iStream: SESAR funded Flow Management project shows promising trial results

The results from the live trials at Paris (CDG) and Zurich airport are very promising in terms of reducing delays and flying time. Further trials will take place in April and be completed in September 2016.

iStream is one of several large-scale demonstration activities co-funded by the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SESAR JU). It aims at demonstrating the benefits of Target Time for complete traffic flows, with comprehensive collaborative processes. It paves the way for better predictability of flights leading to smoother flight management and less arrival holding, while also preserving a high level of safety. This project is aligned with the SESAR deployment as mandated by the Pilot Common project (PCP).

Live trials took place at Paris (CDG) from 13 April – 24 June 2015 and are still on-going at Zurich airport since 15 June 2015. Their results are very promising: dynamic Demand and Capacity Balancing (dDCB) in Paris-CDG airport : from April 13th to June 24th 2015, Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management (ATFCM) scenarios and tactical ATC routings were performed on morning arrival peak in order to improve the North/South balancing. ATFCM delays were reduced by 36%, while handling a 5% traffic increase on the same period.

Target Time management at Zurich airport: more than 2,000 commercial flights have already successfully tested this new ATFCM procedure. The adherence to Target Times allowed savings of flight time in TMA, and reduced holdings. Furthermore, each aircraft operator could exchange Target Times between its aircrafts at arrival for more flexibility in operations (“AFLEX”).

The next iStream exercises will take place from April 2016: building on 2015 trials, dDCB will be used to reduce ATFCM delays at Paris-CDG, while improving the cooperation with neighboring ACC and airspace users, and Target Times will be used with the objective to improve the efficiency of ATCM measures while providing more arrival flexibility to airlines (“AFLEX”). Target Times will also be used in en-route control sectors of Reims UAC and Maastricht UAC, with objective to improve the efficiency of the Short Term ATFCM Measures (STAM) applied by the Flow Management Position in ACCs.

All iStream live trials will be finished by the end of September 2016.

iStream is built on the results of FAIR STREAM, the winner project in the “Best Demonstration Project” category of the SESAR Project Awards at the World ATM Congress in March 2016.