Aircraft engines have become quieter but an aircraft’s flight path can also help reduce noise levels by following a smooth descent down to the runway threshold rather than a conventional stepped approach. Up until now, these continuous descent operations (CDOs) have been restricted to low and medium traffic density environments due to their impact on airport capacity. By combining it with point merge techniques, SESAR has extended the solution so it can be applied to high-density traffic environments at a lower altitude and in a small and very constrained airspace.
During the validation of the solution, aircraft were vectored to a common merge point from where they followed a single air navigation trajectory (RNAV) procedure to intercept the instrument landing system (ILS). Since all sequencing procedures were completed by the merge point, from there pilots could follow an unconstrained descent path. In this procedure, controllers do not need to issue any level-off clearances after the merge point, while fewer level-offs are required earlier during the vectoring to merge point procedure. This results in higher profiles in the vicinity of the airport.
Results showed that noise levels for inhabitants living near the airport were reduced with the introduction of the vector to point merge procedure. The solution also allows better control of the geographical area impacted by the noise using the RNAV trajectory capabilities, which allows the concentration or dispersion of traffic depending on the characteristics of the local area. This data is collected using a series of noise stations placed under the arrival paths to test the noise impact of the traffic before and after the flight trials.
SJU references: #11/Release 5
Benefits
- Reduced fuel burn and emissions
- Reduced environmental impact of airports on their neighbouring communities
- Noise reduction
Datapack