Strategic Airport Capacity Management tool delivers new landing slot at Heathrow

The new Strategic Airport Capacity Management (ACM) tool has transformed the scheduling capability and airfield management at London Heathrow Airport, resulting in the declaration of a new early morning landing slot. The last time Heathrow announced a new slot was back in 1996.

Strategic ACM is an innovative web based tool which improves the way airfield capacity interacts with key interfaces, including airspace, ground infrastructure and terminals – looking at a time horizon of six months and beyond.

The tool helps the airport operator assess the impact of various factors on performance such as stand closures and relocation, ATC control and ground movement procedures, scheduling delays and weather. The operator can then declare the existing and future capacity of their runway(s).

Val Wilson, Senior Consultant and ACM Solution Lead, said: “The Strategic ACM solution has significantly improved Heathrow’s decision making process. It has provided the airport with the ability to review past performance, which has resulted, for the first time in several years, in the identification and declaration of a new landing slot.”

“The morning slot was recently announced at the 135th IATA Slot Conference, held in Prague. Vietnam Airlines, which currently operates out of London Gatwick, will be transferring to London Heathrow this summer.

Mike Stoller, NATS Director of Airport Operations, said:
“We developed the Strategic ACM tool to allow airports like Heathrow to improve how they make decisions and to model their operation quickly and with a degree of certainty that was impossible in the past. We’re delighted it has had such an immediate impact and look forward to working with Heathrow Airport on future enhancements to this capability.”

Delivery of Strategic ACM is a joint collaboration with Siemens Postal, Parcel and Airports Logistics, McLaren Applied Technologies, AVTECH Sweden AB and sub-contractor Lockheed Martin.