SESAR news: Live trials of  Point Merge carried out in Paris

In each edition of our newsletter, we will take a look at the work that is underway to test SESAR concepts. In this edition, we take a look at Point Merge.

Paris Area Control Centre carried out live trials of point merge in June 2012 for handling North-West flights to Paris-CDG airport at peak hours from 6 am to 10 am.

Point Merge is an operational concept outlined in the European ATM Master Plan (SESAR). This new ATC procedure is used for sequencing arrival flows in the Terminal Manoeuvring Area.

How Point Merge works

• In upper airspace, two concentric arcs are created.
• These are horizontally separated by 5 nautical miles and vertically by 1000 ft.
• The arcs are defined as RNAV routes and called sequencing legs
• Traffic flies these sequencing legs at an economical speed (about 260 kt)
• Traffic receives a “Direct to” instruction at the optimum time for upper traffic synchronization.

In TMA airspace, the concept allows aircraft to remain in lateral navigation mode and will also help support the implementation of new ATM services such as queue management and 4D-trajectory.  

This new method of working should help increase ATC sector capacity while reducing the amount of radio contact between pilots and controllers.

It will also help increase predictability and ATC awareness for aircrews and in doing so, enhance safety.

The impact on performance and benefits in terms of fuel consumption and capacity are currently being scrutinized by a European team of experts.

New live trials are planned for November 2012 with the involvement of more partners this time.