The Client

EU ANSP working with major airport partner

The Challenge

Headwinds on final approach have long been a significant cause of arrival delay for our subject airport and its customers.  Through research and development projects and collaborative programmes such as SESAR the Time Based Separation concept was developed as a means to recover the landing rate lost during these conditions. However, the role of SESAR is to mature ideas to pre-implementation level, often in a generic or non-specific environment.  In this instance our client needed to take previous work – including some which had involved Think – and turn that into an operational system delivering real benefits. 

Our Approach

Our role in the project was based on many years of involvement in TBS research in the UK, EU and the Middle East and in our experience supporting concepts make the difficult transition between R&D and implementation.  At the request of our client, our staff became embedded within the client development team working onsite over an extended period.  Our consultants, our expertise and our approach was fully aligned and integrated with that of our client making our work on refining the operational concept and developing, validating and verifying a number of the key complex algorithms that underpin the concept appear as a seamless contribution to the overall programme delivery. 

The Outcome

The initial system was introduced in 2015, a world first deployment, and recently updated in 2018 to deliver further benefit through the use of the RECAT EU wake turbulence separation recategorization for arrivals and departures.  Combined it is estimated that the initial system and the follow on Optimised Runway Delivery (ORD) system have enabled around 2 additional movements per hour across all conditions since their introduction.