Increase airport capacity, safety and security using European GNSS

Project Information

e-Airport

Grant agreement ID: 641581

DOI

10.3030/641581

Project closed

EC signature date 22 December 2014

Start date 1 January 2015

End date 30 June 2017

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Space

Total cost

€ 2 537 179,08

EU contribution

€ 1 873 506,60

Coordinated by

TELESPAZIO SPA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - e-Airport (Increase airport capacity, safety and security using European GNSS)

Reporting period: 2016-07-01 to 2017-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

In the context of Horizon 2020-Galileo-1-2014 Call, e-Airport project is an Apron Management System based on GNSS positioning and integrity computation able to carry out activities schedule, safe monitor and control of operations performed by the airport vehicles.
Apron management services aim at increasing airport capacity and safety in adverse meteorological conditions and at important high-density aerodromes.
Using a centralized EGNSS positioning, integrity, and redundant local wireless network solution, this Apron Management System aims to:
• Increase safety of the vehicles and aircraft moving in the apron
• Support Security and Efficiency of the airfreight handling.
• Optimize the airport operations efficiency reducing the Turn Around Time
• Provide ATC with an accurate and updated TOBT.
Solutions proposed by e-Airport could be exploit to prevent that unauthorized vehicle access runway or forbidden areas, in order avoid collisions between airport vehicles and aircrafts during Turn Round operations.
The operational advantages offered by the use of EGNOS/EDAS and Galileo signals are the enhancement of the position accuracy: the e-Airport has developed an innovative Airport Monitor application based on EGNSS technology.
The complexity of the system would require additional features to be able to manage more vehicles and different operational environment. On the other hand, the basic functionalities are not so difficulty and heavy in terms of SW implementation, and additional development does not appear as a big constraint.
The potential benefits can differ by the nature and the geographical position of the airports. In some airport the driver decision for the implementation of such a system could be the necessity to usually operate with adverse meteorological conditions. In others, the main justification could be the handling company capability to manage the fleet in the most efficient way.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The e-Airport project is an integrated ICT application based on EGNSS that allows airport operators, ground handlers and ATC to:
• plan, monitor and manage the aircraft services process which support the aircrafts in the airport during turnaround time;
• plan, monitor and manage the airfreight cargo process;
• measure and distribute airport Key Performance Indicators.
The e-Airport Architecture includes the following subsystems:
Cargo monitor
Aircraft service monitor
Airport monitor.
The Cargo Monitor subsystem main elements are:
• the cargo equipment installed in the airfreight containers and in the airport vehicle that transport them in.
• the Cargo processor which is a centralized SW tool who interacts with the Cargo equipment via wireless link and controls the cargo process
The Aircraft Service Monitor subsystem manages the airport vehicle services using centralized GPS/EGNOS/GALILEO positioning and integrity and wireless data links solutions, and aims to:
• increase the safety of the vehicles and aircraft moving in the APRON
• optimize the airport operations reducing the Turn Around Time
• provide the ATC with an accurate and updated TOBT.
During the period 01/01/2015 - 30/06/2016 the architectural design of the system components has been carried out and all the subsystems have been developed.
A final demonstration phase has been carried out in the International Airport of Bari-Palese in May 2017, and in the AIS SIBIU airport of Romania in June 2017.
An important dissemination activity was performed during the project duration. A project website, www.eairport.eu has been developed in order to foster the project activities and acquired results. The project was promoted in several conferences by means of leaflet distribution and presentations. A promotional video has been produced showing the project objectives.
The results of the project will be exploited in different transversal domains:
• The Cargo demonstrator components will be used by the project partners IFF and SST to actively disseminate the overall e-Airport system as also single components among the relevant target groups.
• Fraunhofer IFF will furthermore derive consecutive R&D tasks as:
- Development of robust low energy loading status sensors
- Development of IoT nodes for direct localization of non-energized equipment
• ENAV will analyze the feedback provided by the ATCOs involved in the project and will evaluate if and how to integrate the ATC functionality in the suitable airport.
• TPZ included the Airport solution in its product development plan defining a development strategy based on the following phases:
o Industrialization phase an integration in the overall Airport solutions. This activity is on-going in the frame of the SESAR project.
o Commercial exploitation of the ATM system including TPZ solution performed in partnership with other players.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Airport Operators are focused mainly in the turn round process in order to be always aligned with the necessities given by the aircraft operators. Generally the services are provided by:
• Flight Operations Office
• Operational Dispatch Office
The System detects conflicting ATC clearances during runway operations, and non-conformance to procedures or clearances for traffic on runways, taxiways and in the apron area.
It’s essential to achieve a common situational awareness for all partners by making full use of commonly agreed responsibilities and procedures. In order to ensure the continued high quality of decisions, a performance monitoring system is established.
e-Airport system concept optimizes “turn around” activities through the minimization of “wasted time” of the different partners.
e-Airport is an integrated ICT application based on EGNSS, that allows operators, ground handlers and ATC to:
• plan, monitor and manage the aircraft services process during turn around
• plan, monitor and manage the airfreight cargo process
• measure and distribute Key Performance Indicators
In this context the aircraft service monitor represents the main gateway for the enhancement of A-CDM procedures. In particular the Aircraft Service Process monitor:
• Increasing the safety of vehicles and aircraft moving on the apron
• Optimizing the airport operations reducing the Turn Around time
• Providing the ATC with an accurate and updated TOBT
Abovementioned objectives are developed through the implementation of a Central Platform which:
• Automatically assigns an airport stand and gate to each incoming aircraft on the basis of flight plan updates coming from the ATC and on the airport current scenario
• Automatically plans aircraft services and assign them to vehicles
• Send to the Terminal of each service vehicle a service request message and collects relative reply
• Monitors ground services actual start and stop events to provide the ATC the accurate and updated estimate of the time when the ground operations of each aircraft will be completed
• Monitors in real time the position of aircraft and vehicles on the apron
• Compute the best airport route to guide each vehicle accepting a service request to the destination gate.
The socio-economic benefits determines by the e-Airportsystem are:
• Reduction of risks and costs from vehicles collision;
• Improving efficiency and costs reduction from management of aircraft services and logistics operations;
• Efficiency of the airport ground handling services and overall turn around process;
Actions are being evaluated to include the e-Airport system within the SESAR 2020 W2 initiatives