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Langen, 31 May 2005 GPS-based precision approach procedures - DFS launches pilot project at Bremen Airport Bremen Airport will be the first German airport to be equipped with the satellite-based precision landing system GBAS (Ground Based Augmentation System). The system is planned to become operational in 2007. GBAS is the ICAO designation for Differential GPS (DGPS); at the FAA, the system is called LAAS (Local Area Augmentation System). Precision approaches will then be conducted with the help of satellite navigation instead of the conventional instrument landing system (ILS). A highly accurate geographical survey of the GBAS site has already been carried out. The four reference receivers of the ground station will evaluate, via the GPS channel L1, the received satellite signals for civil use (C/A code) and transmit the relevant corrections which take account of different errors (ionosphere and troposphere) and propagation problems. The GBAS ground station transmits these corrections via a VHF channel to the landing aircraft where they are used to calculate the exact position on board the aircraft. In the long term, DFS expects to realise considerable cost savings compared to operating the currently used instrument landing system. While each runway and each landing direction requires an ILS, one GBAS ground station will normally suffice. And GBAS requires no protection zone like the so-called critical area for an ILS. In the beginning, GBAS will only be used for CAT I operations. Its use will be extended to CAT II and III at a later stage. Until then, it will, however, serve as a back-up system for periods when the ILS is shut down due to maintenance work. The system will probably be of particular interest to operators of smaller airports which currently offer no or only non-precision approach procedures. The first trial phase with GBAS approaches in Bremen is planned for 2007. The project is to be concluded in 2008 with the publication of a GBAS CAT I procedure. In the meantime, a lot of groundwork has to be done and many questions have to be resolved – mostly at an international level. As of yet, there are no certified ground stations. Their availability, however, is a major prerequisite for the unrestricted operation of GBAS. But the required hardware and software will probably be available by 2007. Honeywell has recently installed a ground station in Memphis which already comes very close to meeting the applicable ICAO requirements. DFS is performing this ambitious project in close coordination with its international partners. DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH is a State-owned company under private law and has 5,200 employees. DFS ensures the safe and punctual handling of flights. Staff coordinate around 10,000 aircraft movements in German airspace every day, and more than three million movements every year. With this large number of flights, Germany has the highest traffic volume in Europe. DFS operates control centres in Langen, Bremen, Karlsruhe and Munich. In addition, DFS is represented in the Eurocontrol Centre in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and in the control towers of the 16 international German airports. DFS provides training and consultancy services around the world and develops and sells air traffic control, surveillance and navigation systems. The company's portfolio also comprises flight-relevant data, aeronautical publications and aeronautical information services. DFS has the following business units: Control Centre, Tower, Aeronautical Solutions and Aeronautical Information Management.
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