Cutting carbon emissions is one side of the environmental focus for airlines and all those who contribute to the manufacturing of an aircraft, but there is another environmental factor less known but equally important – noise reduction. From the technology side of noise reduction, manufacturers have developed engines and improved aerodynamics which have managed to [...]

High up in the clouds, out of sight for the majority of those on the ground, there is a complex world of air traffic which few people, other than pilots, scientists and air traffic controllers, understand. Fortunately for the masses, SESAR, the body responsible for the Single European Sky and general air traffic management research [...]

The second panel of the day explored the role infrastructure plays in developing sustainable capacity.  What are the barriers to implementing improvements across daily operations?  How can we move forward on air traffic management systems?  According to the panel, the key to success within infrastructure improvements to ensure added capacity – in the sky and [...]

Industry collaboration is the key to efficient Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems according to CANSO and Boeing at the 6th Aviation and Environment Summit. Despite the current high level of optimized Air Traffic Management there is more capacity and efficiency to be had from the current advanced ATM systems in place.  This call out to [...]

What is I-4D? – despite the name, it is not the latest craze for cinema goers, but is in fact the culmination of a smart new air traffic management technology delivered by SESAR (Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research) with the help of Airbus, Eurocontrol, Honeywell, Indra, Noracon1, and Thales. February 10, 2012, was [...]

As if on cue to support the previous blog post, Eurocontrol has just celebrated 10 years of the Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) programme which went live at 01:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on January 24, 2002. For a number of reasons this was a truly significant moment for air traffic management, not least because [...]

The attitude of an air traffic controller   must be similar to a teacher’s when dealing with a class room full of inquisitive, hyperactive children. The constant back and forth of ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘do this while you’re waiting’, happens 52,000 times a day all around the world, according to SESAR, and its set to increase by [...]

In an effort to reduce aircraft emissions on the ground, air traffic control recently turned to another industry, where every second and every turn counts: Formula One. NATS teamed up with the McLaren Group and is expecting high environmental benefits from the adaption of race traffic technology to air traffic control. Benefits include unlocking congestion [...]

Deciding that one piece of good news wasn’t enough; NAV Canada updated us on the success of one project and the beginning of another into one press release last week. The first announcement was that NAV Canada were “on track for even greater savings of GHG emissions and fuel costs than initially foreseen in 2009,” [...]

As we have discussed before in this blog, one of the ways that the aviation industry can reduce its emissions is by ensuring that aircraft fly in the most efficient path available to them, thereby using less fuel. Recently two airlines on different continents announced programmes showing how important they consider this. Singapore Airways will [...]