Airbus has conducted what it is calling the world's first flight
using a four-dimensional optimized and upgraded air traffic management
(ATM) technology to fly more accurate and efficient routes, the airframe
manufacturer said Friday.
The test, using Airbus's dedicated A320 test aircraft flying
from Toulouse, France, to Copenhagen and Stockholm, used Initial-4D
(I-4D) trajectory management, which relies on an aircraft function to
predict and transmit data to the ground in order to accurately fly a
trajectory. It is described in three dimensions (lateral, longitudinal
and vertical) and it includes one target time at a specific merging
point (time as the fourth dimension), Airbus said.
Once proven and industrialized, it will allow aircraft to plan and
fly an optimized and efficient profile without any need for the
controllers to provide any vectoring instruction. This will bring better
predictability of the traffic flows and facilitate Continuous Descent
Operations into airports. The end result being a reduction in fuel burn
and emissions, which is in line with FAA and Eurocontrol's NextGen and
SESAR air traffic modernization programs, respectively.
More flight trials and simulations are planned in 2012 and 2013. The first I-4D operation is planned in Europe from 2018 onwards.
Source: Aviation Today
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