Efficient aircraft route management A new air traffic management (ATM) system will optimise aircraft route selections. Part of the EU's Clean Sky programme, the new system will mean fuel savings and more efficient operations. Industrial Technologies © Thinkstock The Clean Sky programme includes many sub-projects. One concerns mission and trajectory management (MTM), which leads to fuel efficiencies based on careful aircraft route selection. Such was the domain of the 'Green regional aircraft avionic architecture for mission and trajectory management' (GRA3M) project. The one-member project ran for 14 months to the end of May 2011, and received around EUR 25 000 in EU funding. The project's objective was to study the possibilities for implementing the Green Regional Aircraft Avionics Architecture for Mission and Trajectory Management (GRA-4.1 MTM). This protocol is key to more efficient aircraft flight planning and operation. It facilitates better usage of capacity, reduction of delays, and enhanced predictability, flexibility and cost effectiveness. The project set out to compare the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate approaches for implementation, also considering the larger requirements of Clean Sky and related programmes such as Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR). GRA3M began by assessing the requirements of MTM. Based on that, the project compared possible hardware and commercial off-the-shelf components that could be used to implement MTM. The requirements analysis allowed initial estimations of resource usage. The result was a list of descriptors for all possible components, which included parameters such as weight, volume and technical specifications. The market survey covered components for all types of architecture under consideration. The project studied candidate architectures, considering overall requirements and component availability. The short list included federated and integrated modular avionics, plus the IMA2G concept under consideration by the EU projects DIANA and SCARLETT. Hence, via a comparative analysis, project members arrived at a possible implementation of GRA-4.1 MTM and made relevant recommendations. GRA3M completed the contribution it intended to make to the Clean Sky programme. In so doing, project outcomes will help Clean Sky implement an ATM system, leading to greater efficiencies in aircraft route selection and operations. Keywords Aviation, avionic architecture, airport, air traffic management, route selection
