Brussels Airport and Belgian ANSP skeyes has started demonstration flights that use a steeper approach than normal to see if they lower noise and CO2 emissions.
The flights are part of the three-year Highly Efficient Green Operations (HERON) project, which started in 2024, which is being led by Airbus and is part of SESAR. HERON aims to develop and demonstrate ways to reduce noise, flight delays, fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions with more efficient flight operations.
The flights will assess the environmental impact of the Increased Second Glide Slope solution, which aims to reduce noise disturbance during the aircraft approach phase. By initiating landings at a steeper angle, aircraft will remain at a higher altitude for a longer time and fly at lower speeds, resulting in less noise for surrounding residents.
During the test period, aircraft will use new procedures with steeper descent angles of 3.2° and 3.5°, instead of the usual 3.0° on the most frequently used runways at Brussels Airport, 25R and 25L.
The adjustments required the development of specific RNP (Required Navigation Performance) flight procedures that were successfully validated and calibrated with a test flight a few months ago. The necessary publications have been released and approved by the relevant aviation authorities since then.
The demonstration flights are set to run in two three-month phases – from October to December 2024 and February to April 2025 with 3.2° used on runway 25R and 3.5° on 25L. DHL, Brussels Airlines, TUI, and Vueling are participating in the tests.
The 'Increased Second Glide Slope' (ISGS) solution is being developed in partnership with Eurocontrol and Airbus also as part of the SESAR program. This project is also supported by CINEA - the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency