zprávy

AirBaltic’s Senior Vice President for Flight Operations Pauls Cālītis talks about the E-GEN project, EGNOS implementation and plans for the future.

Can you tell me a little about the E-GEN project and the ’green flying’ concept? What are its objectives?

At airBaltic, the green flying concept is all about utilising the latest commercial aviation technological advances and applying them to improve the efficiency of our operations. We continuously monitor the available technologies and the resulting economies. Other highly important factors include our environmental footprint and the level of emissions and noise, which we are seeking to reduce.

The implementation of satellite-based navigation procedures is a practical example of a modernisation effort, which has proven highly useful for airBaltic’s operational efficiency. airBaltic’s E-GEN project (“EGNOS Enabled – North”) entailed an upgrade of the full airBaltic Q400 fleet with the latest satellite navigation systems. The project was implemented together with the European GNSS Agency (GSA), which co-financed it. The upgrade enabled the implementation of satellite-based navigation, specifically for use of LPV approaches/for landing by LPV (Localiser Performance with Vertical guidance), which ensures horizontal and vertical guidance based on EGNOS geo-stationary satellites providing navigation signal improvements for the GPS navigation service. The implementation of satellite-based navigation required a comprehensive, step-by-step process, which involved a number of different divisions of our airline operations. It encompassed fleet aircraft replacement decisions, approvals from authorities, implementation of new operational procedures, retrofit of technical hardware and crew training.

Read this: EGNSS enabling change in General Aviation

Prior to the E-GEN project, did you have any experience of EGNOS implementation?

We had previous experience on a smaller scale with our AMBER project, but E-GEN was significantly more complex. Therefore the timing and project planning for the E-GEN project was critical. It was planned by creating a full business implementation schedule. Before the actual implementation, we carefully analysed the satellite navigation technology and performed a demonstration study, to provide solid justification for the required investment. During the E-GEN project, we carefully followed the project plan and gradually implemented the procedures into everyday line operations. It also served as a stepping stone for the introduction of our brand new Airbus A220 fleet into service. This state-of-the-art airliner already has LPV and other satellite navigation capabilities built in and ready for use from the very beginning.

How has EGNOS helped you to improve your environmental performance?

We value the reduced environmental impact. The increased efficiency directly translates into improved environmental performance and reduced impact. But airBaltic also views LPV approaches as an important incremental improvement in the safety of air transportation by leveraging advanced flight-deck procedures and the increased automation of aircraft. Also, the benefit in terms of economic efficiency is significant because it permits more reliable operations by minimising the possibility of diversions. This is a win-win for both passengers and the airline.

And this: GSA hosts RAISG meeting at its Prague HQ

What form did your cooperation with the GSA take on this project, and how has the experience been?

Cooperation with GSA has been an important enabler for the project. The project is co-financed by the European GNSS Agency via the grant program “Acceleration of EGNOS adoption in the field of civil aviation”. The co-financing made all the difference by turning the investment into a positive business case. Also, GSA, with its oversight role on EU satellite navigation activities, was perfectly placed to provide the best available knowledge on system performance and helped with a wide range of practical questions.

Now that the project has concluded, what are your plans for the future as regards ‘green flying’ and EGNOS implementation?

The project has already provided a positive contribution to the European aviation industry. Prior to our E-GEN project there were no EASA approved STC (supplemental type certificates) available for the Q400 aircraft type. Now, thanks to E-GEN, this certification is available to all Q400 operators. Several European airlines are already following the path we created.

Since the implementation of the project, airBaltic has already performed more than 500 LPV approaches across European airports, which would not have happened otherwise. So the project is delivering real results with real benefits. Following this development, we will make over 5000 LPV approaches on our Q400 fleet alone. When combined with the satellite-based approaches conducted by our A220 operations, airBaltic is proud to be truly one of the future navigation pioneers in Europe.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

The Galileo - Accuracy Matters campaign has been making an impact. Launched last December to raise awareness about how Galileo is making a real difference in the lives of the almost three quarters of a billion users who have Galileo’s added accuracy in their phones, the campaign has been resonating with the public.

There are almost 750 million Galileo-enabled smartphones already in use, yet people are often unaware of the fact that Galileo is improving the navigation signal that their smartphone receives, providing added accuracy and precision. The Accuracy Matters campaign aims to help change this.

The campaign began with a series of light-hearted videos showcasing everyday situations where ‘Accuracy Matters’ to anyone using location data on their smartphones.

A Europe-wide social media campaign was launched across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in March and April this year. EU Member States were targeted with messages in 24 languages, with a total of almost 60 million impressions – which refers to the number of times the ad is shown to viewers. The response to the campaign has been impressive.

In total, the Accuracy Matters videos have been viewed over 2.5 million times, generating almost 250,000 link clicks, over 95,000 likes and almost 11,000 shares and retweets. Video ads on YouTube, launched only last week in 10 countries, have already generated almost half a million views, with a view rate almost double the average, at 25.4%. The online campaign was complemented by outdoor ads, which were placed in airports and on public transport in various locations across Europe.

Galileo saving lives

The campaign’s second phase, launched recently, took a more serious tone – highlighting how Galileo’s added accuracy makes a real difference in an emergency. The three videos in this series show how having Galileo in your phone helps emergency responders quickly find you to administer first aid, whether you have had a health emergency in a strange city, or just had a fall while jogging in the forest.

Watch these: Accuracy Matters when saving lives

Timed to coincide with the run-up to the European Parliament elections, the second phase of the campaign was an important reminder to Europeans that the Galileo programme is a real EU success story that would not have been possible for any single Member State to accomplish alone. The programme is already providing benefits to the 750 million people with Galileo-enabled phones in terms of added accuracy, while contributing to space-related economic growth and job creation in Europe.

Read this: New Regulation mandates Galileo capability for all smartphones sold in the EU

These benefits are particularly felt in the area of emergency response. Most calls to the 112 emergency number in Europe are placed from mobile phones. Reflecting the value of Galileo’s added accuracy, last December the European Commission published a Delegated Regulation setting out measures to introduce GNSS capability, particularly Galileo capability, in smartphones placed on the European Union market from 17 March 2022.

Unsure about whether your phone is Galileo-enabled?  You can check out all the devices that are already Galileo-enabled here: UseGalileo.eu

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

The Galileo - Accuracy Matters campaign has been making an impact. Launched last December to raise awareness about how Galileo is making a real difference in the lives of the almost three quarters of a billion users who have Galileo’s added accuracy in their phones, the campaign has been resonating with the public.

There are almost 750 million Galileo-enabled smartphones already in use, yet people are often unaware of the fact that Galileo is improving the navigation signal that their smartphone receives, providing added accuracy and precision. The Accuracy Matters campaign aims to help change this.

The campaign began with a series of light-hearted videos showcasing everyday situations where ‘Accuracy Matters’ to anyone using location data on their smartphones.

A Europe-wide social media campaign was launched across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in March and April this year. EU Member States were targeted with messages in 24 languages, with a total of almost 57 million impressions – which refers to the number of times the ad is shown to viewers. The response to the campaign has been impressive.

In total, the Accuracy Matters videos have been viewed over 2.5 million times, generating almost 215,000 link clicks, over 85,000 likes and almost 9,000 retweets. Video ads on YouTube, launched only last week in 10 countries, have already generated almost half a million views, with a view rate almost double the average, at 25.4%. The online campaign was complemented by outdoor ads, which were placed in airports and on public transport in various locations across Europe.

Galileo saving lives

The campaign’s second phase, launched recently, took a more serious tone – highlighting how Galileo’s added accuracy makes a real difference in an emergency. The three videos in this series show how having Galileo in your phone helps emergency responders quickly find you to administer first aid, whether you have had a health emergency in a strange city, or just had a fall while jogging in the forest.

Watch these: Accuracy Matters when saving lives

Timed to coincide with the run-up to the European Parliament elections, the second phase of the campaign was an important reminder to Europeans that the Galileo programme is a real EU success story that would not have been possible for any single Member State to accomplish alone. The programme is already providing benefits to the 750 million people with Galileo-enabled phones in terms of added accuracy, while contributing to space-related economic growth and job creation in Europe.

Read this: New Regulation mandates Galileo capability for all smartphones sold in the EU

These benefits are particularly felt in the area of emergency response. Most calls to the 112 emergency number in Europe are placed from mobile phones. Reflecting the value of Galileo’s added accuracy, last December the European Commission published a Delegated Regulation setting out measures to introduce GNSS capability, particularly Galileo capability, in smartphones placed on the European Union market from 17 March 2022.

Unsure about whether your phone is Galileo-enabled?  You can check out all the devices that are already Galileo-enabled here: UseGalileo.eu

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

The Galileo - Accuracy Matters campaign has been making an impact. Launched last December to raise awareness about how Galileo is making a real difference in the lives of the almost three quarters of a billion users who have Galileo’s added accuracy in their phones, the campaign has been resonating with the public.

There are almost 750 million Galileo-enabled smartphones already in use, yet people are often unaware of the fact that Galileo is improving the navigation signal that their smartphone receives, providing added accuracy and precision. The Accuracy Matters campaign aims to help change this.

The campaign began with a series of light-hearted videos showcasing everyday situations where ‘Accuracy Matters’ to anyone using location data on their smartphones.

A Europe-wide social media campaign was launched across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in March and April this year. EU Member States were targeted with messages in 24 languages, with a total of almost 60 million impressions – which refers to the number of times the ad is shown to viewers. The response to the campaign has been impressive.

In total, the Accuracy Matters videos have been viewed over 2.5 million times, generating almost 250,000 link clicks, over 95,000 likes and almost 11,000 retweets. Video ads on YouTube, launched only last week in 10 countries, have already generated almost half a million views, with a view rate almost double the average, at 25.4%. The online campaign was complemented by outdoor ads, which were placed in airports and on public transport in various locations across Europe.

Galileo saving lives

The campaign’s second phase, launched recently, took a more serious tone – highlighting how Galileo’s added accuracy makes a real difference in an emergency. The three videos in this series show how having Galileo in your phone helps emergency responders quickly find you to administer first aid, whether you have had a health emergency in a strange city, or just had a fall while jogging in the forest.

Watch these: Accuracy Matters when saving lives

Timed to coincide with the run-up to the European Parliament elections, the second phase of the campaign was an important reminder to Europeans that the Galileo programme is a real EU success story that would not have been possible for any single Member State to accomplish alone. The programme is already providing benefits to the 750 million people with Galileo-enabled phones in terms of added accuracy, while contributing to space-related economic growth and job creation in Europe.

Read this: New Regulation mandates Galileo capability for all smartphones sold in the EU

These benefits are particularly felt in the area of emergency response. Most calls to the 112 emergency number in Europe are placed from mobile phones. Reflecting the value of Galileo’s added accuracy, last December the European Commission published a Delegated Regulation setting out measures to introduce GNSS capability, particularly Galileo capability, in smartphones placed on the European Union market from 17 March 2022.

Unsure about whether your phone is Galileo-enabled?  You can check out all the devices that are already Galileo-enabled here: UseGalileo.eu

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

Videos shared on social media as part of the Galileo Accuracy Matters campaign, highlighting Galileo’s contribution to the European Commission’s E112 emergency response service, have generated a number of questions from users across Europe. Here we address some of the main queries raised in an effort to bring more clarity on the issue.

112 is the European emergency number. It can be dialled free of charge from most mobile phones and, in some countries, fixed telephones to reach emergency services such as ambulance, fire and rescue, or the police. The 112 service is in place everywhere in the European Union and in other European countries.

Location enhanced

E112 is a location-enhanced version of the 112 emergency service, where emergency responders receive the position of the person in distress, similar to the eCall system for cars, enabling them to locate the caller’s position quickly and accurately. To support this, in December 2018, the European Commission adopted new measures requiring all smartphones sold in the EU from 17 March 2022 to have GNSS capability, particularly Galileo capability, so that they can use GNSS to provide caller location information to the emergency services.

Watch these: Accuracy Matters when saving lives

However, there is already a solution in place that uses GNSS technology in emergency calls made from smartphones. Advanced Mobile Location, or AML, transmits a ‘fused location’ comprising the GNSS, Wi-Fi or cell-ID information available on the caller's smartphone via a message to a dedicated end-point, known as a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP, the place where the emergency calls are answered), which makes the caller location available to emergency responders.

It should be noted that 112 does not have an inherent ability to locate people making emergency calls. For this to be possible two conditions should be met. Firstly, the PSAP must have AML technology in place and, secondly, the caller’s handset must be AML-enabled (AML is deployed in all Android-based smartphones and in iPhones running iOS 11.3 and above). Otherwise, the person making the call will have to inform the responder of their location, if they know it.

So, in short: 112 is the emergency service, E112 is a location-enhanced version of this service, and AML is a technological platform for locating callers to the 112 number. However, not all 112 operators are equipped with AML. For those that are, the Galileo-enabled E112 service will support the provision of accurate GNSS positioning as part of the fused location. Check with your local emergency services if you would like to know whether caller location is deployed in your area.

Getting to you faster

Testing conducted as part of the European Commission (EC)-funded HELP112 project showed that Public Safety Answering Points receive most location messages within 30 seconds of the start of the call. This means that by the time the caller has given their name and described the situation, the PSAP already knows their position. Location by cell-ID alone, which uses the GSM tower routing the call, is the fastest but least precise method of locating a caller.

Read this: Do eCall devices conform?

The project found that the average location accuracy using Cell-ID was about 1.6 km, using Wi-Fi it was 23 metres and using GNSS it was about 16 metres. This means that in a situation where only cell-ID is used, the rescuers would need to get close to the location and then search for the victims. With GNSS or Wi-Fi they would most likely be able to see the victims as soon as they arrived. GNSS combined with Wi-Fi provides an ideal indoor-outdoor solution.

The EC study found, based on tests conducted in three Member States, that on average 59% of the calls used GNSS as the main positioning method, 28% used Wi-Fi, 9% used Cell-ID and 4% of calls returned no position. Testing is currently being carried out to assess the accuracy gains provided by Galileo.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).