Weekly review #160 - 27th July

First up, it's exciting news for landing systems as DFS, the German air navigation service provider, started the use of the GBAS precision landing system for poor weather conditions at Frankfurt Airport. This is the first system of its kind in the world. GBAS is the term used to describe navigation by satellite, but combined with a ground-based supplementary, or augmentation system. Only this combination gives the accuracy required for precision landings.

Next, ever thought about how air traffic management would work in space? Well, Startical has received support from European Union to bring air traffic management to space in a pioneering project. The innovative proposal of Startical, created by Indra and ENAIRE, to launch a constellation of small satellites to improve air traffic management (ATM) has received significant backing from the European Commission, which will support the development of a key demonstrator to speed up the deployment of the solution. 

In market news, ERA has successfully passed the Site Acceptance Test (SAT) and thus completed the installation of a new ADS-B system covering the Domestic Airspace of the Republic of Fiji. The Czech system will help to ensure the safety of air traffic in a country on the exact opposite side of the Globe.

Finally, Microsoft has officially launched Project AirSim this week at the Farnborough International Air Show, where it is available in limited preview for interested customers. The company reports Project AirSim as a new platform running on Microsoft Azure to safely build, train, and test autonomous aircraft through high-fidelity simulation.

ANSP news

• World premiere at Frankfurt Airport: satellite-based precision landings possible even in bad weather - DFS started the use of the GBAS precision landing system for poor weather conditions at Frankfurt Airport. This is the first system of its kind in the world.

Airports news

• Paris airports operator ADP hikes 2022 traffic estimates - British Aviation Group - French airport operator ADP raised its 2022 traffic guidance, following an increase over the first half of the year, despite disruptions the air travel sector faces over the peak summer holiday months. The group expects total traffic of between 74%-84% of 2019 levels across its whole network of operated airports, and between 72%-82% of 2019 levels for Paris Aéroport.
• A coordination meeting on implementation of planned projects - construction of the future airports of Trebinje and Bihać was held in BHANSA - A coordination meeting on implementation of planned projects - construction of the future airports of Trebinje and Bihać was held between BHANSA’s director, representatives of SMATSA and Airport Serbia and the managements of future airports of Trebinje and Bihać at the headquarters of BHANSA in Mostar.
• Airbiz Contributes To Melbourne Airport's Third Runway - The new runway will considerably enhance the airport’s capacity by enabling simultaneous departures and arrivals and providing a critical piece of infrastructure that will deliver benefits to Victoria for decades to come.

Market news

• ERA has installed and passed the SAT for its ADS-B system in Fiji - ERA has successfully passed the Site Acceptance Test and thus completed the installation of a new ADS-B system covering the Domestic Airspace of the Republic of Fiji. The Czech system will help to ensure the safety of air traffic in a country on the exact opposite side of the Globe.
• ENAIRE enhances safety with a new voice communications system in Seville - ENAIRE has implemented a new Last Resort Voice system in the contingency room of its Seville Air Control Centre. This system will be installed in the five control centres and respective contingency centres, and in three terminal approach areas.

Context information

• Startical receives support from European Union to bring air traffic management to space in a pioneering project - The innovative proposal of Startical, created by Indra and ENAIRE, to launch a constellation of small satellites to improve air traffic management has received significant backing from the European Commission, which will support the development of a key demonstrator to speed up the deployment of the solution.

Reports and data

• DFS records up to 20 percent more traffic - Summer 2022 brings a sharp increase in air traffic volumes in German airspace. This can be attributed to the general increase in traffic in Europe. The war in Ukraine, shifts in traffic as well as military air traffic are also contributing to the increase.
• Queen Alia International Airport numbers - Queen Alia International Airport registered 31,547 aircraft movements - representing 17.0% decline, compared with H1 2019. Meanwhile, during the month of June, QAIA handled 6,211 ACM, increase of 17.1% as opposed to June 2019.
• Final data released: Top 20 busiest airports confirmed - ACI World - 2021 global aircraft movements are close to 74 million, representing a gain of 18.7% from 2020 results or -28.2% versus 2019. The top 20 airports, representing 12% of global traffic (8.7 million movements), witnessed a gain of 27.9% from their 2020 results or a drop of 15.7% vis-à-vis their 2019 results (10.3 million in 2019).

Research and innovation

• UK public dialogue report outlines emerging aviation technologies - A new public dialogue report and additional funding for social research were announced 20 July by the Future Flight Challenge at UK Research and Innovation which will allow the UK to better understand how more integrated aviation systems and technologies might bring about a range of social and economic benefits to the UK.

UAV and UTM

• PwC report supports UK government drone strategy, predicts 900,000 drones by 2030 - Unmanned airspace - PwC’s latest market report ‘Skies Without Limits v2.0’ follows close on the heels of publication by the UK government of its vision for the UK drone sector at Farnborough 2022.
• Farnborough 2022:  Microsoft launches AirSim to accelerate autonomous flight - Unmanned airspace - The company reports Project AirSim as a new platform running on Microsoft Azure to safely build, train, and test autonomous aircraft through high-fidelity simulation and that “AirSim uses the power of Azure to generate massive amounts of data for training AI models on exactly which actions to take at each phase of flight, from takeoff to cruising to landing.
• NASA seeks feedback on urban air mobility airspace research roadmap Rev 1.2 - Unmanned airspace - US NASA Aeronautics Research Institute has released the UAM Airspace Research Roadmap Rev 1.2 . Feedback is requested by 6 September 2022.
• ANRA, ideaForge and Asteria Aerospace demonstrate live tracking of drones via the Internet in India - Unmanned airspace - ANRA technologies, ideaForge and Asteria Aerospace have demonstrated live tracking of drones in India’s national airspace. The demonstrations showcased two options; a software plugin as well as a small strap-on hardware module showcasing the various approaches possible for a tracking solution.
• Spain's national action plan for deployment of U-space published - Spain’s Civil Aviation General Directorate adopts the 2022-2025 U-space Roadmap, which it jointly authored with the National Aviation Safety Agency and ENAIRE, and with the collaboration of the Ministry of Defence.
• Unified airspace risk management framework for UAS operations in all classes of airspace - Unmanned airspace - A new risk methodology to model UAS collision risk in all classes of airspace is explained in an academic article published by MDPI. It responds to new challenges presented by the progressive introduction of UAS and other forms of air mobility, compounded by a growing need to address both offline and online operational requirements.