Economic Aspects of Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (A-SMGCS)

Increased incidences of runway incursions and the negative effects of bad weather on airport throughput led to the development of Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (A-SMGCS). The basic levels of A-SMGCS primarily provide aerodrome air traffic controllers (ATCOs) with a weather independent display of the complete traffic situation and a basic runway safety net. Higher-level A-SMGCS will support ATCOs as well as pilots and vehicle drivers in the domains of traffic surveillance and control, routing (planning) and guidance in a holistic way. In 2004 ICAO published the A-SMGCS manual as document 9830 [3], describing operational, functional and performance requirements. Under the umbrella of EUROCONTROL and the European Commission several A-SMGCS projects were launched during the last ten years, such as BETA, EVA, EMMA and EMMA2 (European Airport Management by A-SMGCS). The most important results of those research activities are presented in this paper. Proven benefits are reported, and economic savings are derived and put into relation to the costs of an A-SMGCS for different airport sizes.