Rockwell Collins’s flight management system (FMS) and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver successfully enabled the first demonstrations of advanced arrival and departure flight operations for the European Union’s airspace-enhancing project called FilGapp (“filling the gap” in GNSS advanced procedures and operations), the company announced today. FilGapp is intended to create new, more efficient methods of navigating airspace using satellite-based navigation and advanced FMS functions.

“FilGapp highlights the opportunity that exists for airlines and corporate operators to increase operating capacity and to save time and fuel through more efficient terminal procedures at European airports,” said Claude Alber, vice president and managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The most recent demonstration, performed in Germany, took place on a Hawker 750 equipped with Rockwell Collins’s FMS and GNSS receiver. According to Collins, it is the first time that a high-precision and high-integrity missed approach/departure has been performed in Europe.

The flights also validated technical and operational independence from the closely spaced ATC systems of two nearby airports, which boosted operational capacity for each airport, it added. Similar advanced departure/arrival demonstrations as part of FilGapp were performed earlier this year in Spain.