By dynamically calculating the spacing between aircraft based on real-time local conditions rather than relying on set distances, Intelligent Approach helps airports to maximise the capacity of their runways and optimise the flow of aircraft into the airport, thereby improving on-time performance.

Capacity for aircraft landing at Schiphol Airport during high wind conditions has increased by 3 – 6 additional aircraft per hour, per runway thanks to Intelligent Approach.

Back in 2019, we announced that we were working in partnership with Leidos and Canadian air traffic service provider, NAV CANADA, to deliver our Intelligent Approach tool for Toronto Pearson International Airport. But delivering a big project like this is never entirely straightforward and doing it during a global pandemic is even less so.

I’m finding in conversations with airport operations directors around the world, is that they’re looking at ways to enable future growth, but in a way that reflects our current reality.

With airports so impacted by the Covid crisis, tools like Intelligent Approach that help airports utilise runways and airspace more efficiently, for a fraction of the investment needed for new ground-based infrastructure, will be more valuable than ever to operators as traffic returns.

With airports so badly hit by the impact of the Covid crisis, being able to maximise the value and efficiency of existing assets – especially runways – is going to be of critical importance over the coming years as we begin to see traffic return.

Collaboration has always been a key part of the way we work at NATS and even during these socially distanced times, we have continued to work closely, even if remotely, with our partners. This has been demonstrated most recently by our work with LVNL, the Dutch air traffic navigation services provider, running Intelligent Approach simulations while maintaining social distancing and engaging virtually across national borders.

On Thursday 21st September, Andy Shand took part in a discussion with Russell Akehurst from Leidos as part of a live broadcast about NATS Intelligent Approach suite of ATM tools. Here are the answers to some of the questions we received…

As we set a course for the new year, we thought it was a good time to reflect on our most popular web content for 2016; it gives us the chance to look again not just at the blog, but also our popular Discover features and the Drone Assist app.

We’re coming up to the first anniversary of Time Based Separation (TBS) entering operational service for Heathrow arrivals and I’m pleased to say it’s been a huge success.