Overview
One of the main challenges in the apron area is that, due to many different companies operating on an airport apron, each company brings in the vehicles and equipment it requires to sustain operation. This causes high levels of congestion in ramp areas, which increases the accident rate and the chances of vehicles and equipment being misused.
By gaining telematic data on the running times of the various vehicle categories, detailed real-time statistics can be obtained. This allows for advanced fleet management and effective maintenance planning in off peak periods, thus helping to reduce the number of vehicles and/or equipment which is considered necessary to maintain a high level of service.
Actual reports on running times allow a good long term budget planning, by showing how many vehicles or pieces of equipment are actually needed to support daily operations. By monitoring, the vehicles unnecessary running times can be avoided, thus reducing costs and environmental impact. This type of information can lead to considerable savings in investment and daily operational costs, and a reduction in vehicles and equipment required, reducing congestion and enhancing safety in apron areas.
The AAS project aimed to develop, implement and investigate the implications of a high tech system for comprehensive monitoring and controlling of all Ground Service Equipment ('GSE') vehicles and movements at the apron area. The objective was enhancement of safety and efficiency on the apron. Furthermore, AAS aimed at significantly improving environmental sustainability by decreasing movements and fuel consumption.
The work plan was:
- to identify the user needs by a high level airport expert group. This led to an advanced fleet management concept by maximising the utilisation of GSE vehicles;
- to enhance techniques for cost efficient passenger and luggage flow, and to automatically passing information from GSE vehicles into the RMS to increase efficiency;
- to improve airport operations by reducing the number of accidents and GSE/aircraft damage repair costs;
- to deliver integrated knowledge for maintenance and investment planning to apron operating companies.
Funding
Results
Final results of the European R&D project AAS are enhancement of safety, efficiency and environmental sustainability for airport apron operations. The AAS project has a large potential to face the challenges of increasing air traffic and pressure on airport operators as well as ground handlers. The AAS system significantly optimises resource allocation and makes ground handling processes safer. Safety is a crucial factor since costs of more than USD 3 bn. arise annually due to uninsured losses.
Test at Berlin TXL Airport, Porto International Airport and Budapest Airport offer results on four key performance areas.
Safety:
- Number of accidents and incidents reduced by 20-30 %
- Damage and repair costs down by 30-40%
- Benefits from visualization, monitoring of alarms and logging of data
Efficiency:
- Distances travelled reduced by 1% in Porto, 7,5% in Berlin and 15% in Budapest.
- Running hours reduced by 1% in Porto, 3.9% Berlin and 6% in Budapest.
- Delays reduced by 11,2% in Berlin and 15% in Budapest
Costs effectiveness:
- Minimum fleet for 12 month amortization 66 GSE
- Internal rate of return 20%
- Net present value €81.150
- Long-term benefits: Integration, A-SMGCS, monitoring, timestamps for automated billing.
Environmental sustainability:
- Energy (fuel) consumption reduced by 1% in Porto, 3,9% in Berlin and 6% in Budapest.
- CO2 emission reduced per year by 1,4t in Porto, 12t in Berlin and 18t in Budapest.
- NOx emission reduced per year by 0,07t in Porto, 0,3t in Berlin and 0,45t in Budapest.
Policy implications
Recommendations:
- Leveraging historical/ logged data for safety improvement (training).
- Technological platform for A-SMGCS, A-CDM, TAM etc.
- Dynamic map display for drivers.
Strategy targets
An efficient and integrated mobility system.
Readiness
Have already been implemented at Porto International Airport, Berlin TXL Airport and Budapest Airport.