High Elevation Airport Operation

and RNP Implementation

Content
Definition of High Elevation Airport
Operational Difficulties of Extreme High
Elevation Airport
RNP Implementation
Definition of High Elevation Airport
 AC-121-21 High Elevation Airport Operation
Regulation for Aircraft Operators
 Common High Elevation Airport
Airport elevation at or above 1500 m (4922 ft)
 Extreme High Elevation airport
Airport elevation at or above 2438 m (8000 ft).
Extreme High Elevation Airport
 Location
 Runway
No. Airport Code Elevation
Length
1 Changdu/ Bangda ZUBD 4334m 14219' 4200m

2 Ali/Kunsha ZUAL 4274m 14022' 4500m

3 Kangding ZUKD 4238m 13904' 4000m

4 Yushu/Batang ZLYS 3905m 12812' 3800m

5 Rikaze/ Heping ZURK 3803m 12475' 5000m

6 Lasha/Gongga ZULS 3570m 11713' 4000m

7 Jiuzhai/ Huanglong ZUJZ 3448m 11312' 3400m

8 Diqing/ Zhongdian ZPDQ 3288m 10787' 3600m

9 Linzhi/Milin ZUNZ 2949m 9675' 3000m

10 Geermu ZLGM 2842m 9324' 4800m

Operational Difficulties of Extreme High
Elevation Airport
Complex Terrains
High Elevation
High Temperature
Unpredictable weather
Communication and Navigation Constraints
Operational Difficulties of Extreme High
Elevation Airport
Complex terrains
Extreme High Elevation Airport usually is
established in relatively flat areas : valley and river
valley,etc.
With a bad clearance condition in narrow and
bumpy valley, airport built in pocket-like area.
High climb gradient in departure and Missed
approach procedure.
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Operational Difficulties of Extreme High
Elevation Airport
Complex Terrains
High Elevation
High Temperature
Unpredictable weather
Communication and Navigation Constraints
Operational Difficulties of Extreme
High Elevation Airport
High Elevation
Engine thrust reduced
TAS increased
Climb gradient reduced
 TO/Landing distance increased
Engine thrust reduced

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TAS increased

Airport Code Elevation OAT IAS TAS Increment

Shanghai ZSSS 0 143 2.1%

Xining ZLXN 7150 164 17.1%

△ISA+30 140
Linzhi ZUNZ 9678 171 22.1%
Kts

Lasha ZULS 11700 176 25.7%

Bangda ZUBD 14220 183 30.7%

Operational Difficulties of Extreme High
Elevation Airport
Complex Terrains
High Elevation
High Temperature
Unpredictable weather
Communication and Navigation Constraints
High Temperature
“High Temperature ”
 Lasha airport is 25°C.
The temperature is just right, not cold and not hot
in terms of human comfort.
However, 25°C in Lasha airport is very high
temperature in terms of aircraft performance

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High temperature
 For the aircraft, 25℃ in Lasha is equivalent to 48℃
in Beijing.

Airport ISA Temp ΔISA

Beijing 15℃ 25℃ ISA+10
Lasha -8℃ 25℃ ISA+33

Airport ISA ΔISA Temp

Beijing 15℃ ISA+33 48℃
Lasha -8℃ ISA+33 25℃
 △ISA＋33

拉萨

北京
 Introduction to RNP 28

High temperature

TOW limited by performance

Payload
Airport Elevation Temp TOW
Penalty
ZSPD 0 83500Kg
△ISA+30 30%
ZUBD 14200 58383Kg
High temperature

 HOT
 HEAVY
 HIGH

All Extreme high elevation airports

are high temperature airports.
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Operational Difficulties of Extreme High
Elevation Airport
Complex Terrains
High Elevation
High Temperature
Unpredictable weather
Communication and Navigation Constraints
Unpredictable Weather
Change rapidly
Weather in different high elevation airports
vary from each other due to the unique
geographic features.
Lasha: strong ground wind and sandstorm
Jiuzhai: Turbulence, wind shear and low cloud
Linzhi：precipitation and low cloud

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Unpredictable Weather
 Unique feature for high elevation airport in valley
 Conditions for sandstorm
 sand exposed in open air
 dry air
 strong wind
 Characteristics and Threat of sandstorm：
Hard to identify at high altitude
 visibility reduced significantly when close to
ground
engine wear aggravated
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Unpredictable Weather

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Operational Difficulties of Extreme High
Elevation Airport
Complex Terrains
High Elevation
High Temperature
Unpredictable weather
Communication and Navigation Constraints
Communications & Navigation Constraints
High elevation routes mostly in the sparsely
populated and remote areas lack of ground
communications and navaids
In the terminal areas, ground navaid coverage is
restricted by the terrains around the airport
Some runways are not even capable of SID and
STAR procedure, and only visual approach can be
applied

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Complicated Procedure
 Linzhi Airport was equipped with 3 localizers, 1 glide
slope, 2 VORs and 3 DMEs

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Complicated Procedure

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Operational Difficulties of Extreme High
Elevation Airport
Risks affecting operational safety overlap and
interact with each other, such as human,
machine and conditions
Only meeting the minimum requirement of
regulations cannot provide enough safety
margin.
Stricter safety standards are in conflict with
operational efficiency.
Operational Difficulties of Extreme High
Elevation Airport
 Since March 1, 1965, the first flight of IL-18 to Lhasa
succeeded
 47 years of safe operations so far
Introduction to Air China high elevation
operations
IL18
B707
B757
A340
B736
A319
A330
Control of operational risks
 Trainings
 Theory：characteristics, risks
 Simulators：EOSID、visual procedure, special enroute
scenarios
 Acquiring routes operating experiences and line checks
 Dispatch
 Two captains
 Apply more stringent weather standards for operation
 Special airworthiness requirements
RNP application

Required
Navigation
Performance

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Application of RNP technology
Promote the operational safety
Increase the operational efficiency
Decrease flight delay, return and cancellation
Reduce the crew workload
Cut down fuel consumption
Lower CO2 emission
……
Design criteria of traditional instrument
procedure
 Aircraft position is indicated through wireless
telecom signals sent by ground navaids; such signals
emitted with a certain angle (the further from navaids,
the greater the coverage of signals)
 Due to inaccuracy and uncertainty of positioning,
„protection areas‟ in procedures are designed to
spread from a certain angle.
PANS-OPS DOC 8168
TERPS
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PANS-OPS DOC 8168

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Design criteria of traditional
instrument procedure
Broad obstacle
evaluation areas
(OEA), Steeper
descent gradient,
descent with various
gradient and
obstacles far from
airports result in
more constraining
weather standards.
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Free, Flexible and Optimized
trajectory

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CCA RNP application
 From 2005 till now，CCA has successfully
completed RNP test flight and operation in 8 high
elevation airports (7 of them are very high elevation
airports) with 3 aircraft types in 6 years.
 Currently, all the high elevation airports in which
CCA operates have RNP operation capacity.
RNP
 RNP production and development depend on onboard
equipment development
IRU、MMR－precise positioning
FCC、AFDS、A/P、PFD、ND－trajectory
control and display
FMC－flight plan management
 RNP operation fully utilize onboard equipment

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0.3 nm

MMR GPS GPS MMR

TAWS

ADIRS ADIRS

FMC FMC
MCDU MCDU
DME DME
VOR VOR

Dual FMC’s
RNP features
 Not just procedure design and cannot be completed
by procedure designers alone.
 Teamwork
procedure designers
pilots
performance engineers
ATC
……
RNP features
 Procedure design and flight operation should consider
onboard equipment difference
 Honeywell’s FMC has different performance against the
same navigation database on different aircraft types. For
example, A319 and B757 Linzhi RNP procedure.

 Identical aircraft types with different FMC options need to

encode the same RNP procedure respectively. For example,
A319 with Honeywell or Thales.

 Difference between different FMC versions.

RNP Features
 Energy management
 Vertical profile
 Bank limitations
 Auto Flight System limitations
RNP
 Risk control—combining with procedure design
 Optimize energy management
 Recommend unified flight procedure
RNP Operation
 CDA，no need for gradient descent
 Approach lining up with RWY, no need for visual
maneuver
 Guided by FD to the RWY threshold to prevent
landing on the wrong RWY
 Provide obstacle clearance protection for engine-out
takeoff and engine-out go around
 Reduce flight crew workload
 Reduce training cost
Key points for RNP operation
Possible risks of RNP operation
 maintenance of onboard navigation database
 prediction of navigation precision availability
Maintenance of Onboard Navigation
Database
 RNP operation is based on navigation database
Must ensure the accuracy of navigation database
Maintenance of Onboard Navigation
Database
Maintenance of Onboard Navigation
Database
 Port Moresby of the Independent State of Papua
New Guinea
Maintenance of Onboard Navigation
Database
Navigation Precision Availability Forecast

Forecast result of GPS

availability
 Ephemeris
 Type of receiver
 Terrain obstacle
 RNP value
Navigation Precision Availability Forecast

ZURK ARR: Predicted GPS PRIMARY AVAILABILITY

for A319 from 1203031200Z to 1203041200Z
RNP 0.30 available 1200Z to 1200Z
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ZURK DEP: Predicted GPS PRIMARY AVAILABILITY
for A319 from 1203031200Z to 1203041200Z
RNP 0.30 available 1200Z to 1200Z
Except for 032356Z to 040003Z
Key links of RNP Operation
You must：
Check navigation database
Forecast the integrity and precision of
navigation system
Otherwise, RNP would be dangerous
Limitation of RNP
RNP cannot address all issues in operation
Operation environment in some airports is not
suitable for RNP approach
Limitation of RNP
RNP is a non-precision approach with vertical
guidance.
Temperature could influence Baro-VNAV.
Minimum DA is 75m.
It‟s only an approach method, not auto-landing.
Baro-VNAV

3°
Design value
RNP vs ILS
Minimum weather criteria for ILS CAT I:
DH60m;RVR550m
Minimum weather criteria for ILS CAT II:
DH30m;RVR350m
Minimum weather criteria for RNP AR:
DH75m;VIS1430m
If full RNP approach is used in an airport with
frequent low visibility, delay might be caused.
Development of RNP operation
 RNP operation is an inevitable trend in navigation
technology.
 The experience of RNP implemented successfully in
complex high elevation airports will be further
promoted to busy plain airports.
 4D operation is achievable combining RNP and
ADSB as well as other technologies.
 Effectively combining RNP and ILS、GLS, taking full
advantages of onboard equipment performance to
significantly improve the operation efficiency.
Development of RNP operation
 RNP operation to resolve complex airspace
environment
 horizontal RVSM
 avoiding obstacles, restricted airspace, aircraft
 dealing with arrival and departure in complex
airspace and paralleled runways
 Using current onboard equipment, it is the best to
combine RNP arrival with ILS approach to fully
benefit from the advantages of the two.(GLS needs
modification)
Advantages of combination of RNP
approach and ILS
 RNP is the “advanced” RNAV，which uses RNP arrival to navigate the
aircraft to FAF and then joining ILS approach. To take advantage of ILS
approach and reduce the weather criteria for landing.
 RNP arrival（mainly RF leg）can effectively avoid the restricted airspace
around airport terminals.
 Effectively implemented in paralleled runways and complex airspace
 Beijing、Shanghai、Guangzhou、Chengdu
 Currently, most of the large civil transporter in China have this advantage.
 ILS approach requires no aircraft modification.
 GLS needs aircraft modification and support from ground equipment.
 Used in airports where ILS approach cannot be implemented,
such as Linzhi, Kathmandu
Traditional
instrument
procedure

RNP+ILS