National air traffic services have invented a method that is being touted to cut flight delays all over the world. The British air traffic controllers say that by spacing out landing aircraft by time rather than by distance, it’s possible to reduce time taken between aircraft landings and take-offs. The system which has taken NATS four years to scientifically prove it’s safe and workable, is about to be rolled out at Heathrow airport.
At Heathrow airport, wind is the single largest cause of delays, roughly on 65 days a year. The new Time based system eliminates these delays by moving aircrafts closer together. When aircrafts fly against strong headwinds they cause a swirl of air in its wake called a vortex. This Vortex is so dangerous that if a pilot would fly through one, it is possible to lose control of the aircraft. This is the reason air traffic control leave big gaps between aircrafts especially larger ones.
NATS has however learnt that stronger headwinds smooth out these currents and with it eliminate the need to leave larger gaps between aircrafts approaching the runway.
To explain the effect of the Time based system, Heathrow airport on a normal day has around 40-45 landings per hour. In the event strong headwinds occur, they reduce to 32 landings per hour. With the new system, the flights can still remain at 40 per hour despite the winds. This is particularly interesting for Heathrow which has reached its capacity at 480,000 take-offs and landings per year. This under capacity is the main reason why they are lobbying for expansion. For Heathrow airport a delay due to wind is an expensive endeavour which leads to cancellations