Granada airport to install system that will allow flights to land in bad weather

Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén Airport has a historical problem that limits its competitiveness: one of its runways is closed for aircraft landings whenever there are adverse weather conditions, such as wind of more than ten knots or poor visibility, which forces flights to be diverted to other airports.

However, new technological advances are set to solve the problem with the implementation of a performance-based navigation system (PBN). In other words, procedures based on GPS satellite signal, the design and implementation of which is already under way and should be up and running in 2026, according to Enaire, Spain's national air navigation management.

Although the initial roadmap was to have the system in place by 2025, Granada airport will have to wait another year as the implementation requires a "long and complex process in which different organisations beyond Enaire are involved", according to sources from the public company.

Granada airport has two runways. On runway 27 aircraft take off towards the mountains, looking towards Malaga, and on runway 09 planes take off towards the city. At present, the airport has procedures to help aircraft take off on both runways, as well as on the approach - the phase between descent and landing - for runway 09. When wind conditions are not favourable for landing on runway 09, runway 27 must be used.

The problem is that the approach to runway 27 is complex and does not meet the minimum requirements for the implementation of a ground landing aid system due to the proximity of Granada and the obligation to make the use of the airspace compatible with the Armilla base, according to Enaire. Until now, with the traditional facilities, it had been impossible to overcome all these constraints. However, the evolution of technology and the development of performance-based navigation have made it possible to find a solution.

"The main advantage obtained with the use of this technology is that by using the satellite signal for aircraft guidance and the possibility of designing these trajectories with greater flexibility, point by point, it is possible to avoid areas with complex orography or flying over populated areas," explained Enaire's head of airspace, Marta Hernández.

The head of Enaire's airspace explained that the design and implementation of this type of manoeuvre "is a long and complex process in which different bodies intervene". She added, "The process must guarantee the safety of the operations, for which an exhaustive analysis of the design is carried out, a validation of all the signals of the communications, navigation and surveillance systems, as well as a validation flight with a laboratory aircraft equipped for this purpose in order to guarantee that the manoeuvres comply with the necessary quality and safety requirements."

From there, the process of publishing the procedures for its use as well as the training of pilots and air traffic controllers requires a favourable resolution from the aviation safety agency and from an environmental perspective, agreement must come from the central environment ministry. "The project is currently in the validation phase and is expected to be implemented, taking into account all the conditions described above, during the second half of 2026," Hernández said.