Honeywell has completed the installation of a SmartPath™ Precision Landing System at Bremen Airport in Germany. SmartPath is a ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) that supports precision approaches and landings using Global Positioning System data, and transmits digital guidance signals to aircraft systems.

“The flexibility of Honeywell’s SmartPath system allows for multiple approach paths, enabling airports to increase capacity without expensive runway expansions,” said TK Kallenbach, vice president, Marketing and Program Management, Honeywell Aerospace. “The precise approach path can allow airports to reduce noise in surrounding communities while operators save fuel and lower emissions.”

Honeywell’s Bremen installation is one of eight Honeywell GBAS stations operating worldwide, with additional installations planned at airports in the U.S. and Europe throughout 2009.

For more information, read the press release.

Airservices Australia, with whom Honeywell has worked on SmartPath GBAS in a coordinated effort, has been actively engaged in the use of GBAS technology since 1999 and has been operating the Honeywell SmartPath GBAS ground station in Sydney since November 2006. Qantas had previously been approved to fly GBAS approaches with their Boeing 737 fleet, recording more than 1,600 GBAS landings in Sydney to date with precision guidance provided by Honeywell’s SmartPath GBAS. A GBAS landing on the A380 was first demonstrated during the Airbus A380 test flight in Sydney in June 2007. Honeywell provides the Flight Management System and 11 other products and systems for the Airbus A380.

Currently, aircraft use Instrument Landing System (ILS) technology, an older technology with technical limitations that impact flight path flexibility and airport throughput. ILS is also susceptible to signal interference by weather and obstacles, including large aircraft like the A380. This can result in significant disruptions to airport traffic and cause delays. Replacing ILS with GBAS has been identified in the FAA’s NextGen and Eurocontrol’s SESAR programs as critical enablers for improving air traffic capacity.

For more information, read the recent release.