Airport and Ground Handling Resource Management Systems

The Integrated Airport Apron Safety Fleet Management System is being tested at the GlobeGround Berlin’s operation at Berlin-Tegel Airport.

Better efficiency and safety is one of the main issues of modern airport management. This is even more important considering the ever shorter aircraft ground times. According to official predictions, air traffic will double by the year 2020, which means that efficient use of airport resources and control of vehicle movements on the apron will become more important than ever.

With the support of a European Union program, the AAS project (Integrated Airport Apron Safety Fleet Management) aims to provide integrated, safe and highly efficient airport apron management. Since 2008 12 European airport operators, ground handlers, research institutes, telematics and software companies, under the coordination of TSB-FAV Innovationsagentur Berlin, have been working on the development of a system to monitor and control all apron ground vehicle movements.

INFORM is participating in this challenging project with the development of an advanced fleet management system providing comprehensive vehicle monitoring and control.

Demonstration of the system began in May 2010 at Berlin-Tegel (TXL)airport in Germany. The Berlin-Tegel test site is supported by GlobeGround Berlin, INFORM’s customer of the GroundStar suite. Berlin-Tegel is one of two European airports – with Porto being the other test location – where the results of the AAS project are being tested and the experience gained in this way will contribute to further improvements to the system.

Sixteen tow tractors, two stair units and two Follow-Me-Cars are being used for the test run in Berlin. Each of these vehicles is equipped with an on-board GPS location and radio communication unit.  Swipe card readers provide for driver identification. The maps on the on-board-screens indicate geofenced areas and alert the driver and the allocator to any violations. The new airport map on Apron Control monitors gives the position of these vehicles to within 2 metres. The drivers of the vehicles are equipped with a mobile phone that displays what the driver has to do next and allows them to confirm the status of the task. All information relevant for dispatch is transmitted to the mobile phone. This has eradicated previous verbal misunderstandings and miscommunication due to environmental noise on the apron. In addition the apron has become more transparent so that, for example, loading group leaders can easily locate the nearest, most suitable tow tractor.