Jargon Buster
There are many terms, expressions, abbreviations and acronyms used in the aviation industry. The list below will help you navigate your way around the jargon you’re likely to encounter…
AAL – Above Aerodrome Level
ACoP – Arrivals Code of Practice
ACP – Airspace Change Proposal
AIP – Aeronautical Information Publication
AIRAC – Aeronautical Information Regulation and Control
AIRPROX – Aircraft Proximity
AMAN – Arrivals Manager System
ANO – Air Navigation Order
ANS – Air Navigation Services (Air Traffic provider for Gatwick Airport)
ANSP – Air Navigation Service Provider
APU – Auxiliary Power Unit
ATC – Air Traffic Control
ATCO – Air Traffic Controller
ATM – Air Traffic Movement
CAA – Civil Aviation Authority
Casper – Airport noise and flight tracking computer system
CCO and CDO Operations – Continuous Climb and Descent Operations* (see below for more details)
CDA – Continuous Descent Arrival
dB – decibel
dBA – ‘A’ weighted decibel (an expression of the relative loudness of sounds in air as perceived by the human ear)
DfT – Department for Transport
DMAN – Departures Manager System
EASA – European Aviation Safety Agency
EU – European Union
FAS – Future Airspace Strategy
FASI-S – Future Airspace Strategy Implementation – South
FAT – Final Approach Track
FLOPCY – Gatwick consultative group over airspace track keeping
FMS – Flight Management System
FOPP – Fuel Over Pressure Protector
FPT – Flight Performance Team
GATCOM – Gatwick Airport Consultative Committee
GOG – Gatwick Officers Group
ICAO International Civil Aviation Organisation
IFP – Instrument Flight Procedure
ILS – Instrument Landing System
Imm – Recommendation number (taken from Arrivals Report; Imminent)
KPI – Key Performance Indicator
LAMP – London Airspace Modernisation Project
LGD – Landing Gear Deployment
LMax – A peak noise level
LTMA – London Terminal Manoeuvring Area
NADP – Noise Abatement Departure Procedure
NAEA – National Association of Estate Agents
NATMAG – Noise and Track Monitoring Advisory Group (Gatwick noise consultative group)
NATS – National Air Traffic Services
NATS eTBS – Enhanced Time Based Separation – [Click here] to download information
NCF – NMB Community Forum
NDG – NMB Delivery Group
NEX – NMB Executive Board
Nm – Nautical Mile
NMB – Noise Management Board
NTK – Noise and Track Keeping
NPR – Noise Preferential Routes – formed in 1960 to govern where planes flew on departures over non-built up areas
PBN – Performance Based Navigation
Point Merge – Arrival system for aircraft
PRNAV – Precision Area Navigation
PRNAV/ RNAV – concentrated routing
SAF – Sustainable aviation fuels
SEL – Sound Exposure Level
SID – Standard Instrument Departure
SOAEL / LOAEL – Significant / Lowest Observed Adverse Effect Level – noise measurements explained [view here]
SOP – Standard Operating Procedure
STAR – Standard Arrival Route
TBFM – Time Based Flow Management
TBN – Trajectory Based Navigation
TBS – Time Based Separation
ToR – Terms of Reference
XMAN – Cross-border (or Extended Cross Border) Arrivals Management
What are carbon offsets?
Carbon offsets work on the assumption that consumers can compensate for the CO2 associated with their flight by funding carbon reduction projects elsewhere. For example, by planting trees. Even contributing to the purchase of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) – which emit just as much carbon as kerosene when burnt but have lower lifecycle emissions – are thought of as a type of offset.
What is greenwashing?
Greenwashing is the practice by a company of leading consumers to believe that it is improving its environmental performance while making no significant change.
Noise metrics
[This document] explains the different noise metrics, and why they matter.
*Continuous Climb and Descent Operations
Continuous Climb and Descent Operations (CCO and CDO) are aircraft operating techniques enabled by airspace design, instrument procedure design and facilitated by Air Traffic Control (ATC).
CCO and CDO allow aircraft to follow a flexible and optimum flight path that delivers major environmental and economic benefits – reduced fuel burn, gaseous emissions, noise and fuel costs – without any adverse effect on safety (see ICAO Doc 9993 and ICAO Doc 9931).
CCO and CDO operations allow arriving or departing aircraft to descend or climb continuously, to the greatest extent possible. Aircraft applying CCO use optimum climb engine thrust and climb speeds until they reach their cruising levels. With CDO, aircraft use minimum engine thrust, ideally in a low drag configuration, prior to the final approach fix. These techniques result in more time being spent at more fuel efficient higher cruising levels, hence significantly reducing fuel burn and lowering emissions and fuel costs.
Benefits
Deployment of optimised CCO and CDO throughout Europe will benefit all European ATM system stakeholders and will help the network to address the environmental challenges it faces.
A single CCO or CDO compared to a non-optimised climb or descent profile can result in fuel savings of 50 – 200 kilograms of fuel per flight. ICAO estimated that savings from the planned implementation of CCO and CDO in Europe could save as much as 500 kilotons of fuel per year. Using CDO can reduce noise by 1-5dB compared to a non-CDO operation. (Source: European Joint Industry CDA Action Plan).
Implementation Support
EUROCONTROL supports CCO and CDO deployment. A dedicated team works with stakeholders (ANSPs, aircraft manufacturers and aviation industry associations such as IATA, ERA, ACI and CANSO) to measure and maximise the achievable benefits in the current ATM framework. The team also supports the facilitation of a more advanced CCO and CDO concept that will result from deploying future ATM tools and procedures. Download a guide to implementing Continuous Descent.
Are you ready to save fuel and reduce both emissions and noise? Contact EUROCONTROL to help you to implement CCO and CDO.
The European CCO and CDO Task Force
Historically in Europe, the implementation of CCO and CDO operations has been encouraged on an ‘as much as you can’ basis. Until recently, there was no harmonised definition of CCO and CDO operations, or of their potential network-wide benefits.
In 2015, a task force European ATM stakeholders was created with the objective to agree on harmonised definitions, metrics and parameters to measure CCO and CDO operations in Europe.
The resulting harmonised definitions, metrics and parameters agreed by the Task Force are recommended to be used by any European ATM stakeholder for the measurement of CCO, CDO or vertical flight efficiency performance in order to enable harmonisation at the international level.
In 2017, EUROCONTROL will be conducting a European-wide CCO and CDO analysis based on the outcomes of the Task Force in order to identify the real benefits of vertical flight efficiency in Europe in terms of fuel savings, emissions reduction and fuel costs.