Lufthansa Systems presents a new drone app for consumers and regulators

Raunheim, Germany | March 5, 2018– Lufthansa Systems today announced that it will be presenting its new Drone Solutions at this week’s World ATM Congress in Madrid. Congress attendees can try the app in Madrid from 6 to 8 March at booth 1163B. The app takes care of rules and regulations for drone operators. It also displays controlled areas such as airports and airspace for which special regulations apply. Drone operators can use the app to request the permits they need for drone flights or drone use near control zones from regulatory authorities.

Air traffic is fast increasing due to the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles like drones. By 2020, German air traffic control estimates that 1.2 million drones will be flitting about the skies in Germany, while the US FAA expects to see 3.5 million drones in American airspace by 2021. While strict regulations govern drone use to ensure the safety of aircraft, factories and personnel, these rules are not as familiar as they should be to drone operators. “Our app changes that,” says Krzysztof Zaleski, Drones Project Manager at Lufthansa Systems Poland. “We’ve worked with the aerospace industry for many years and have access to relevant airspace data. Accordingly, it’s a logical next step for us to also provide these data to consumers and regulators to help improve aviation safety. And unlike other app developers, we provide all of our safety information free-of-charge to the end user.”

Without a permit, drones are prohibited from flying in close proximity to major international airports, regional airports or military airfields. The app informs drone users about these kinds of zones. Data for the app are drawn from the Lufthansa Systems Lido/SkyData database. Lido/SkyData holds ARINC-424 data that are updated every 28 days. The dataset covers navigational items like airports, heliports, runways, waypoints, navaids, airspaces and airways plus flight procedures.

Drone Solutions can also access other relevant aviation information such as chart data with details of streets, cities or the surrounding landscape, obstacle data covering power lines or tall buildings, plus weather reports. These information are based on the certified data that Lufthansa Systems also uses for its own navigation solutions, for example. One special feature in the new app warns drone owners if an aircraft such as a rescue helicopter could enter the zone where the owner’s drone is flying, thus preventing potential collisions.

The app is also helpful for regulators, as it gives them an at-a-glance overview of where drones are flying, plus reports about unauthorized flights. With the aid of an algorithm built into the app, they can also issue automated flight permits. This not only simplifies their processes and saves regulators time but also increases airspace safety.

Paris | February 27, 2018– Australia occupies a unique global position in the air traffic management (ATM) domain. The country’s Air Navigation Service Provider, Airservices Australia, manages the largest airspace in the world, totaling over 11% of the globe. Their ambition is to ensure the seamless integration of all civil and military air traffic over an area totaling 53 million square kilometers, approximately equal to the combined surface of North America, Central America, South America and China.

Airservices Australia and the Australian Defence Force have chosen to rely on Thales to achieve this ambition by signing an AUS $1.2bn (€777m) contract for the delivery and deployment of the OneSKY programme. OneSKY is the world’s most advanced civil military airspace integration project and calls for the modernization of the Australian and associated oceanic airspace.

OneSKY’s objective is to bring benefits for passengers, airlines and the economy whilst maintaining Australian air sovereignty and safety to citizens, and is a critical part of the national infrastructure necessary to underpin the future economic prosperity of Australia.

The ambition of this programme is to enable Australia to safely manage and benefit from the rapid increase in air travel over the next 20 years at a time when airspace management is becoming significantly more complex. OneSKY will leverage Thales’s proven track record in Air Traffic Management systems, dual civil/military interoperability and use the latest digital technologies in the fields of connectivity, big data and AI to improve flight co-ordination, safely increase the use of airspace, optimise air traffic flow and improve the way planes approach the runway. Drawing on its cybersecurity expertise, Thales will ensure the integrity of the connectivity that will drive this interoperability.

For passengers the programme will reduce travel times and delays. For airlines, OneSKY seeks to maintain safety levels at increased volumes to enable them to increase their routes, whilst reducing fuel burn and CO2 emissions. The Australian Air Force will benefit from safer co-ordination with civilian air movements, thus helping them accomplish their mission of protecting Australia and its citizens more efficiently.

The development and delivery of OneSKY will support over 500 highly skilled, high-tech jobs, of which 450 are in Melbourne as well as a further 50 jobs in similar disciplines in France. To this approximately 200 more jobs will be supported across the entire supply chain in Australia It builds on the long term investment by Thales and comprehensive technology transfer that has brought world-leading R&D in ATM systems to Melbourne.

Airport Management solution allows for more accurate planning, reducing potential delays
Nice, France | April 5, 2017– Nice Côte d’Azur Airport has taken another significant step towards streamlining aircraft movements across the airfield with the implementation of SITA’s Airport Management solution, providing a more predictable flow of aircraft departures and minimizing delays.

By combining its market leading Pre-Departure Sequencing (PDS) module with SITA’s AirportPulse – an intuitive, intelligence portal powered by an instant-messaging platform – the airport can better manage traffic flow by allowing the various stakeholders to quickly share information and make clear decisions. This provides a common view of the airfield to all relevant stakeholders – the airport, airlines, ground handlers and air traffic control – making for more accurate planning and more efficient use of resources.

The PDS departure management tool delivers planned traffic flows, reduced taxi times leading to fewer queues in front of the runways and less congestion on the apron or taxiways. It also allows the airport to improve the use of stands and gates with fewer last-minute changes. Passengers will also benefit from a reduction in delays and fewer missed connections.

The implementation of SITA’s technology takes the airport closer to joining 20 of Europe’s busiest airports in achieving Airport Collaborative Decision-Making (A-CDM) certification from EUROCONTROL, aimed at improving the overall efficiency of airport operations and the predictability of events. Increased predictability has been proven to be of significant benefit to all major airports, airlines and network operations.

Isabelle Baumelle, Head of Runway Operations and Resources at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, said: “During peak periods or busy events such as the Monaco Grand Prix and Cannes Film Festival it is vital that the runways and airside facilities are used as efficiently as possible, maximizing our capacity and avoiding potential delays. To achieve this, we needed a modern and efficient tool and is the main reason why we have chosen SITA’s Airport Management solution.”

Jean-Pierre Torres, Head of IT at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, said: “After being the first airport in Europe to obtain the Advanced ATC Tower certification in B2B from EUROCONTROL, SITA’s technology will be another key step to help us better collaborate, make quick decisions and streamline the flow of aircraft, benefiting both our airlines and their passengers.”

Dave Bakker, SITA President, Europe, said: “Nice Côte d’Azur Airport continues to grow, with overall passenger numbers increasing to close to 12.5 million in 2016. Managing the flow of departing aircraft is crucial to maximizing the airport’s available capacity without impacting the overall passenger experience. It is pleasing that our technology can help benefit all stakeholders at the airport.”

• Iris Precursor programme aims to significantly optimise European airspace capacity, leading to overall reductions in flight times, fuel burn and CO2 emissions

United Kingdom | December 20, 2016– Inmarsat (ISAT.L), the world’s leading provider of global mobile satellite communications, has successfully completed the first flight trials for Iris Precursor, a ground-breaking project to enhance and modernise air traffic management over European airspace.

Iris Precursor focuses on the development and deployment of secure satellite-based data link communications to significantly optimise European airspace capacity, leading to overall reductions in flight times, fuel burn and CO2 emissions. Iris Precursor aims to complement existing terrestrial data link communications (VDL2), which are expected to reach capacity in the near future.

Inmarsat is conducting the Iris Precursor programme with a consortium of leading companies from across the air traffic management, air transport, aeronautics and satcom industries, under the European Space Agency (ESA) umbrella. The programme, which is supported by ESA’s programme of Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES), will deliver services via Inmarsat’s secure next-generation SwiftBroadband-Safety platform.

Four test flights were conducted from Amsterdam under an initial phase to validate the use of satellite-based data link for secure communications and surveillance applications, and compare the capabilities to existing terrestrial data link communications. They were operated on aircraft from the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) using a prototype of the Iris terminal developed by Honeywell and connected to Inmarsat’s next-generation SwiftBroadband-Safety service through Inmarsat’s aviation partner, SITA, the world’s leading air transport IT and communications specialist.

Each of the flights travelled in different routes, covering all directions to ensure connectivity was maintained as the aircraft crossed satellite beams. The end-to-end connection between the aircraft and SITA’s Controller Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC) test ground system was tested extensively and allowed air traffic control messages to be exchanged using Aeronautical Telecommunications Network and Security gateways.

While the Iris Precursor programme will initially focus on continental Europe, it will also benefit air traffic management in other regions around the world in the longer term.

Captain Mary McMillan, Inmarsat’s Vice President of Aviation Safety and Operational Services, said: “Efficiency improvements are fundamental to aviation modernisation programs in Europe. As air traffic volume continues to increase, the digitisation of the cockpit is one of the ways to alleviate current congestion on traditional radio frequencies and optimise European airspace, one of the busiest in the world. Using the power and security of satellite connectivity through Iris clearly changes the game in comparison to the ground technology in use today.

“The successful completion of these flight trials brings Iris Precursor an important step closer to initial operational capability, which is currently targeted for 2019. It demonstrates that the use of satellite technology for dense continental airspace is not only a long-term solution, but also a reliable system in the short-term to solve air traffic management issues today.”

Magali Vaissiere, Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications at ESA, said: “ESA’s Iris programme is forging ahead as part of Europe’s long-term goal to modernise air traffic control. A stepped approach and good collaboration between public and private partners is bringing excellent results.”

The flight trials complement a separate test flight that Airbus conducted with Inmarsat and other partners in March this year, as part of the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) programme, which successfully performed initial 4-dimensional/4D flight path control and CPDLC exchanges between aircraft and air traffic control.

Inmarsat is now working toward a second phase of flight trials for Iris at the end of next year. At this point, Iris technology will be considered fully validated. The next phases of the programme include pre-operational validation by flying Iris technology on commercial flights in a real air traffic management environment. The Iris Initial Operational Capability will go live as early as 2019, complementing terrestrial systems and bringing enhanced security, safety and efficiency.