A Mid-Term Harmonized Concept for Airport Surface Operations

Abstract

In current airport surface operations, there are similarities and differences in operational procedures and technologies being used for managing surface traffic between Europe and the U.S. In addition, new concepts and technologies are being explored by ATM research organizations worldwide to significantly increase efficiency and throughput of airport surface operations as well as to integrate with other operations in the terminal and en route airspace. Because of this diverse development on both sides of the Atlantic, it has been recognized there is a need to investigate harmonization of concepts and operational procedures between the two continents in all phases of flights. Such harmonization is expected to provide transatlantic flights a smoother transition across two continents’ airspace due to improved interoperability, which leads to efficiency improvement as well as economic benefits. Both the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have been independently developing and testing their own concepts and prototype tools to improve efficiency of traffic on the airport surface. In September 2012, DLR and NASA signed a collaboration agreement to jointly investigate surface management issues, and one of the tasks was to develop a harmonized concept of airport surface operations for the mid-term that will be applicable to both Europe and the U.S. This document describes a common integrated concept of airport surface operations at a high level, based on the discussions among researchers from both organizations during a workshop held at NASA Ames Research Center in August 2013.