New Hungarian Developments Presented at the World ATM Congress Exhibition in Madrid

HungaroControl presented new products and services of its Centre of Research, Development and Simulation (CRDS) at the air traffic management sector’s prestigious professional exhibition organised between 4 and 6 March, 2014. The products and services offered by the Centre to air navigation service providers improve safety, cost-efficiency and environment-friendliness in air traffic.

One of the new concepts used in air traffic control, CSO (Concept of Seamless Operations) is aimed at reducing the number of conflicts resulting from increased traffic as well as ATC-related delays during landing and take-off to the minimum. One of the tools of CSO, known as FRA (Free Route Airspace) allows the aircraft to fly the shortest route between the entry and exit points of the given airspace, while the other, CDO (Continuous Descent Operations) allows optimum descent with the least fuel consumption, at the shortest distance to the destination airport.

Another relatively new and growing concept is PBN (Performance Based Navigation), aimed at reducing deviations from designated routes and thus moderating emissions and noise level. This procedure facilitates the use of airports operating in areas with complicated terrain features and under difficult weather conditions.

CPDLC (Controller-Pilot Data-Link Communication) is data-based (rather than voice-based) communication between the pilot and the air traffic controller. Its use helps optimise airspace capacity and also improves flight safety and efficiency. It is mandated by the European Commission to be introduced by 2015 in Europe.

CRDS helps the air navigation service providers in modelling and simulating the introduction of new procedures (CSO, PBN, CPDLC) and the optimum implementation and use of these tools in their own airspaces.