On the webinar “Global Runway Surface Condition Reporting Format (GRF) – an aid to implementation”

On 9 November 2021 the webinar “Global Runway Surface Condition Reporting Format (GRF) – an aid to implementation” was held by the Interstate Aviation Committee jointly with ICAO and Airbus within the framework of the ICAO-IAC Project RER/01/901 “Development of Operational Safety and Continuing Airworthiness”.

The participants of the webinar included: ICAO leadership and experts, the Interstate Council, IAC, Airbus, more than 150 specialists from 8 States Parties to the interstate Agreement in the region.

A new ICAO methodology is designed to assess and report runway surface condition data and aimed to improve runway safety and aviation operational efficiency.

During the webinar, ICAO specialists presented in detail the GRF methodology, recommendations for implementing the system at the state level, an overview of ICAO documentation on this topic, as well as certain aspects of aviation personnel training, including available resources and specialist training programs. 

Airbus specialists presented information on the implementation of Runway Sense technology, which allows the aircraft to be used as a sensor to assess the actual runway condition based on the braking system performace.

Webinar participants noted the relevance of the presented reports and actively discussed issues related to the preparation of the GRF implementation at the state level, sharing their experiences of the successful implementation of this system and the difficulties emerging during its use.

Given the relevance of the webinar's topic and the high interest of aviation specialists in studying this topic, the IAC, jointly with ICAO, will continue to provide assistance within the framework of the Project to States of the ICAO Eurasian Subregion in order to ensure a more effective transition to a new reporting format for assessing runway surface conditions.