Several SESAR demonstrations and validation projects were among the winners in the 2017 IHS Jane's ATC Awards ceremony, which took place on 7 March at the World ATM Congress in Madrid. Three of the six awards were handed out to SESAR-related work, recognising the collaborative and innovative efforts made by the project to modernise air traffic management.
Picking up the award in the “enabling technology” category was the iStream demonstration project on optimised arrival management, which demonstrated at two major European airports that locally generated target times, as a complement to departure regulations, can be used to improve arrival management. With nearly 7,000 commercial flights, iStream safely trialed target times on complete arrival flows at Paris-Charles De Gaulle and Zurich.
The trials resulted in reduced air traffic control delays, holding times and radar vectoring, providing improved flight efficiency with benefits for airspace users and passengers. The project is aligned with the Pilot Common Project, addressing the SESAR solution “Calculated Take-Off Time to Target Times for ATFCM purposes”. The trials have been supported by the evolution of the Network Manager (EUROCONTROL) systems to include the Target Time information. The project brought together the following partners: Air France & HOP !, DSNA, EUROCONTROL, Groupe ADP, Lufthansa, skyguide, SWISS and Zürich airport
Meanwhile, the SESAR Optimised Descent Profiles (ODP) project was the winner in the “environment” category for its demonstrating how more efficient descent profiles can reduce the environmental impact of busy and complex airspaces and across borders without compromising safety and capacity. A total of 11,467 demonstration flights to nine airports in Europe were conducted. On an annual basis, these optimised flows have the potential to generate fuel savings of 3,400 tonnes, which equals more than 10,700 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
ODP was conducted under the leadership of the German ANSP DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung, together with the ANSPs of Austria (Austro Control), France (DSNA) and Switzerland (skyguide), as well as EUROCONTROL’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC). Air France (plus HOP!), Deutsche Lufthansa (together with the affiliated Austrian Airlines and Germanwings) and Swiss International Airlines conducted the demonstration flights to the airports of Basel, Berlin Tegel, Frankfurt, Geneva, Munich, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich.
Finally, the RunWay Status Lights (RWSL) system implemented at Paris-CDG since October 2016 was the winner in the category “safety and efficiency on the runway and final approach”. To further reduce runway incursions, DSNA, the French air navigation service provider, and Groupe ADP, the Paris airports operator, invested in a fully automatic, safety advisory system: the RWSL system. Built on a SESAR solution, this system provides pilots and vehicle drivers with immediate, accurate and clear indications when the runway is unsafe to cross, enter or take-off.