Streamlining Air Traffic Management with GBAS

With the aim of simplifying air traffic management and making the airport more efficient, Australia’s Sydney Airport recently unveiled its ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) manufactured and marketed by Honeywell as the SmartPath® Precision Landing System. As a joint project of Qantas and Airservices, the GBAS has been tested on more than…

With the aim of simplifying air traffic management and making the airport more efficient, Australia’s Sydney Airport recently unveiled its ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) manufactured and marketed by Honeywell as the SmartPath® Precision Landing System. As a joint project of Qantas and Airservices, the GBAS has been tested on more than 750 Airbus A380 and Boeing 737-800 approaches since December 2012, leading up to the launch of the system which was attended by Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss, Airservices acting CEO Mark Rodwell, Quantas chief financial officer Gareth Evans, Honeywell Aerospace representative Brian Davis and Sydney Airport CEO Kerrie Mather.

Evans noted that the system would be beneficial to Quantas, which was the first airline to take delivery of a GBAS-enabled aircraft in 2005. With Sydney Airport receiving international and domestic Quantas flights around the clock, it is anticipated that, over time, the fuel savings to the carrier will be significant. As the system is installed in other airports around Australia, these savings will become even more meaningful.

Using a ground-based transmitter, the GBAS provides GPS positioning data to the GBAS-enabled flight management system of approaching aircraft, allowing for precision approach and landing, within a meter of the runway center line. One GBAS has the capability of facilitating up to 26 instrument approaches simultaneously within a radius of 42 km. Also, the GBAS is not prone to noise signal interference, with maintenance being less expensive than the current instrument landing system (ILS). The use of this state-of-the-art technology promises increased airport capacity, a reduction in weather-related delays and a decrease in air traffic noise, all of which translates into reducing costs for the aviation industry.

In the United States, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) is working with the International GBAS Working Group (IGWG), as are numerous other countries, in standardizing certification and procedures for the use of GBAS around the world.