ATS SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVES SAFETY
by greatly reducing aircraft collisions with other aircraft, structures, ground equipment around ramp areas and on taxiways. Each year there are several hundred aircraft collisions that occur during taxiing. Fortunately, most of these accidents do not endanger passengers’ lives, but they still have a negative impact on the daily operations of the airport, airlines and passengers. These collisions also cause huge financial losses ($50 Billion U.S. annually) and disrupt airport operations.
ATS SAVES FUEL
In 2016, passenger aircraft consumed 80-million liters or 21 million gallons of jet fuel per day or 29-billion liters or 7.7 billion gallons per year.
FIVE PERCENT OF AIRCRAFT FUEL CONSUMPTION WAS USED FOR TAXIING
Approximately 4 million liters or 1 million gallons per day or 1.46 billion or 385,000 gallons per year were consumed by aircraft during taxiing.
ATS PROTECTS THE ENVIRONMENT
The following amounts of gases were released into the environment during the aircraft taxiing procedures at three European airports. They include Frankfurt, Germany, Heathrow-London and Charles de Gaulle in Paris, France
|
Title |
Description |
Value |
Unit |
Value |
Unit |
|
|
|
HC |
hydrocarbons |
1.7 million |
kg |
3.7 million | lb |
|
|
CO2 |
greenhouse gas - carbon dioxide |
3.6 million |
kg |
7.9 million |
lb |
|
|
NOx |
carcinogenic nitric oxides |
4.5 million |
kg |
9.9 million |
lb |
|
|
CO |
lethal damp carbon monoxides |
20.8 million |
kg |
45.9 million |
lb |
Approximately 997.8 million liters or 264 million gallons of fuel are used during aircraft taxiing procedures at the Frankfurt, Germany, Heathrow-London and Charles de Gaulle in Paris, France. The above figure is true provided that each taxiing procedure does not exceed 10 minutes.
If ATS is implemented the fuel costs savings at the three airports will amount to 749 million EURO or $899 million dollars as of aircraft fuel prices as of Jan. 31, 2016.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
By reducing harmful emissions, ATS will help to improve the environment. The global use of ATS could also play an especially important role in improving the environment worldwide. Airports can apply for government grants for environmental protections by implementing ecological-improvement systems such as ATS. The emission reductions may be monetized by converting the savings into emission credits and selling them to companies paying fines for emission violations.
Significant reduction in aircraft fuel consumption, due to not operating engines during taxi under ATS, translates to dramatic reductions in harmful emissions emitted into the atmosphere. They are as follows:
Carbon Monoxide
Carbon Dioxide
Hydrocarbon
Nitric Oxide
The table below shows savings in emissions of different harmful substances:
| Harmful Substance Consumption | Emission from aircraft (oz/gal) | Emission from aircraft (g/L) |
| Hydrocarbon | 0.06 | 1.71 |
| Carcinogenic Nitric Oxide | 0.16 | 4.60 |
| Carbon Monoxide | 0.73 | 20.62 |
| Carbon Dioxide | 0.13 | 3.70 |
FUEL PRICES
One of the major advantages of implementing the ATS system to transport aircraft at an airport is significant fuel savings. Aircraft main jet engines (on medium and large airfields) burn an average 35 liters or 9 gallons of fuel per minute. For example, taxi time at Frankfort Airport averages 16 minutes per flight, which translates into burning approximately 560 liters or about 150 gallons of fuel for every aircraft movement. Utilizing the ATS system allows the aircraft to power down the main jet engines shortly after landing and conversely, aircraft are not required to use their aircraft main jet engines until reaching the runway for take off and only perform the required engine run-up just prior to takeoff which average 3-5 minutes. Depending on the type and size of aircraft, fuel usage for 1 minute of taxiing is 20-70 liters or 5-18 gallons per minute. Average fuel usage for passenger aircraft is 35 liters or 9 gallons per minute while taxiing. Prices of fuel have a significant impact on the amount of savings from fuel usage; see graph below.
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