ASA

Air Traffic Flow Management - Case Study

Airservices Australia is a leading provider of Air Traffic Management (ATM) services with an international reputation for excellence in safety, innovation and environmental sustainability. Airservices manages approximately 3 million flights, carrying 75 million passengers annually and is responsible for the safe and efficient passage of aircraft over 11 percent of the earth’s airspace. Operating at 28 aerodromes within the country, including Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth Airports, Airservices provides additional services that are supported by a national network of communications, surveillance and navigation facilities and infrastructure. Located in Canberra, the National Operations Centre (NOC) is responsible for traffic flow and capacity management within Australian airspace utilizing the slot allocation program.

The Challenge

Over the last decade, tourism and travel in Australia has steadily increased by approximately 3 percent annually, with an outlook of even larger growth. With the increase in passengers, aircraft, total air traffic movements and the rigorous environmental constraints placed on aerodromes in Australia, Airservices was required to more efficiently manage airspace and reduce the carbon footprint, all while enhancing safety. At that time, Airservices current ATM solution was not able to continue to optimize airspace, given technological restraints, coupled with the growing demand for air travel.

The Solution

Airservices required a comprehensive Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) system that would allow users to model and implement all traffic flow initiatives for both aerodrome and airspace volumes, as well as optimize airspace and airport operations by allocating Air Traffic Control (ATC) slots. It was imperative that the aviation community was included in the Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) process easily and effectively. Airservices selected Metron Aviation’s integrated and collaborative ATFM system, Metron Harmony for ANSPs, which gives Airservices advanced tools for strategic planning, as well as pre-tactical and tactical management of traffic flow within available airspace capacity. The system provides the NOC with comprehensive ATFM capabilities to model and implement Air Traffic Management (ATM) initiatives for aerodromes.

Additionally, due to the complex runway configurations at Sydney airport, Airservices required Ground Delay Programs (GDP) for runways to ensure optimized usage, rather than just for aerodromes. These first of its kind traffic flow initiatives are used to dynamically balance air traffic demand with capacity, ensuring Airservices is able to comply with given capacity at all times.

The Business Case for ATFM

Since the commissioning of the Metron Harmony ATFM/CDM system, massive fuel savings, emissions reductions and operational efficiencies have been achieved. According to Airservices Australia, operational benefit highlights include:

• Fuel savings are projected at AU$39 million annually for Sydney arrivals alone. 
• The flying time from Melbourne to Sydney, one of the busiest city pairs in the world, has been reduced by five minutes which corresponds to a reduction in emissions of 40,000 metric tonnes per year (Melbourne to Sydney is the fourth busiest city pair in the world).
• Flight time on the Brisbane to Sydney route (the seventh busiest city pair in the world) has been reduced by two minutes, which corresponds to a reduction in emissions of 16,000 tonnes per year.

 On-Site Services Provided

Metron Aviation fostered a seamless integration for deployment, support and training by having professionals on-site at Airservices during the concept to capability progression. This helped Airservices fully utilize the system to effectively optimize their airspace.