Enhancing flight safety in southern Italy

This was carried out with an AW169 helicopter operated by Alidaunia, a company providing transport services to and from the Tremiti Islands, as well as emergency medical service (EMS) missions that support the relevant local community.

PBN procedures, carried out through advanced satellite navigation and aircraft avionics, significantly contribute to air space optimisation delivering greater flight operation safety thanks to greater navigation, approach and landing precision and accuracy, a key enabler particularly in certain weather conditions. PBN is combined or replaces the more traditional land-based radio navigation systems.

Enhancing flight safety and environment protection

Moreover, PBN procedures ensure a reduction in polluting emissions and noise through dedicated routes and lower fuel consumption. Passenger transport, EMS and rescue, disaster relief operations, surveillance, and firefighting are among the main applications that can benefit from this technology – in all-weather conditions, day and night. Its adoption and implementation significantly enhance flight safety, environment protection, public service flexibility, responsiveness and effectiveness, and air transport efficiency.

The Foggia – Tremiti S. Domino Island route is the first in a network that is being developed locally to support the helicopter operations of the regional heliport network called Rete Eliportuale Puglia. The successfully validated procedures, using a latest generation Leonardo AW169 helicopter, are the result of a collaboration between Alidaunia and EGSA (European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency) in the framework of the PHAR project (PBN for Hems in the Apulia Region).

An optimized use of airspace

The procedures will be characterized by high precision linked to the use of special navigation requirements that will allow safe flight even at low altitude, reducing polluting emissions and noise, integrating helicopter and aircraft operations, with an optimized use of airspace.

The demonstration activity in Apulia is the first one carried out since the signing of the Letter of Intent between ENAV and Leonardo announced in October 2020, aimed at offering helicopter operators, in Italy and abroad, products and services in the advanced instrument navigation field, whilst also contributing to modernize the relevant infrastructures. These capabilities, provided through the collaboration between two major players in the aeronautical field, now make possible the development and use of procedures in accordance with the modern requirements of the Performance Based Navigation to support the different phases of flights, increasing safety and operational effectiveness.