The ERA General Assembly is a key event for Regional Aviation Stakeholders. This year’s event brought together more than 400 key figures from the European aviation industry. The event is an opportunity to network, discuss key issues affecting the industry, learn from a wide range of thought-provoking conference sessions and celebrate the industry’s successes.
The GSA was present at the General Assembly with a stand which included a EGNOS enabled flight simulator brought by ESSP-SAS at which airlines were briefed on LPV approach procedures. Loganair staff had the chance to flight simulate the LPV approach to the Scottish Barra airport two days after their real scheduled flight to that beach as part of the congress side activities.Loganair Flight Support Manager Stewart Houston said that the airline was flying LPV approaches at Kirkwall – the main airport serving Scotland’s Orkney Islands – on its Twin Otter and Islander planes, equipped with G430W.
“Between 19 and 46 Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Ranges (VORs) will be removed in the UK, potentially leaving required navigation performance (RNP) as the only approaches available at several airports,” Houston said.
Attendees to the ERA Operations Group meeting, taking place in parallel to the event, were briefed by GSA on the status of the two current European satellite navigation programmes EGNOS and Galileo.
User Consultation Platform
At the General, Assembly, the GSA launched a consultation process among airlines about the Galileo RLS with a view to gathering requirements from interested parties, raising awareness about the need for cooperation, and fostering the adoption of new standards and equipment in order to improve safety in SAR operations. Also highlighted at the session was the EGNSS User Consultation Platform, which will be held as part of European Space Week in Marseille in December 3rd-6th. This Platform is a forum for interaction between the Galileo and EGNOS programmes and end users, focused on user needs and requirements. It is an opportunity for the EGNSS programmes to listen to users and key industry players in order to optimise current use of the systems, continuously improve them, and plan for future evolutions. To contribute to the Platform and have your say, register to attend European Space Week here.