Bespoke separations could ease European congestion
Additional capacity could be created at Europe’s most congested airports by further-optimising separation times, according to new research by UK air traffic management provider NATS. A series of NATS simulations, based on operations at London Heathrow, have shown that a more bespoke approach to aircraft separations could be more efficient and allow for more movements. Currently, departing aircraft are grouped into broad categories, such as ‘heavy’ or ‘medium,’ depending on their wake vortices. “This current categorisation means that separations between individual aircraft could be larger than is necessary to ensure safe separation,” NATS said, detailing the outcome of its research. Instead, NATS simulated ‘pairwise’ separations, where safe separation is calculated based on the wake created by each individual aircraft type. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2017-10-10/general/bespoke-separations-could-ease-european-congestion
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Bespoke separations could ease European congestion
Additional capacity could be created at Europe’s most congested airports by further-optimising separation times, according to new research by UK air traffic management provider NATS. A series of NATS simulations, based on operations at London Heathrow, have shown that a more bespoke approach to aircraft separations could be more efficient and allow for more movements. Currently, departing aircraft are grouped into broad categories, such as ‘heavy’ or ‘medium,’ depending on their wake vortices. “This current categorisation means that separations between individual aircraft could be larger than is necessary to ensure safe separation,” NATS said, detailing the outcome of its research. Instead, NATS simulated ‘pairwise’ separations, where safe separation is calculated based on the wake created by each individual aircraft type. <br/>
