Cost – pretty much the same for both although the ILS requires routine inspections every 120-180 days whereas the GNSS is theoretically a one-off inspection (validation).
A validation of a GNSS procedure depends upon the complexity of the procedure, number of routes etc. I wouldn’t expect much change out of 5hrs flying (plus positioning flights), 2hrs in the SIM, 5 crew days and a bespoke data card from Garmin/Jepp.
Timothy wrote:
So, what is the difference in cost between calibrating an ILS and an LPV?
We perform a calibration flight every year for our (CATIII) ILS’s.
We perform ground inspection (with a vehicle) every month.
We also have a big maintenance check every year where we shutdown the ILS for about a week.
RNAV with LPV minimums are only test flown one time before publication.
There is no recurrent calibration (and no maintenance obviously).
I understand that this is not great for many, or even most, pilots of traditionally IFR equipped aircraft. Since nobody can expect that most (many?) older aircraft will be equipped with new LPV or LNAV/VNAV certified navigators and other necessary equipment (antennas, cables) this means that the safety standard of all these airports is lowered, because many IFR pilots will be forced to fly either the LNAV approach or the ground based non-precision approach (NDB) … or even make up their own GPS approaches with equipment that is not certified for IFR approaches.
All in all, I have to say we shouldn’t complain. GPS approaches have been with us for 20 years now, so we can hardly say that this is “new” stuff that is being forced upon us. GNS430s can be found for 4k now, and btw also solves the 8.33KHz issue for those owners of aircraft that still have 1980s style avionics.
RNAV approaches is the way to go for regional airports. Sure, if we could choose, we would prefer to have both RNAV and ILS at all airports, but it costs a lot of money and someone has to pay for it.
Guillaume wrote:
There is no recurrent calibration
Goodness, so the calibration companies are also going to suffer? Oh dear :-(
Guillaume wrote:
We perform a calibration flight every year for our (CATIII) ILS’s.
The ICAO standard for a CAT III ILS is every 120 days which, after a successful soak period, can be extended to 180 days. I’m not aware of any CAT III system that has a 365 day ‘life’.
Guillaume wrote:
There is no recurrent calibration (and no maintenance obviously).
There is a recurrent validation requirement which is ordinarily aligned with the the mandatory airfield survey requirements (ICAO PANS OPS 8168 Vol 2, Doc 8163, Doc 9905 and Doc 9906 refer). Basically every year unless an annual check survey has been completed.
Timothy wrote:
Goodness, so the calibration companies are also going to suffer? Oh dear :-(
True. But since we are still calibrating/commissioning newly installed NDBs I don’t think there’s too much need to hand-wring, for now. 
Dave_Phillips wrote:
and a bespoke data card from Garmin/Jepp.
Is it always a bespoke order from Jeppesen, or are there any in-house solutions to modify the current data card for any GPS device? Some flight schools (at least around here) have their own private GPS approach procedures for training purposes, but they are programmed manually, point by point. Putting them on the data card would make them quite a bit more realistic.
For validation they are alway sourced through Garmin/Jepp etc. The rationale is that you need to confirm the data has been transposed correctly.
Dave_Phillips wrote:
The ICAO standard for a CAT III ILS is every 120 days which, after a successful soak period, can be extended to 180 days. I’m not aware of any CAT III system that has a 365 day ‘life’.
Yes, we have intermediate maintenance checks for ILS’s across the years but one big check every year.
The yearly maintenance check is a big hassle for us as our backup approaches are only RNAV and some airlines are still not approved to fly them.
Dave_Phillips wrote:
There is a recurrent validation requirement which is ordinarily aligned with the the mandatory airfield survey requirements (ICAO PANS OPS 8168 Vol 2, Doc 8163, Doc 9905 and Doc 9906 refer). Basically every year unless an annual check survey has been completed.
I’m pretty sure we don’t have recurrent calibration flight for RNAV approach.
For calibration flight, we need to provide extra ATC. So we are aware of every flight calibration quite in advance.
However there might be annual check survey I’m not aware of.
Goodness, so the calibration companies are also going to suffer? Oh dear :-(
I think our calibration service already removed one aircraft (ATR) from the fleet.
Skyguide made a new release a couple weeks ago announcing national CAA (FOCA/BAZL) approval of their plans to phase out all NDB’s, most VOR’s (except WIL VOR), and ILS systems at all regional airfields (meaning all except Geneva and Zurich) in Switzerland by 2030, replacing them with PBN navigation. It seems to have only been published in German, so I’ve added a Google translation at the end. The original version can be found here.
So CAT can still rely on ILS at the international airports for a while yet, in part since there isn’t any approved PBN IAP to Cat IIIa/b/c. My understanding is that this will only arrive with GBAS, which operationally is still in its infancy (or even pregnancy 
).
Curiously, DME installations are being retained and in fact extended as a support and backup function for PBN. Support for PBN is fairly obvious, but how pure DME could function as a backup for anything other than CAT (DME/DME/IRU) seems to me in need of explanation. So don’t throw out your DME’s yet, folks!
The release also mentions that the route and airway structure will be migrated to PBN-base in phase with plans in the surrounding countries….. which hopefully implies expansion of the existing FRA in Austria, Hungary, etc. I suspect though that it’s a bit too much to ask for the confined Swiss airspace.
It would be interesting to hear of any similar plans in other European countries, especially related to IAP’s (i.e. beyond the FRA rollouts already started in Austria, Hungary, etc).
Google translation:
media release
Skyguide is pressing ahead with the replacement of conventional navigation infrastructure by 2030 – PBN transition plan approved by FOCA
Geneva, January 13, 2021 – Conventional navigation in aviation using NDB (non-directional radio beacon) or VOR (rotary radio beacon) or ILS (instrument landing system) will be replaced by performance-based navigation methods (PBN) by 2030. The transitional plan submitted by the Swiss air navigation service provider skyguide has been approved by the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA). Skyguide will gradually dismantle and dismantle all NDB and most of the existing VOR in Switzerland as well as the ILS at the regional airports. Skyguide’s transition plan is in line with the European ATM master plan and the joint projects of the European Parliament and the Council.
With the transitional plan approved by the FOCA, the legal and regulatory basis has been created to guide navigation in Swiss aviation into the future.
“We are delighted that we can now press ahead with the reconstruction of the navigation infrastructure in Switzerland with the approved transitional plan. This allows PBN to be introduced simultaneously and uniformly with our neighboring countries for the benefit of our airspace users”, says Marc Troller, CNS expert at skyguide.
According to the plan, by 2030 skyguide will dismantle and dismantle the VOR deployed in Switzerland, with the exception of the remaining Willisau (LU) station, as well as the NDB and ILS at the regional airports. As a first step, skyguide has already taken the Bern NDB and the VOR Hochwald (SO) and Trasadingen (SH) out of operation. Routes and airways based on conventional navigation methods are being converted to modern PBN methods, which are based on satellite navigation (GNSS) and offer more flexibility.
The current DME network (distance measuring equipment) has been optimized to support conventional navigation. With the abolition of conventional methods, the DME network will be gradually adapted to optimally support PBN. This includes the relocation of some DME stations and a slight expansion of the DME network. The expanded DME network will become the primary navigation backup for airway operations and terminal operations in the event of GNSS outages.
skyguide
swiss air navigation services ltd media relations
CH-1215 Geneva 15
Contact:
phone: +41 22 417 40 08 e-mail: [email protected] internet: www.skyguide.ch
With 1,500 employees at 14 locations, Skyguide provides air traffic control in Switzerland and neighboring countries. Around 1.3 million civil and military aircraft are safely and efficiently guided through the most densely flown airspace in Europe. Skyguide is well networked internationally and contributes to the attractiveness of Switzerland as a location with innovative and customer-oriented solutions. The company, headquartered in Geneva, is majority owned by the Swiss Confederation.
We heard the same here but no dates yet.
Basically, they took the minimum requirements for the airlines, copy, paste, done.
It would be nice to teach GPS to our students before they decommission all the VORs !
