Safety Assessment of non ICAO-compliant independent parallel departures

airsight and it’s external partners were (in the context of an EU wide tender procedure) commissioned to conduct a Safety Assessment for non ICAO-compliant independent parallel departures at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER) taking into account Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 1035/2011 (Requirements for the provision of air navigation services).

According to ICAO, independent IFR departures may be conducted from parallel runways, provided the departure tracks diverge by at least 15 degrees immediately after take-off. This design criteria, initially defined to enhance safety of air operations by increasing the spatial separation between departing aircraft, is however a major constraint for developing more efficient and environmentally sustainable flight routes.

Therefore, based on the currently ICAO-compliant routes developed by the German Air Traffic Services (DFS) for BER on its opening, airsight is responsible to evaluate whether – and under which conditions – non ICAO-compliant alternatives may ensure the same Level of Safety.

This Safety Assessment will be aligned to Eurocontrol Safety Assessment Methodology (SAM) as well as above mentioned EU regulation and consider aspects of airspace design, Air Traffic Control, as well as the technologies and equipment available.

In this exercise, airsight combines its expertise in the fields of Safety Assessment, Flight Procedure Design, Airport Operations and Environmental Impact Assessment to develop and assess possible alternative scenarios.