Airport News
Zurich Airport is investing €3.2 million in a new state-of-the-art GPS ground station.
Flughafen Zürich AG and the technology company Honeywell signed the contract for the purchase and installation of the equipment, which will make GPS-assisted landings more accurate.
Satellite-based GPS technology has been in use at Zurich Airport since March 2011.
The procedure uses GPS technology to guide aircraft on to runway 14 from the north.
The ground-based augmentation system (GBAS), which will be installed on the airport site, will increase the accuracy of the GPS signal so that aircraft with the appropriate equipment will be able to use the GPS technology to land even in low cloud or when visibility is poor.
The construction of the new GBAS facility began on May 27. It will be installed and operated by Skyguide, which is responsible for all navigation facilities in Switzerland.
Beginning in autumn 2014 the first landings will take place as part of a one-year monitoring phase; once this phase has been concluded, the facility will be approved for regular operations.
