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- Changi charting path to speedier landings
- CAAS studying satellite-based system to help planes land faster
- Karamjit Kaur Aviation Correpondent
- Updated today at 08:38 AM
- TRAVELLERS could experience quicker landings in future even as Changi Airport handles a growing number of flights.
- The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is studying the feasibility of using satellite-based technology to guide aircraft to land, The Straits Times has learnt.
- Unlike the current system, which uses radio signals, the new technology is more precise.
- Planes can be pinpointed more accurately, so air traffic controllers can bring aircraft closer together without compromising safety standards.
- The use of satellite-based systems also allows more flexibility in charting more efficient and shorter landing approaches.
- The optimal use of runways and airspace is critical given that more flights are expected to criss-cross Asian skies in the coming years.
- Airline passenger traffic in the Asia-Pacific is expected to grow by more than 6 per cent annually over the next two decades, outpacing the 5 per cent global increase.
- A spokesman for CAAS said the use of satellite-based systems to guide aircraft is recognised globally as a "next-generation" system "to assist pilots to navigate and land their aircraft with greater precision, including in low-visibility conditions and inclement weather".
- United States firm Honeywell, which has installed its SmartPath satellite system in airports, including Newark and Houston, has been talking to CAAS.
- Honeywell Aerospace's Asia-Pacific vice-president (airlines), Mr Brian Davis, said: "With the current system used at Changi and many other airports, you typically need a 10 to 12 nautical mile straight-landing approach. But with satellite technology, pilots can execute shorter, curved approaches, for example.
- "This cuts flying time, so it's faster landings for travellers, as well as (uses) less fuel and carbon emissions."
- Studies have shown that SmartPath can increase the number of flights a runway can handle by up to 10 per cent, he added.
- Changi Airport, which handled 343,800 landings and take-offs last year, has introduced various initiatives to boost runway efficiency in recent years.
- These include cutting the minimum interval between aircraft take-offs, where possible. During peak hours, for instance, a plane now takes off every minute instead of two minutes previously.
- Singapore Airlines and other carriers operating at Changi are supporting the move by encouraging their pilots to quickly move their planes from the runway to the aircraft gate after landing.
- karam@sph.com.sg
- IMPROVEMENTS
- The new technology allows planes to be pinpointed more accurately so air traffic controllers can bring aircraft closer together without compromising safety standards.
- The use of satellite-based systems also allows more flexibility in charting more efficient and shorter landing approaches.
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