GNSS
Implementation of satellite-based instrument landing procedures in Poland
April 4, 2013 – After obtaining the necessary approvals from the Civil Aviation Authority, the first RNAV GNSS instrument landing procedures to LNAV minima based on satellite navigation (GNSS sensor supported by ABAS) were implemented operationally.
As part of this implementation, new RNAV GNSS NPA landing procedures for ten controlled airports in the EPWW FIR have been published in AIP Poland (AIRAC AMDT 135): Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk (Lech Wałęsa), Kraków/Balice, Katowice/Pyrzowice, Lublin, Poznań/Ławica, Rzeszów/Jasionka, Warsaw (Chopin), Wrocław/Strachowice, and Zielona Góra/Babimost.
All of the above-mentioned procedures, with the exception of those for two airports, were implemented simultaneously, while the procedures for the Kraków/Balice and Katowice/Pyrzowice airports were approved for operational use at a later date, namely April 16, 2013. In the case of the Rzeszów/Jasionka airport, operational implementation took place on May 31, 2013, due to runway repairs.
Currently, RNAV GNSS procedures for LNAV minimums are in place at all controlled airports in the WARSAW FIR (airports with an instrument-rated runway where PAŻP provides air traffic services).
The publication of more than twenty NPA RNAV (GNSS) landing procedures was the first phase of the project to implement approaches compliant with the current PBN (Performance-Based Navigation) concept in the RNP APCH navigation specification at Polish airports. The next, second phase involved the development and implementation of approach procedures with vertical guidance (so-called APV—Approach with Vertical Guidance—procedures) for all airports under control in the Warsaw FIR. APV approaches include two types of approaches with different vertical guidance in the final approach segment: the first—with a so-called “barometric sensor” (APV BARO/VNAV), where vertical guidance is provided by a barometric altimeter linked to the FMS (the minima for this procedure are designated LNAV/VNAV), and the second—SBAS-aided GNSS approaches (EGNOS). In APV SBAS approaches, vertical guidance is provided by a satellite system (the minima for such a procedure are designated LPV).
As part of this second phase, which began on April 13, 2014, APV BARO-VNAV and APV SBAS test procedures for Katowice/Pyrzowice Airport were published in the AIP Supplement (16/14) during the initial phase. After evaluating these procedures and confirming the safety of flights based on them, approval was granted to implement these approaches for operational use effective November 13, 2014. Work then continued on implementing these approaches for the remaining airports under the control of the Warsaw FIR. During this phase of the project, the collaboration between PAŻP and the Aviation Training Center at the Rzeszów University of Technology played a key role. As part of this collaboration, in-flight validation of the newly designed APV BARO-VNAV and APV SBAS procedures was conducted on an OKL aircraft by a joint crew consisting of both OKL and PAŻP personnel.
An additional essential element for the use of SBAS-augmented GNSS navigation and the implementation and maintenance of APV SBAS approach procedures in operational use is the cooperation agreement signed on February 28, 2013, by PAŻP with the European Satellite Service Provider. The signed “EGNOS Working Agreement” paved the way for the implementation at Polish airports and in Polish airspace of procedures based on SBAS-aided GNSS satellite navigation (EGNOS) with APV-I accuracy, and starting in 2018—with APV II accuracy, often referred to as CAT I—which indicates navigation accuracy comparable to that of a Category I ILS system.
ESSP is an institution designated by the EU to provide satellite-based air navigation services, including satellite-based augmentation of GPS (SBAS). The signing of the “EGNOS Working Agreement” is a logical continuation of the work carried out as part of the earlier project “HEDGE, APV Mielec,” during which, on March 14 and 15, 2011, at the Katowice/Pyrzowice and Mielec airports, Poland’s first experimental flights and landing approaches using APV-I (LPV) vertical guidance were conducted.
Due to the lack of a uniform standard for the nomenclature of ICAO area navigation-based landing procedures, ICAO decided to streamline and standardize the nomenclature of charts to eliminate inconsistencies and ensure consistency between the nomenclature of aeronautical approach charts and the documentation and terminology related to PBN-compliant operations. This solution reduced existing ambiguities and variations in naming conventions, provided a simpler and clearer method for naming procedures, and established a uniform standard for IAC-type aeronautical charts.
The main objectives of this change were as follows:
- During the transition period, through November 30, 2022, approach charts depicting procedures that meet the criteria of the RNP APCH navigation specification must include the abbreviation RNP or RNAV (GNSS) in their names (e.g., “RNP RWY 23” or “RNAV (GNSS) RWY 23”). However, starting December 1, 2022, only the abbreviation “RNP” will be permitted.
- Until November 30, 2022, approach charts depicting procedures that meet the criteria of the RNP AR APCH navigation specification must include the abbreviation RNP (AR) or RNAV (RNP) in their name (e.g., “RNAV (RNP) RWY 23”). However, starting December 1, 2022, only the abbreviation RNP (AR) will be permitted.
- On September 10, 2020, Poland implemented the new PBN nomenclature for all instrument approach procedures based on area navigation on the IAC charts published in the AIP Poland.
Currently, instrument landing procedures for LPV, LNAV/VNAV, and LNAV minimums are operational at all controlled airports in the Warsaw FIR, where PAŻP provides air traffic services, serving as an alternative to Category I ILS precision approaches.
The development and implementation of satellite-based precision flight procedures supported by the GBAS system will depend on investments in and the installation of GBAS ground infrastructure at airports.