Eurocontrol studies ATM impact of very light jets

Eurocontrol has begun to assess the challenges posed by very light jets (VLJs).

These are small, three- or four-seat passenger aircraft designed for the corporate and air taxi market and capable of flying at airline jet altitudes. However, their lower speeds and performance characteristics compared with normal airliners, plus their lack of costly collision alerting systems, have raised concerns about how well they can be integrated into Europe's densely packed airspace.

Current forecasts suggest that 500 VLJs could be operating in the continent by 2010, with many more to follow. Consequently, Eurocontrol has established two proactive initiatives to assess their impact on air traffic management (ATM).

The first initiative has been the establishment of a VLJ Integration Platform (VIP): a specialist group that has already held two meetings and has a third planned later this year. The VIP includes most of Europe's air navigation service providers and government regulatory bodies, plus VLJ manufacturers, current airline operators and prospective VLJ business and air taxi users.

The second initiative is a two-week simulation project in early October 2008 covering the airspace of Central Europe, which will be held at the agency's Research, Development and Simulation facility in Budapest, Hungary (the venue for the next VIP meeting). The simulations will evaluate the progressive effects of VLJ operations from 300 to 1,000-2,000 flights per day. 222 of 475 words