Heathrow enhances community understanding of airport operations with Brüel & Kjær’s xPlane

Brüel & Kjær have announced that Heathrow Airport has launched xPlane, an online system that enables the community to self-analyse detailed information about long-term aircraft activity above them.

xPlane helps Heathrow Airport deliver on its commitment to provide its communities with easier access to transparent information about localised aircraft operations. The system was built in collaboration with the community to ensure the public’s needs were captured during the development process. Expanded capabilities will be added over time as the community becomes familiar with the service.

Some airports show general flight track information on their website, but the broad nature of the data makes it difficult to relate the information to a specific location on the ground. Other systems allow operations to be replayed around a location, making it challenging to get a big-picture overview of what’s happening and how longer-term trends are affecting a particular site.

xPlane fills this information gap by making longer-term, location-specific information readily available. It uses a viewer’s individual position to present information that improves their noise understanding and airport engagement. People can see how close, how often and what types of aircraft are influencing their noise experience.

xPlane uses the same data captured by ANOMS, Heathrow’s noise and flight track monitoring solution from Brüel & Kjær. ANOMS’ trusted, accurate and easily understood data is used to establish agreed facts with the community about past, current and future airport activity.

“We’re proud to continue partnering with Heathrow to help it meet its community commitments. Heathrow’s neighbours can now independently learn about their airspace from data they can trust,” said Brüel & Kjær’s Kent Espersen, Director EMS EMEA.”

Heathrow’s Head of Community Relations, Cheryl Monk, added: “When we committed to sharing more detailed flight information with our community, Brüel & Kjær was the obvious choice. They have worked closely with us over the years to develop systems that are robust and intuitive to use. xPlane will play a major role in helping Heathrow be a better neighbour by enabling our communities to better understand historic flight patterns, wherever they live.”

Learn more about Heathrow’s xPlane site