GSA Talks EGNOS Advantage with Dutch General Aviation Community

The GSA recently joined members of the Dutch General Aviation Community at Lelystad airfield to discuss the safe use of GNSS – including EGNOS – within the context of General Aviation (GA) operations.

According to the GSA, with EGNOS-based approaches and landings, GA will have access to more small and regional airports – such as Lelystad. This is because EGNOS-enabled landings allow for Cat-1 like approaches (RNP APCH down to LPV 200) without the need for the expensive ground infrastructure that many of these small airports simply cannot afford. In other words, when these airports have a published LPV (Localized Performance with Vertical Guidance) procedure, an-aircraft equipped with EGNOS capable avionics and flown by a properly trained pilot can perform a precision approach with a decision height as low as 200 feet – with the entire approach based on GNSS, as opposed to ground-based navigation aids.  

Also Read: EGNOS LPV 200 Enables Safer Aircraft Landings

“RNAV approaches bring a huge benefit to smaller operators and airports,” says presenter Bart Banning of NIN LVNL. “Thanks to its enhanced efficiency and safety, we believe that soon the entire GA community will be using EGNOS-based approaches – and we’re ready to support many more of these approaches starting today.”

The Lelystad event highlighted the use of EGNOS in the Netherlands. Currently, Deventer Teuge (EHTE) has one published procedure and Groningen/Eelde (EHGG) two. The GSA noted that plans are underway to publish an additional seven procedures at four airports over the course of the next two years. These include two at Lelystad (EHLE), one at Maastricht (EHBK), two at Rotterdam (EHRD) and two at Schiphol (EHAM). Once complete, GA pilots operating in the Netherlands will be able to choose from a comprehensive LPV network spread across the country.

Also Read: General Aviation Enthusiastic About EGNOS

Other topics covered during the workshop included Performance Based Navigation (PBN), Area Navigation (RNAV), an array of regulatory aspects and a look at the GSA funded ACCEPTA project. The event, which attracted nearly 100 participants, was jointly organized by the Netherlands Institute for Navigation (NIN), Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and the Royal Dutch Society for Aerospace (KNVvL).

Discover: EGNOS benefits for General Aviation

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