4D navigation aims to boost airline efficiency

Air travel in China is expected to become more predictable thanks to the successful trial of "four-dimensional" trajectory management, civil aviation authorities said.

The technology, which connects an aircraft with ground systems to optimize the flight trajectories in three dimensions plus time, underwent its first trial on a round trip between Tianjin and Guangzhou in mid-March, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The successful test flight followed four-dimensional trajectory management experiments in Europe, said Meng Aimin, chief engineer in the aeronautical information center of the administration's air traffic control bureau, adding that it will help to enhance the safety, reliability and cost-efficiency of air traffic management.

Meng said the technology will enable aircraft to more easily adapt their speed and trajectory en route to arrive at a given point at a time agreed to with air traffic control.

The system will ensure the accuracy of arrival times within 10 seconds, compared with about 10 minutes for current flights, he added.

"As the trajectory of each aircraft is defined in detail in advance, with local conditions and other airspace users taken into account, the overall predictability and efficiency of air traffic will be enhanced," he said.

The 4D concept will also improve safety as it decreases the workload for pilots and air traffic controllers, who will have more time to monitor other factors in the flight, Meng added.

The system will also give a boost to the development of domestic aircraft, he said.

"The technology will require complex upgrades of the core avionics technologies, such as the airborne flight management system and communication management system, because it synchronizes flight trajectories between air and ground. All these will provide technical support for the independent development of domestic aircraft," he said.

"The success of this experiment is only a beginning. There is still a long way to go before promoting the technology nationwide. As 4D trajectory concepts are the next steps for flight management in the future, we will continue to carry out large-scale trial flights," Meng said.

In 2012, Airbus conducted the world's first 4D trajectory management demonstration on a flight from Toulouse, France, to Copenhagen, Denmark, and Stockholm, Sweden.