Heathrow Clears a Future Air Traffic Management Hurdle in Time for the Olympics...
Today, London Heathrow became the fifth European Airport to introduce Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM). Having conducted successful trials throughout April and May of this year the airport has today joined Munich, Brussels, Frankfurt and Paris Charles de Gaulle in becoming fully A-CDM operational.
Efficiency is increased when airports are linked to the rest of the air traffic management system. Benefits include: greater adherence to slot times, more efficient aircraft turn-round and pre-departure sequences, accurate predictions of landing time for arriving flights, improved planning for outbound flights, reduced airport and en-route delays, enhanced decision making capabilities, reduced fuel burn and CO2 emissions.
Charles de Gaulle and Brussels airports are both integrated into the network and report impressive environmental savings:
Paris CDG has seen a 7% reduction in taxi times which relates to a daily saving of 14.5 tonnes of fuel.
Brussels however, has reduced taxi-out and taxi-in times by 25% and 15% respectively since introducing A-CDM, saving airlines 7,200 tonnes of fuel annually.
With thousands of extra flights expected, Heathrow has been successfully integrated into the network prior to the Olympic Games. According to Eurocontrol, Kiev Boryspil Airport also plans to introduce A-CDM prior to EURO2012 which is to be co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland in June this year.
