Estimated reading time 1 minute, 25 seconds.
NAVBLUE, Airbus’s dedicated flight operations subsidiary based in Waterloo, Ont., has launched a new service called “RunwaySense,” which allows airlines and airports to accurately assess and report runway conditions by using Airbus aircraft as a sensor.
Using the new system, airports can use the aircraft data to inform their runway clearing operations, which permits better timing of the runway clearing activities as well as more targeted application of de-icing chemicals. Furthermore, with the mandatory ICAO Global Reporting Format (GRF) due to come into effect in November 2021, this data contributes to airports’ reporting requirements with accurate, near real-time runway performance information.
Airlines can also use this data to better monitor their operations as they share the data which their aircraft have generated internally, or access data generated by other operators. RunwaySense is based on BACF+ (Braking Action Computation Function) software released by NAVBLUE in 2019 on the Airbus single-aisle family. It is also the first of NAVBLUE’s airport-focused solutions.
