Air Transport

Continental Airlines, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the US Federal Aviation Administration are to invest more than $6 million for a ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) satellite navigation technology demonstration. The demonstration will take place at Newark Liberty International airport from August.

Continental, the largest carrier at the airport, is spending $1.1 million for Boeing to outfit 15 aircraft with GBAS equipment and to train pilots to use it. The demonstration is costing the FAA $2.5 million and the port authority is investing $2.5 million with Honeywell Aerospace for the ground equipment. Honeywell is the only FAA-certificated GBAS provider.

GBAS, also known as the local area augmentation system, uses four antennas on the airport's grounds and a VHF datalink to satellites, which communicate on aircraft positions.

William DeCota, the port authority's aviation director, says that for the cost of installing Category 3 instrument landing system equipment on one runway, "we could one day provide its GBAS equivalent for a whole airport". DeCota expects GBAS to be widely used by 2015. Newark will use GBAS after the demonstration and hopes to eventually reduce aircraft spacing and have curved approaches to increase capacity.

Honeywell's precision landing system product marketing manager Daniel Ryan says Cat 3 GBAS could be feasible in three years and that Honeywell will have installed GBAS equipment at five US airports by December, including Minneapolis St Paul and Seattle Tacoma.

The port authority operates New York Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark and Teterboro airports. GBAS is part of its congestion alleviation work for La Guardia, Kennedy and Newark, which is also spending $19.7 million upgrading its ILS.