On Thursday (12/11), the Air Space Control Department (DECEA) implemented modifications in the Terminal Control Areas (TMA) of São Paulo (Congonhas and Guarulhos), Brasília and Belo Horizonte (Pampulha and Confins). The structural changes are intended to improve the flow of aircraft during the RIO 2016 Olympic Games and meet the demands detected during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, in the air circulation of these cities.
Among the main changes, we highlight the revision of the TMA arrival, approach and departure procedures, using the concepts of Performance-Based Navigation (PBN), which has the following benefits: more precise trajectories, more continuous ascents and descents for the aircraft, fuel savings, increased capacity of control bodies and reduced workload for controllers.
“For Belo Horizonte, the airspace was optimized, excluding unnecessary portions and including what was necessary to protect air navigation procedures. In Brasilia, the objective was to make it possible to use both runways at the same time, with two aircraft landing or taking off together. In São Paulo, more flexibility was given to flight controllers to make possible a more sequenced circulation for landings and takeoffs in two of the main airports in Brazil (Guarulhos and Congonhas)", explains the Head of the Operational Division of the Instituto de Cartografia Aeronáutica ( ICA), Lieutenant Colonel Ricardo Miranda.
Several factors were considered in planning the organization of airspace in the areas, including: standardization of the descent procedure, in order to avoid major changes in circulation, in case there is a change in the runway in use; updating and adaptation of conventional procedures to the criteria of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); and an increase in the flow of takeoffs, considering the difference in performance between the aircraft operating in the TMA.
The changes are included in the Sirius Program, which aims to improve service to air transport s with the rational use of airspace, in addition to reducing the emission of harmful gases into the atmosphere and noise around airfields.
Source – DECEA
