Alumni

Currently the workload of the executive operating in sector 3 is relatively high compared to other sectors within the Dutch airspace. An explanation one could give for the relative high workload is the fact that the diversity of the traffic passing through the sector is high, the traffic consists out of inbound and outbound traffic for EHAM, regional traffic from EHRD and EHEH and finally transit flights passing over the sector. In order to make such sectors more manageable for the executive a decision support tool for the planner for decision support in such sectors will be developed. Due to the higher fidelity of information available in the future through ADS-C data, new possibilities with regards to planning become possible. The tool that will be developed will make use of this ADS-C data in order to provide new insights to the planner, which allow for better planning that might reduce the complexity of the airspace. Due to this reduced complexity of the airspace, the workload of the executive will be reduced.

The Deep Turnaround (DT) integration project investigates how AI-driven video recognition of aircraft turnaround activities can be securely connected to LVNL’s technical infrastructure. Originally developed at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, DT uses multi-camera monitoring and historical datasets to capture, interpret, and distribute real-time information on A-CDM milestones and turnaround events. By providing a verified stream of operational data, DT has the potential to improve sequencing, resource planning, and situational awareness across airport stakeholders. At present, however, DT functions largely in isolation, with limited sharing of milestone data between the Knowledge Development Center (KDC) partners. This research examines how interoperability can be achieved by addressing technological requirements, regulatory compliance frameworks, and organizational barriers. The ultimate goal is to enable collaborative decision-making and reduce fragmented situational awareness. In doing so, the study aims to unlock efficiency gains, support more sustainable operations, and contribute directly to SESAR objectives for a predictable, integrated European air traffic management network.

To regulate and mitigate noise impact of an airport on the surrounding communities, aircraft noise models are used to assess the impact. For these models, flights are modelled based on standard procedures of consecutive steps of speed and altitude changes and their corresponding delivered thrust. Under these procedures, however, lie a number of assumptions that could significantly alter the actual flown trajectory and thus noise pollution. Using real world data including data from the Aircraft Condition and Monitoring System (ACMS) and measurement data from the Noise Monitoring System (NOMOS), a comparison can be made between the estimated and real flight profiles.

The field of Air Traffic Management (ATM) is evolving to meet the growing complexities of air travel, yet traditional systems like Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) and Arrival Management (AMAN) still rely heavily on deterministic inputs. This reliance leads to inefficiencies, especially in long-haul operations such as transatlantic flights, where uncertainties in weather, demand, and capacity often disrupt planning. Despite recent advances in machine learning and delay prediction models, integrating uncertainty quantification into ATM systems remains underexplored, limiting their adaptability in dynamic environments. This research seeks to address these challenges by integrating uncertainty quantification into an Extended AMAN and LR-ATFM framework, with a focus on transatlantic operations. The goal is to develop a dynamic speed management system that adjusts flight speeds based on real-time uncertainty predictions. By enhancing predictability and optimizing sequencing, the approach aims to reduce fuel consumption, minimize delays, and improve overall efficiency. This is especially relevant as the aviation industry faces increasing pressures to manage growing air traffic sustainably and reduce carbon emissions.

Air traffic management is complex and requires tight coordination between procedures, controllers, and flight crews. Instrument approach procedures aim to ensure predictability and smooth transitions to landing, with stabilised approaches at their core—where aircraft follow a defined path at the correct speed and configuration. This reduces workload and supports efficient sequencing.

Despite these procedures, deviations still occur. These can be Non-Compliant Approaches (NCA), where procedural rules aren’t fully met, or Non-Stabilised Approaches (NSA), where trajectory or configuration can’t be maintained. NCAs often lead to NSAs, increasing workload and reducing predictability.
This study investigates whether the final approach routes to runways 18R and 18C at Schiphol allow aircraft to meet published requirements at the Final Approach Fix. Using historical trajectory data, it explores whether atypical approaches result from route design limitations or operational factors. The goal is to identify root causes and offer insights to improve safety and efficiency.

Despite regulatory efforts at harmonizing and enhancing ATM performance, ANSPs still utilize indicators based on extra distance and time flown, such as Horizontal Flight Efficiency (HFE) to periodically report on their performance. However, additional distance and time flown may not necessarily correlate with increased fuel consumption particularly if the flight operates under more favourable conditions for fuel burn, such as optimal wind conditions, speed, and altitude. In certain cases, there is a negative correlation between horizontal efficiency and total fuel efficiency. Nonetheless, fuel-based metrics are not enforced as their complexity remain a limiting factor in their implementation. Given these metrics offer a more accurate representation of a flight’s environmental efficiency, this study will focus on fuel-based performance indicators and will utilize an open-source aircraft performance model (OpenAP) to reconstruct historical and flight plan trajectories, generate reference optimal trajectories and calculate each flight’s fuel consumption. The discrepancy in the fuel consumption of this set of trajectories will allow the identification of strategic, tactical, horizontal and vertical efficiencies in LVNL’s airspace.

Established on RNP AR APCH (EoR) is a navigation technique built upon Required Navigation Performance Authorization Required approaches, which use self-monitoring capabilities to achieve a high navigation accuracy. This allows aircraft to be established on complex (curved) approach paths and be released from standard radar separation requirements, which brings benefits in terms of reduced level segments, more predictable ground tracks and reduced track miles. Since not all operators at Schiphol Airport are equipped for EoR, the air traffic controller will have to handle a mix of traffic. Evaluations from previous implementations of EoR highly recommend offering a support tool to the approach controller. This research focuses on designing and evaluating a Decision Support Tool (DST) to enable merging EoR traffic with vectored ILS traffic on final approach for a single runway. The design will follow principles from Ecological Interface Design to create an effective and accepted tool. A simulation will be used to evaluate the DST in terms of controller workload, traffic capacity and ability to robustly handle different traffic mixes.

Many TBO techniques for Trajectory Management for arrivals involve either speed management by ATC or time management by the aircraft. However, in high density operations, both speed management and time management exhibit too many uncertainties, making them incompatible with high-density arrival operations. In previous research, the benefits of an alternative method of managing trajectories in a speed managed environment, have been demonstrated. In this alternative method, geometric descents are employed. Using these fixed angle descents, many uncertainties are eliminated. However, since such descents are flown off-idle, a different balance between capacity and flight efficiency is created. On the other hand, opportunities exist to allow aircraft to fly idle descents, when higher uncertainties can be permitted due to specific operational circumstances. This study will research the uncertainties associated with idle descents and off-idle geometric descents within the CTA related to EHAM. A model demonstrating the dynamic application of both descent techniques in a 24H operation will be developed based on determined criteria, and compared to static applications of the descent techniques.

Airports Control Traffic Regions (CTR) and Terminal Manoeuvring Areas (TMA) are characterized by a dense flow of air traffic with high complexity levels. In nominal operations, approach flight path safety management consists in procedures which guide the aircraft to intercept the final approach axis, and the runway slope with an expected configuration to land. Current Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) publications introduced the concept of atypical approaches. Currently, atypical approaches do not have a formal definition.

Certain abnormal flights have been observed in previous studies. These include both Non-Compliant Approaches (NCAs) and Non-Stabilized Approaches (NSA). A stabilized approach is one in which the pilot established and maintains a constant angle glide-path, an approach speed and an aircraft configuration towards a predetermined point on the landing runway. NCA approaches occur when the intermediate and final leg intercepting conditions do not comply with the prescription of the operational documentation. These approaches have found to generate difficulties for both crew and Air Traffic Control (ATC). The concern of NCA occurrence is that it may induce undesirable events such as NSAs or ultimate events such as Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT).

This research will use historical surveillance data from the Amsterdam Flight Information Region, along with past studies on NCA and NSA, to define, identify, and quantify atypical approaches. The goal is to assess the frequency and occurrence of atypical approaches for Amsterdam’s  Airport Schiphol’s runways 18C and 18R.

Graduated: June 2025

Flight Management System (FMS) navigation is sometimes disturbed by certain events in the form of (un)intentional jamming and spoofing of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals. Often through Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). Due to the growing use and dependence on GNSS in aviation a loss of navigation could be a safety issue. It is for that reason that it is needed to investigate if, and for what duration GNSS signal occurs in the Dutch flight region. The primary goal is knowing what the reliability of the GNSS signals is, as received and reported by the aircraft.

By the use of data analysis, the reliability can be tested. Messages are downlinked by aircraft using ADS-B or Mode-S links. Some of those messages contain data related to the GNSS quality, these are the so-called NIC/NAC values. This research aims to get a clear insight of the quality of the GNSS signals in the Dutch airspace.

Graduated: July 2025