Use of Runways At Heathrow

[Easy226]

Hi everyone, on the way to gatwick for my class one medical (yesterday), the coach stopped off at all the terminals at Heathrow. When on route to T4, i noticed that arrivals were on 27 L and dep. on 27R . Anyway i noticed that the tower controller had cleared an Air Canada A330 ( i think!) to land on runway 27L , with a couple of planes (mainly BA) still waiting to depart on 27 R. Any reasons for this?
Many Thanks
Dan

[Jerricho]

Hey Dan,

Not 100% sure if I understand the question. You say that arrivals were on 27L and deps on 27R, and the ACA landed on 27L, with departures waiting for 27R. Am I just being extremely thick (as can happen from time to time) or am I missing something?

[Easy226]

Sorry, i am confusing everyone!! I meant the Air Canada was cleared to land on runway 27R and not 27L, like the rest of the arrivals.
DAN

[Airline Tycoon]

This is perfectly normal; Heathrow operates a system called TEAMing (Tactically Enhanced Arrival Mode). This is a system that will allow approximately 4 aircraft per hour to land on the departure runway, at times of lengthy inbound delays.

ATC will decide which aircraft to "TEAM" to best suit the situation.

[Plazbot]

I can attest that Jerrico is indeed thick.:p

[Point Seven]

Ezy

If the Air Canada was a one off, thene the chances are that it was a priority inbound, such as emergency or the like. When TEAM-ing there's usually more than one. ;)

[Airline Tycoon]

Tuesday morning, Heathrow was TEAM-ing a Virgin B744 landed 27R about 15 mins after the AC A330-300.

[Jerricho]

Plaz....

Only thick after a 6 pack of beer....buddy!

[Easy226]

Surely Heathrow has a large number of departures to deal with as well, so doesn't 'Teaming' the arrivals hold up the departures? Also, is this technique applied to the departures as well?
Dan

[ATCO Two]

Easy 226,

The number of arrivals and departures per day is roughly equal at around 650 of each. When TEAM procedures are in force (usually 6 landings per hour on the departure runway), the departures are regulated with a short airfield delay to ensure that the holding area does not become too congested. We try to balance the delay between inbound and outbound flights wherever possible, but when a choice has to be made we give priority to inbound flights for obvious reasons.
The technique is not applied to departures.

[Charlie32]

Shame that planning to handle delays is the norm. Why not look at scheduling so that delays are the exception rather than the rule? Naive I know!

[Point Seven]

Charlie 32

Heathrow can't TEAM until inbound holding reaches a certain agreed length of time. As this can happen at any time of day due to any infinite number of reasons, how could anyone schedule for TEAMing?

[Gonzo]

I think what Charlie32 was trying to say was that if airlines' schedules were thought out more, and the capacity of each airport borne in mind, then delays would be less common, rather than any specific thoughts about TEAM in this case.

Gonzo.

[ikeratc]

Hi all!
Should I understand that with TEAM-ing system parallel approaches are carried out at Heathrow? If yes, are they independent ILS approaches or Dependent (staggered), or ILS PRM approaches?
One more question: When was TEAM-ing first used at Heathrow?
Thanks!

IKER

[vintage ATCO]

Gonzo

Schedules at all the major airports (inc Luton, gosh!) are co-ordinated by Airports Co-ordination Ltd (I think still, my knowledge a few years out of date.) When an airline approaches an airport with a new service they are directed to talk to ACL. The airport tells ACL how many per hour, per half-hour, per 15 mins they can handle. They often build in a couple of 'fire breaks' mid-morning and mid afternoon.

There is normally a reference to ACL in an airport's AIP pages.


-----------------------
vintage ATCO
www.stevelevien.com

[Gonzo]

ikeratc

TEAM is only used for a maximum of 6 a/c an hour, and they are dependent approaches, you still get the 3 miles radar separation. What Approach try and achieve is either TEAM with Heavy a/c, or have the TEAM a/c positioned behind a Heavy on the other runway, thus negating the votex separation.

vintage ATCO

I know about ACL etc, in fact was only reading their latest report for LHR last week. I was only trying to elucidate Charlie32's post.
But BA's T4 at LHR all through any morning makes me think that the system isn't working! And what do I read in the ACL report for the summer schedules? More BA long haul services coming here from Gatwick. Lovely.

Gonzo.

(Edit for disgraceful spelling)

[Trevor1]

Gonzo has hit this nail on the head. Even when an airport is fully co-ordinated like Heathrow, ACL just issue the slot pairs for new operations. After the first season ACL control appears poor, apart from isolated attempts to ensure that the aircraft operates on time.

The initial allocation is meant to take into account TMA, Runway, Ground and Terminal capacity (even the number of imigration desks).

After the first season the terminal, the aircraft type, destination etc can all change within the allocation to the airline. Obviously the more slots an airline "owns" the more flex they have.

So simple B737s with 140 pax are replaced by 747s with 380 people etc and flights shift between terminals, and most importantly changes of aircraft type change the traffic profile for an hour, inter arrival spacing and the actual capacity for that hour.

Why has the arrival peak delay moved from 0700-0900 local to around 1100-1200 local without the issue of any new slots? Answer internal trades.

Well maybe...... The main point is that ACL activity is far removed from an exact science - except maybe at Luton :D :D :D

[Gonzo]

Added to that the fact that every new BA longhaul service we get from Gatwick is actually multiplied by two, purely by the increasing towing movements to get the a/c to and from T4 and a remote stand or the BA hangars, which has a great effect on GMC capacity.

Gonzo.