EGNOS Services Provider, ESSP and Humberside International Airport Limited (HIAL) have recently signed an EGNOS Working Agreement (EWA), as a key step for the implementation of EGNOS-based approach procedures at this aerodrome.  

The EGNOS Working Agreement establishes the operational and legal framework to use the EGNOS Safety-of-Life Service as a navigation aid between the EGNOS Service Provider by the European Union. The EWA is the step prior to the publication of SBAS approaches that offer similar performance to ILS CAT 1.

Humberside Airport is the 14th regional airport within the UK territory in which EGNOS can be used (once the procedure to flight SBAS is published). This means that the interest for using EGNOS as navigation aid is rapidly increasing at small/medium airports, especially in which other means of navigation are not available or too expensive to maintain.

Thierry Racaud, ESSP CEO stated “Warm welcome for a new EGNOS stakeholder at European skies. Humberside Airport is now ready to benefit from the publication of EGNOS-based procedures. This will allow aircraft operators to carry out approaches to a higher degree of safety than offered by the existing visual approaches during low cloud base operation, and providing alternative approaches to the existing Instrument Approaches thereby improving the airports’ accessibility, especially in case of bad weather conditions”.

Deborah Zost, Managing Director, Humberside Airport said “The EGNOS-based procedures to be introduced at Humberside Airport will complement our existing instrument landing procedures and will ensure the airport meets ICAO, RNAV approach recommendations. These new approaches have been welcomed by our current operators providing them with greater choice and flexibility”.

Plans for LPV procedures publication in the short-term:

The procedures are being reviewed by the United Kingdom’s Competent Authority, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). If the proposal is accepted by the CAA, the EGNOS procedures will be published within the Humberside Airport pages of the UK Aeronautical Information Package. Some aircraft operators that fly from Humberside Airport already fly such procedures at other airports and it is therefore expected they will be utilised at Humberside Airport shortly after the approvals are in place. Additionally, Business Jet operators are supportive of these procedures along with operators who are considering an upgrade to their fleet.