Barco Orthogon enables Total Airport Management to predict and improve airport performance

The results of the Total Airport Management Suite (TAMS) were officially presented to an expert audience at Stuttgart Airport on 22 May 2012. The research project brought together five aviation experts from industry, research and airport operation. Barco Orthogon provided a coupled Arrival and Departure Manager (AMAN/DMAN) and demonstrated its Airside Tactical Working Position (ATWP) to support the most efficient utilization of available airport capacities. The scientific validation campaign, conducted by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), delivered evidence that departure punctuality can be improved while maintaining the level of punctuality for arrivals, and that coupling the AMAN/DMAN with a Turnaround Manager (TMAN) and Surface Manager (SMAN) contributes to significantly reducing the number of passengers missing their flights.

In view of performance-driven airport operations, operation managers of airlines, airport operators and Air Traffic Control (ATC) commit themselves by coordinating their planning and decision-making processes. The TAMS research project was initiated in a complementary attempt to boost efficiency and cost-effectiveness of airport operations and, consequently, also reduce their environmental impact, based on established Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Under the able coordination of Siemens, four industry partners, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and Stuttgart Airport worked together to integrate the Total Airport Management Suite (TAMS) software platform, which supports the planning and optimization of air- and landside processes. TAMS was funded by Germany's Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

As a worldwide leader in Queue Management Systems for Air Traffic Management, Barco Orthogon contributed to the project by developing a novel working position, called Airside Tactical Working Position (ATWP). The ATWP provides all standard Airport Collaborative Decision-Making environment (A-CDM) information like target times, and it governs KPIs for runway and airspace utilization. Hence, a human operator can proactively adapt capacities and evaluate possible optimization measures by means of What-if functions, if necessary.

An ATWP operator is supported by a coupled Arrival and Departure Management system (coupled AMAN-DMAN), part of Barcos OSYRIS product line, which has been enhanced according to the Total Airport Management operational concept. TAMS has demonstrated that these tools are an integral part of a system enabling a performance-driven airport. They deliver necessary information to monitor runway and airspace utilization and to provide the means to adjust such capacities towards optimal airport performance.

Michael Eisele, Barco Orthogon: According to the Eurocontrol Performance Review Report 2011, air traffic delays cost around 1.5 billion euros a year in Europe alone. The comprehensive, intelligent and profitable use of existing resources is set to become an increasingly important factor for airports that wish to remain competitive. TAMS marks the first integration of systems of air- and landside airport processes into one airport control center, resulting in reduced delays and less fuel consumption and CO2 emissions; while increasing passenger convenience. Barco Orthogon is proud of its contribution to this critical research project.