Honeywell Expands FMS Guided Visuals to Europe Airports

Honeywell is expanding its flight management system (FMS) guided visual approach functionality into Europe. The company’s FMS guided visual (FGV) approaches have been available in North America since 2023, with the technology improving the chances of a stable visual approach by offering a precise, repeatable flight path that can be fully coupled to the autopilot or hand flown.

Titled “RNAV H” to differentiate from other RNAV instrument approaches, these procedures are an addition to the current FMS navigation database subscriptions, for use by operators conducting a visual approach to the runway. No regulatory approvals are required for FMS-guided visuals, Honeywell noted, and they can be loaded directly from the FMS navigation database.

The system provides lateral and vertical guidance to the runway during visual approaches at more than 30 airports in North America and Singapore, and they are now available at six European airport/runway combinations, according to the company. These include Cannes-Mandelieu (LFMD) and Nice Côte d’Azur (LFMN) airports. Honeywell noted that it has 14 additional FGV approaches under development, based on customer feedback.

The FGV approaches are applicable to a variety of Honeywell avionics-equipped aircraft, including the Bombardier Global Express; Cessna Citation Sovereign and X; Dassault Falcon 6X, 7X, 8X, 2000EX EASy, 900EX EASy, and 900C/EX; Gulfstream G450, G550, G650, G500, G600 and V; Hawker 4000; and Pilatus PC-12 and PC-24.

“Stabilized approaches offer pilots a range of benefits, from preventing overbanking and potential stall conditions to helping maintain situational awareness in conditions that make it difficult to identify the runway,” said Jim Johnson, senior manager of flight technical services at Honeywell Aerospace Technologies. “They also offer the added ability to prevent steep approaches, which can otherwise lead to additional brake wear, noise from maximum thrust reversers, and runway overrun. By integrating our FMS technology, pilots can now make a safer, more stabilized approach to challenging airports in a more efficient manner.”