a choice

3.1.3 Optimise gate/stand assignment

3.2 Increase taxi-in speed

4 Reduce arrival holding (total time in holding stacks)

4.1 Increase/restore arrival capacity as quickly as possible

5 Reduce the number of delayed push-back events due to late-arriving aircraft

5.1 Reduce the number of late-arriving aircraft

5.1.1 Improve arrival punctuality at the gate/stand

5.2 Schedule an increased turn-around time to absorb (some of) the reactionary delay

5.3 Use a different (spare) aircraft

6 Improve flexibility of the Air Navigation System

Using the AN-SPA tool, the project team identified that the following solutions were suitable for performance improvements:

1. FRTO-B0/3 Pre-validated and coordinated ATS routes to support flight and flow;

2. DATS-B1/1Remotely Operated Aerodrome Air Traffic Services;

3. SURF-B1/4Routing service to support ATCO surface operations management; and

4. SURF-B1/5Enhanced vision systems for taxi operations.

5. APTA-B2/2 Simultaneous operations to parallel runways to improve runway utilization efficiency to enhance overall airport efficiency.

6. NOPS-B1/7 Enhanced ATFM slot swapping and NOPS-B2/2 Enhanced dynamic airspace configuration to increase flexibility in flight slot allocation to reduce flight waiting times.

7. NOPS-B1/8 Extended Arrival Management supported by the ATM Network function to improve predictability and the utilization efficiency of airport capacity.

8. RSEQ-B0/1 Arrival Management, RSEQ-B0/2 Departure Management and RSEQ-B2/1 Integration of arrival and departure management to enhance airport arrival/departure efficiency and provide an optimized airport departure sequence.

9. ACDM-B0/1 Airport CDM Information Share(ACIS) and ACDM-B0/2 Integration with ATM Network function to improve efficiency and predictability of airport.

Note. -The AN-SPA is an excellent way to identify KPIs which require attention and solutions based on ASBU by air navigation stakeholders selecting scenarios and answering related questions.