New landing technology will reduce the delays caused by fog

News at Heathrow 28/03/2009

Air fares fall as demand continues to fall : 2009 : Virgin to compete with BA in Europe

Innovative microwave technology on BA plans will cut fog delays

Innovative new technology has been installed at Heathrow airport. The new Microwave Landing System has been installed at both ends of each runway and has also been installed on 29 British Airways. This is the first time this technology has been used anywhere in the world.

The existing technology at the airport – Instrument Landing System, uses beams to guide aircraft in to land safely on the runway, but the pilot still needs to monitor the decent of the plane by eye and when visibility is bad this can’t always be done, another problem with the old system was that the beam itself is also subject to interference from other aircraft, whereas the new system uses a different frequency to work.

The new technology claims to increase the number of landings by 20% when visibility is bad and with Heathrow airport’s runways operating at near capacity it should prevent major delays caused by fog currently affecting Heathrow at least 10 times a year.

The new technology will make it possible to land an extra six aircraft an hour during bad visibility.

The investment by BA has so far been £5 million; they have fitted the system to the bulk of its short-haul fleet of Airbus A320s and A321s. It will be installed on the remaining 12 aircraft by the end of the year since these aircraft, which make several trips a day, are most vulnerable to fog delays.

It is, according to experts, the aviation equivalent of a radio moving from AM signal to the more resilient digital equivalent.

"This pioneer initiative will mean less disruption and congestion, which is great news for our customers," said Captain Stephen Riley, the airline's head of flight operations.

"It will also reduce holding times for aircraft, which will cut unnecessary carbon emissions."

Air fares fall as demand continues to fall : 2009 : Virgin to compete with BA in Europe

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