Making route availability more dynamic, for better flight trajectories
Introduction
The route availability document (RAD) is a common reference document containing the policies and procedures for route and traffic orientation. The RAD is also an air traffic flow and capacity management (ATFCM) tool that is designed as a sole-source flight-planning document.
Currently RAD measures are static and pre-determined . They are implemented for various reasons, including rejection of dangerous flight plans, traffic organisation, enforcement of agreements with air navigation service providers (ANSPs), technical systems limitations, or capacity management.
Due to traffic growth, a more dynamic approach has been proposed and investigated, assessing which RAD measures could be temporarily withdrawn, depending on operational conditions, to enable more efficient flight trajectories to be filed by airspace users. The Solution involves air navigation service providers, airspace users (both civil and military) and the network manager (NM).
About the Solution
The Dynamic RAD Solution aims to apply restrictions only when needed through a daily collaborative decision making (CDM) process. A temporary relaxation of restrictions allows airspace users to file more efficient trajectories whenever the opportunity arises.
To do this, an airspace use plan or updated airspace use plan (AUP/UUP) is employed to support the CDM process between local actors, flow and network managers. The network operations portal (NOP) supports the entire process and the NM ‘business to business’ service provides the interoperability with external systems, including for ANSPs, centralised flight plan service providers and airspace users.
Although ANSPs select the eligible RAD restrictions for dynamic management, the NM helps them to select optimal restrictions in terms of trajectory improvements and to verify the consistency of relaxation across the network. Selected RAD restrictions are notified on the NOP with a clear reference to the activation via the consolidated European AUP/UUP.
Daily AUP/UUP processes allow ANSPs to select the eligible RAD and to define the proposed period of relaxation:
The AUP is used to provide the initial information the day before.
- The UUP can be used to adjust the initial proposal, providing additional relaxation or restrictions depending on changes in traffic demand.
The CDM process allows the NM to evaluate the potential network effects of the proposed relaxation and provide feedback to the relevant ANSPs to facilitate the final decision. The notified selection is then consolidated by the NM for daily publication of the EAUP and EUUPs whenever required.
The Dynamic RAD concept was validated through the Albatross very large demonstrations (VLDs) flights whose live trials period covered from August to December 2021 and involved several ANSPs and airspace users external to the Albatross consortium.
During the flight trials, more than 8 400 flights took advantage of the improved routes made available, resulting in an estimated reduction of more than 2 800 tons of CO2 emissions.
Benefits
- Improved trajectories
- Reduced CO2 emissions
- Fuel savings
- Reduced delays
- Better predictability of the traffic flow