Duration: June 2022 - February 2025
Total funding volume: 3.4 million euros
University funding volume: 875,000 euros
Funded by: Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of NRW

Initial situation

In view of the urgent need for decarbonisation, the aviation industry is facing a challenging task. With the growing awareness of the impact of air traffic on the environment, it has become essential to find innovative solutions to reduce CO2 emissions and minimise noise levels. One of the key challenges lies in the optimisation of overall flight operations, with secondary activities such as aircraft taxiing on the apron playing a crucial role. In this context, the use of alternative propulsion systems is a promising option to reduce environmental impact and operating costs.

Objective:

The "FastGate" project has set itself the ambitious goal of significantly improving the efficiency and environmental compatibility of flight operations at commercial airports. The main objectives of the project are to drastically reduce aircraft idle time on the apron, cut operating costs and minimise CO2 emissions and noise levels. This is to be achieved by automating processes on the airport apron. A central starting point is the automation of the electric taxiing of aircraft, which will enable more efficient and faster handling processes.

Another important goal of FastGate is the implementation of innovative technologies such as automated passenger boarding bridges and green drive systems on the landing gear of commercial aircraft. These measures open up new opportunities for process optimisation and more efficient procedures at commercial airports. The project covers the entire value chain from initial development to validation of the implemented solutions.

Project partners: AEROSOFT, Fraunhofer IEM, Airport Paderborn Lippstadt