DFS and LVNL collaborate with a new 'Arrival Manager' for Schiphol

A new arrival management system will support air traffic controllers in organising incoming air traffic at Schiphol Amsterdam Airport. The system is being introduced as part of a cooperation agreement between the German air navigation service provider, DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung, and its Dutch counterpart, Air Traffic Control the Netherlands (LVNL). The new arrival manager will be put into service at the beginning of 2015.

The Advanced Arrival Management System (A-AMAN) from DFS that has been adapted to the LVNL system environment passed its functional acceptance test in December 2013. DFS and LVNL have added new functions to the system. For example, not only does the system suggest the most efficient sequence for arriving aircraft and generate exact landing times, it also gives the controller the recommended optimal speed for a selected aircraft.

"Approach control at Schiphol is very complex as there are six runways. This is why we expanded the display of the planning information," explained Jan Westland, the project manager at LVNL. If, for example, two additional runways are put in use, the controllers see the calculated arrival sequence for these runways as well as a time line for past planning on their screen. "At any given time, the air traffic controller has a clearly arranged display of the traffic situation and can quickly change flights from one runway to another. This results in an enormous reduction of workload," says Westland.

The planning information from the arrival manager can also support coordination with upstream control centres such as Maastricht so that the traffic flow can be optimised as early as possible.