Home › FAQs › FAQs

FAQs - EGNOS for Aviation

EGNOS for Aviation.

 

Answers

 

 
    For passengers: increased safety thanks to allowing instrument approach procedures that are safer than non-precision approaches.

    For airlines: allowing instrument approach procedures, which have much better performance than non-precision approaches. Resulting in fewer delays, diversions and cancellations due to bad weather/poor visibility at airports that are not equipped with ground-based navigation aids.

    For airports not equipped with ground-based navigation aids:

  • increased capacity as separation between aircraft can be reduced
  • increased accessibility as planes can land even in bad weather/poor visibility conditions
  • reduced costs compared to the installation and maintenance of ground-based navigation aids as EGNOS only requires an approach procedure for the runway

    • For airports equipped with ground-based navigation aids: cost-effective back-up for precision approaches.

TopTop

 
In aviation, the EGNOS SoL Service is offered for all phases of flight within the corresponding EGNOS SoL Service area, to aviation users (further “Aviation Users”) namely:
• airspace users, as defined in the Single European Sky framework Regulation1, equipped with an EGNOS certified receiver and located within the appropriate EGNOS SoL Service area corresponding to the phase of flight in which the EGNOS SoL Service is used (as described in the EGNOS SoL SDD);
• certified Air Navigation Service Providers having signed a working agreement with ESSP SAS that is valid at the moment of the use of the EGNOS SoL Service.

TopTop

 
EGNOS qualifies as a navigation service under the Single European Sky (SES) Regulations. As a consequence, the provision of the service by the EGNOS Service Provider (ESSP) is subject to certification and the system subject to an EU Declaration of Verification. This supervision was performed by the French national supervisory authority (DSAC). The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will take over the continued compliance monitoring of EGNOS.

EGNOS is a key technical enabler to the SESAR operational concept. EGNOS will contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the Single European Sky policy. In particular, it will contribute to de-fragment the provision of navigation services thanks to its pan-European nature and will facilitate enhanced navigation performances, in line with the SES ATM Master Plan.

TopTop

 
In Europe, ICAO recommends deploying approaches with vertical guidance at all runways by 2016 and EGNOS is one of the key technologies enabling the European regional PBN (Performance Based Navigation) plan, which aims at providing vertical guidance at all landing sites.

TopTop

 
    LPV stands for Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance. It is an Instrumental Approach Procedure that provides lateral and vertical guidance based on GPS augmented by SBAS (EGNOS/WAAS). The main advantage of this kind of procedures is to enable ILS like approaches (down to 250 ft minima) with a limited ground infrastructure (runway lighting). Therefore, EGNOS provides the benefit to extend the ability to perform instrumental approaches of almost ILS Cat I minima to runways where the installation of an ILS is not cost effective or technically feasible, as well as to provide an inexpensive backup to runway ends already equipped with an ILS. The benefits of this kind of procedures to the airlines is particularly significant to those operating from/to medium sized or light traffic aerodromes where an ILS is not available or cost effective due to both, the decreased number of flights cancelled or delayed and the commercial opportunities derived of an extended operational availability of the aerodromes.

TopTop

 
    Using EGNOS for instrument approaches can bring the decision height down to as low as 250 feet (about 75 meters), which is close to ILS Cat I. This means that the pilot can take the aircraft down "blind", without visual contact to the ground, to as low as 250 feet above ground. A subsequent version of EGNOS will allow for 200ft minima which is equivalent to ILS Cat I

TopTop

 
    You must:
    1) design and publish an instrument approach procedure for your runway and have it approved by your National Supervisory Authority
    2) your ANSP will be required to sign an agreement with the EGNOS Service Provider ESSP SaS, in particular to support exchange of technical and operational information

TopTop

 
    Your aircraft must be equipped with an SBAS-capable receiver, certified according to TSO or ETSO 145 or 146. Airworthiness certification and operational approval will be based on EASA AMC 20-28, which is expected to be published in 2012. In the meantime EASA is ready to provide approvals using the Certification Review Item (CRI) process and the draft AMC material.

TopTop

 
    Airbus Transport Beluga (FR); Aurigny Airlines (UK); Air Nostrum (ES); Blink (UK) and most other business aviation operators with glass cockpit installation (e.g. Garmin 1000); REGA (CH); Gestair (ES); Royal Star (PL).
    Note: may not be the entire fleet and the equipped aircraft may not be certified yet.

TopTop

 
    In order to provide an overview of the EGNOS supported procedures implementation status and planning, the most recent data are published per country at Eurocontrol website: http://www.ecacnav.com/
    The detailed information on the approved approach procedures is available at the corresponding National AIP

TopTop