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Weekly review #161 - 10th August

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Posted August 10 2022 by Vincent Lambercy

First up, from the first of August, DFS, the German air navigation service provider, is reducing the size of its protected areas around omnidirectional radio beacons. In doing so, DFS is opening up potential areas to erect more wind turbines in the vicinity of its radio navigation aids in Germany. This is a significant contribution to the transition to sustainable energy sources. 

 

Next, Brisbane Airport is also tackling their environmental issues head-on. They're accelerating their net zero target by 25 years. Brisbane Airport passengers will soon begin and end their journey at one of the planet’s most sustainable airports, following the announcement of a dramatic acceleration of emission reduction targets, backed by a plan to get there.

 

In other news, ENAV's board of directors have approved the results of the first half of 2022. The group recorded excellent economic and financial results, confirming an almost total return to pre-pandemic normality, with a full recovery of all technical and operational activities. They achieved these results thanks to the recovery of managed air traffic, cost controls and the consolidation of the regulatory and tariff reference framework.

 

Finally, in UAV and UTM news, DRONAMICS has joined the UK's first medical drone distribution network. Recently, CAELUS (Care & Equity – Healthcare Logistics UAS Scotland) has successfully acquired over £10 million ($12 million) in funding from the Future Flight Challenge at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The CAELUS consortium is in the process of establishing a national drone delivery network for medical supplies across Scotland.

  • ANSP news

    • Delivering Intelligent Approach for Toronto during a global pandemic - Partnership with Leidos and Canadian air traffic service provider, NAV CANADA, to deliver our Intelligent Approach tool for Toronto Pearson International Airport. The aim? To enable the airport to maintain capacity across their five runways, even during strong headwinds – an issue for the airport due to its geographical location and fairly frequent high winds.
    • More areas for onshore wind energy: DFS is reducing the size of its protected areas around radio navigation aids - From 1 August 2022, DFS, the German air navigation service provider, is reducing the size of its protected areas around omnidirectional radio beacons. In doing so, DFS is opening up potential areas to erect more wind turbines in the vicinity of its radio navigation aids in Germany. This is a significant contribution to the transition to sustainable energy sources. Intensive cooperation between numerous bodies was required to pave the way for this, namely the German Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), the Federal Supervisory Authority for Air Navigation Services (BAF), the National Metrology Institute of Germany (PTB) and DFS.
    • NAV CANADA Updated Timeline for ADS-B Performance Mandate in Canada - Updated timeline for ADS-B Performance Mandate in Canada
    • Virgin Orbit Rocket Launch Consultation - As part of their application, launch operators are required to submit an Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE). The purpose of the AEE is to ensure applicants have adequately considered any potential environmental effects of their intended activities and, if necessary have taken steps to avoid, mitigate or offset the risks and their potential effects.
    • FABEC reports uneven traffic growth since the start of 2022 accompanied by new military airspace needs - Functional Airspace Block Europe Central traffic in the first half of 2022 rebounded sharply from extremely low volumes in 2021, signaling a return to the high demand experienced before the pandemic. Flight movements rose faster than STATFOR forecasted. However, there is still a substantial gap to 2019 traffic levels. Moreover, traffic development is unpredictable as the industry continues to recover from the pandemic and is strongly impacted by other external developments.

    Airports news

    • Brisbane Airport Accelerates Net Zero Target by 25 Years - Brisbane Airport Accelerates Net Zero Target by 25 Years
    • Belo Horizonte International Airport maintains perspective of increased movement in August - Forecast around 7,100 aircraft operations and 810,000 passengers demonstrates the sector’s recovery in the post-pandemic scenario Belo Horizonte, August 2022 – After a month of July of favorable results, the mining terminal expects a high flow of people in August. In the period, around 810 thousand passengers and 7.1 thousand aircraft operations are expected, an increase of 34% in relation to the same month of last year. This movement represents a resumption of 86% of the pre-pandemic flow.
    • Highlights of ACI EUROPE’s Annual Congress & General Assembly in Rome - Airport World - In his ‘State of the Industry Address’, ACI EUROPE’s director general, Olivier Jankovec, began by revealing that Europe’s airports had lost 3.1 billion passengers over the last two years – equivalent to twice the growth the continent’s airports had achieved over the previous 25 years. With little support from government, he said Europe’s airports had no other option but to pile on debt, resulting in total airport debt and liabilities having increased by a massive €60 billion compared to pre-pandemic. He warned that there is no escaping the fact that airports are facing an investment crunch. The reduction in capital expenditure from Europe’s airports over the past two years amounted to €7 billion – with yet more to come as inflationary pressures only make the situation worse.

    Context information

    Reports and data

    Research and innovation

    • ICARUS Common Altitude Reference System - Starting from the problem statement, this video recalls the solution developed and the impact on UAS and GA communities.
    • Creating a New Paradigm for US Force Overmatch - Creating a New Paradigm for US Force OvermFor unmanned aerial systems, there are a number of dynamic mid-sized tech companies that have already made great strides in disruptive innovation and multi-domain interoperability.atch

    UAV and UTM

    • DRONAMICS joins UK’s first medical drone distribution network - Recently, CAELUS (Care & Equity – Healthcare Logistics UAS Scotland) has successfully acquired over £10 million ($12 million) in funding from the Future Flight Challenge at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The CAELUS consortium is in the process of establishing a national drone delivery network for medical supplies across Scotland.
    • Successful demonstration of SmartComms - Blue Bear successfully demonstrated the newest addition to their SmartConnectTM technology family with their new SmartComms communication bridge.
    • NASA isn’t conducting drone deliveries, so why is it so interested in Zipline? - NASA this week announced a partnership with California-based Zipline. Zipline is building a future involving delivery drones — and NASA is interested in being involved in the management of autonomous vehicles.
    • US FAA selects New York UAS test site for next phase of drone capabilities testing - The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded a task order contract to the New York UAS Test Site (NYUASTS) for the next uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) integration project to help advance the reality of safe, high-volume drone operations, and the development of a UAS traffic management (UTM) system.
    • US FAA task order awarded to Virginia Tech and Lone Star partnership for UTM field test project - The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded a task order contract to Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership in partnership with Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence and Innovation, Texas, to manage one of two FAA test sites for the UTM Field Test (UFT) project. NUAIR has been tasked with managing the New York test site.
    • US FAA selects New York UAS test site for next phase of drone capabilities testing - Unmanned airspace - The US Federal Aviation Administration has awarded a task order contract to the New York UAS Test Site for the next uncrewed aircraft systems integration project to help advance the reality of safe, high-volume drone operations, and the development of a UAS traffic management system. The project will provide the FAA and industry with information to support policy development and will help the industry update standards to support beyond visual line-of-sight operations – a critical element in unlocking the true potential of routine, commercial drone operations.
    • Droniq to expand test scenarios for EULE unmanned medical research network - German U-space company Droniq is expanding the test scenarios and defining how test flights should look like and run under the EULE research project launched at the end of 2021. EULE is focused on the safe transport of medical goods using unmanned aerial systems. It aims to efficiently network hospitals, laboratories, and pharmaceutical wholesalers in the Rhineland area in order to improve medical care in cities and rural regions and to support the digitization-driven smart networking of medical logistics processes.