Recently London’s largest commercial property airport announced plans to improve efficiency in their operations, but will the new measures really help planes take off on time and reduce delays for their 70 million passengers?
The airport is launching a new concept to enable a smoother decision making process. Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) enables the commercial property to share information quicker and work closely with its partners, such as airlines, air traffic control, ground handlers and airport staff to enable the airport in London to operate more resourcefully.
The new system will showcase the life-cycle of a flight, which is divided into 16 individual stages. This will enable staff at the commercial property to calculate a realistic turnaround for each flight, thus reducing delays for passengers.
As well as reducing delays, the A-CDM system will also save fuel as aeroplanes will only be sent to taxi if there is a slot available for them to takeoff – instead of just cruising on the runway waiting for their slot. This fuel saving is not only good for the airlines pockets, but also the environment as it could save approximately 30,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Speaking of the new system, Tim Hardy, Director Airside at BAA, which owns Heathrow, along with four other major airports in the UK, said: “With more than 1,300 flights every day, it’s crucial that we continue to look for ways to improve operational efficiency and thereby enhance passenger experience.
“A-CDM is about more than technology, it’s about behaviour change. It relies on every area of the airport’s operations working collaboratively to share information in pursuit of this common goal.
“We are excited to be launching this revolutionary new system and look forward to seeing the results.”
But so far, only four other airports currently have the technology in place; Charles de Gaulle, Brussels, Frankfurt and Munich, so is it really a smooth as it sounds?
Do you think the new system at Heathrow Airport will help reduce delays for passengers? Or do you think that with over 1300 flights per day, delays are just part of the norm for Britain’s largest airport?
