As the name implies, Airport CDM is about partners working together and making decisions based on more accurate and higher quality information that has the exact same meaning for every partner involved. An opportunity for optimal use of resources, improved punctuality and predictability is the result.
This goal can be only be reached by very close collaboration among all partners involved in the management of flights. These partners are:
In the absence of Airport CDM stakeholders may make conflicting decisions as the result of lack of information or the receipt of information that has diverging meaning to different partners. Ad hoc addressing of these shortcomings individually may bring improvements but benefits for the whole system can be gained only when the whole complex set of issues is addressed in its totality. For example, a blockage of the airport access road can have a major impact on the number of passengers late for check-in. CDM stakeholders shall be informed about this.
As a result, CDM is considered to be an important approach for optimization of limited assets utilization (i.e. runways, aircraft stands, departure slots). Apart from that it aims to provide better flexibility to airlines in order to maximize their own effectivity and flight punctuality.
Therefore, main benefits gained by A-CDM are:
Increase of available capacity of resources,
Increase in passenger experience,
- Reduction in costs for unburnt fuel,
- Reduction of costs for delay reimbursement (including rebooking of delayed passengers)
- Environmental benefits (less noise and lower emissions).
The A-CDM concept is an integral part of both the Dynamic Management of the European Airspace Network (DMEAN) and Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) programs. It is also actively promoted by the sector associations of airports (ACI Europe), air traffic control companies (CANSO), and airlines (IATA). Together with IATA and ACI Europe, Eurocontrol has developed a special website dedicated to Airport CDM: www.euro-cdm.org.
A-CDM concept consists of the following elements:
- Airport CDM Information Sharing - forms the foundation for all the other elements and must be implemented first.
- The A-CDM Turn-Round Process aims to achieve common situational awareness by tracking the progress of a flight from the initial planning to the take off. Its typical feature is defining the timestamps (Milestones Approach) that are essential in the whole progress of flight and that allow better situational awareness.
- Collaborative Pre-departure Sequence establishes an off-block sequence while taking into account airlines’ preferences and operational constraints.
- Collaborative Management of Flight Updates enhances the quality of arrival and departure information exchanges between the NMOC and CDM airports.
- Variable Taxi Time Calculation is the key to predictability of accurate take-off and in-block times especially at complex airports.
- CDM in Adverse Conditions achieves collaborative management of a CDM airport during periods of reduced capacity with influence to the handling process and on-time performance.
Source: Eurocontrol
Send e-mail to cdm@prg.aero