EFVS operations with operational credit have been made possible by European regulations since 2008, and most of the Business aircraft are now equipped and certified for this kind of operations.

However, the use of EFVS with OPS credit is not yet an easy task in Europe. In particular, Business aircraft operators who seek approval for EFVS are currently required to carry out a “runway suitability verification” on their own. Meanwhile, aircraft operators are facing the lack or the unavailability of some necessary information to perform this task.

In 2018, key ATM stakeholders including aerodromes joined together in the SESAR AAL2 project to facilitate the “runway suitability verification” in the perspective of speeding up the deployment of EFVS operations in Europe.

For the first time in Europe, and in the context of SESAR, Paris Le Bourget and Antwerp, both CATI aerodromes, received experimental approval from their national authorities for accommodating EFVS operations in Low Visibility conditions. A Dassault Falcon 8X and an ATR42-600 both equipped with the latest state of the art of EFVS technology (multisensory with fusion algorithm) then performed flights in limited RVR conditions with adequate Low Visibility Procedure in force.

While these demos further highlighted the benefits of the EFVS operations to the aerodrome community, they are examples to be followed by other secondary aerodromes who are interested in taking credit for EFVS operations. The results produced are also a key input to help Business and regional aviation to streamline their operational approval process.

Looking forward, AAL2 paves the way to larger deployment of safe EFVS operations in Europe and prepares the introduction of the new European EFVS rules coming in 2022 and bringing more operational privileges.