An airline industry consortium called AIRE (Atlantic-Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions) Green
Connections aims to validate how existing technology can be better utilized and how
ground-based operations can be improved to reduce air travel C02
emissions
The consortium is being led by LFV Sweden and includes partners Swedavia, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, GE (NYSE:GE) and Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL).
AIRE is an agreement between the European Commission and the U.S.
Federal Aviation Administration aimed at developing more
environmentally-friendly air transport operation on transatlantic
routes.
Previous operational evaluations have focused on reducing an
aircraft’s track miles once in flight and enabling fuel-efficient
descents. AIRE Green Connections encompasses the departure phase and at
the destination airport, single-engine taxiing.
Chris Beaufait,
general manager, Avionics with GE Aviation comments: “This project will
be the most holistic operational evaluation approach to air travel and
ATM to date. It’s the first time the industry has looked at gate-to-gate
performance–with the ability to monitor ATC and aircraft efficiencies,
plus assess the full operational environment aspects.”
AIRE Green Connections is a 10 month trial that will start in 2010 using revenue flight operations between the airports of Stockholm (Arlanda) and Gothenburg (Landvetter).
GE Aviation will provide the flight management system (FMS) reporting four-dimensional trajectories considering latitude, longitude, altitude and time to predict the optimum flight path.
Rockwell Collins will provide connectivity services to allow exchange of Flight Management System (FMS)-generated trajectory and time information between the participating aircraft movements and the ground-based metering functions. Rockwell Collins Hermes functionality at the SAS data link center in Copenhagen will perform all data transactions between the aircraft, the SAS ground data link functions and the LFV air traffic control center.
In addition, Rockwell Collins will be responsible for analyzing the effects of winds aloft, Air Traffic Control (ATC) constraints, revisions in the trajectory, cost index, and other factors on movement trajectory and time. The results will be used to define the communication precision between the aircraft and the ground for real-time movement coordination.
The project will demonstrate technology and processes required to perform time-based “gate to gate” operations. When successful, the technique will reduce fuel use and generate a corresponding noise and gaseous emissions reduction by minimizing path stretching and holding occurrences in today’s normal operating environment.
There are potentially significant fuel burn benefits, basically corresponding to the ‘excess’ time spent in the air caused by traditional traffic metering onto receiving runways. In the Single European Sky ATM Research Program (SESAR), the technique is referred to as ‘reference business trajectory’ based operations, to indicate that the process operates “ahead of real time,” covering the entire aircraft trajectory–rather than just the remaining miles (as in regular terminal maneuvering operations).
SAS Scandinavian Airlines will carry out the flight trials using their Boeing 737 NG aircraft.
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