Two different programs are trying out new flight procedures in the airspace above the Atlantic Ocean. The FAA is conducting a trial that aims to establish lower aircraft separation minima within the Gander and Shanwick Oceanic Control Areas, in the North Atlantic airspace.
The Reduced Longitudinal Separation Minimum Trial (PDF) will reduce the longitudinal separation requirement from 10 minutes to 5 minutes for eligible aircraft. No application is required -- if pilots are properly equipped and have minimum navigation performance specification approval, they can simply request a change in altitude. "Aircraft will benefit by having a greater opportunity to climb to more fuel-efficient levels as well as change speed or altitude due to turbulence or bad weather," the FAA said. Meanwhile, NATS, which provides air traffic control services for the United Kingdom, is testing a project called "Topflight" that aims to minimize emissions and delays on trans-Atlantic routes.
The Topflight project will operate 60 trans-Atlantic flights over four months between Heathrow and a number of North American airports. In this test phase, procedures will be optimized, including pushback, taxi, the flight profile and a continuous descent approach, with the goal to save about 500 kg in fuel per trip. "The aim is to prove that the concept is scalable and can be implemented for many flights at the same time without penalizing those in the surrounding airspace," said NATS.
The FAA and NavCanada are cooperating with the project. "It is hoped the project will have a sustainable and lasting impact," said NATS. Martin Rolfe, managing director of operations for NATS, said: "The Topflight project is a great example of the aviation industry working together and we are delighted to be leading it. The industry has an opportunity to improve its environmental performance and the efficiency and fuel savings make great business sense too. It should be a win-win situation for everyone involved."
Source: AVweb, Mary Grady
Gravity always wins!
flyvertosset: Two different programs are trying out new flight procedures in the airspace above the Atlantic Ocean. The FAA is conducting a trial that aims to establish lower aircraft separation minima within the Gander and Shanwick Oceanic Control Areas, in the North Atlantic airspace.
The reference to the Reduced Longitudinal Separation Minimum (RLongSM) operational trial stated in the post by flyvertosset, and in the original AVweb article, is somewhat misleading. The information seems to have been taken from an FAA Information for Operators document issued to US operators for information, however the FAA are not directly involved in the joint Gander/Shanwick operational trial, ATC being provided for these FIRs by NAV CANADA and NATS respectively, rather than the FAA as implied in the post. This trial has been underway for over a year and has yielded positive results. TOPFLIGHT is a separate project and is part of the SESAR programme, trials will commence in 2013.
Hello,
Thank you for the heads up on this issue. Appreciate your feedback.
Best regards
Flyvertosset