Twenty Years of Network Management

SPRING 2016

TWENTY YEARS OF NETWORK MANAGEMENT

Violeta Bulc: Europe’s new aviation strategy How air traffic will grow in the next few years Make the future of ATM your business.

BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS

7 - 9 March 2017 Madrid, Spain IFEMA, Feria de Madrid

WorldATMCongress.org 10 busiest airports Welcome to Skyway Magazine 3 Arrivals & Departures in 2015

CONTENTS

WAYPOINTS

8 EUROCONTROL awarded mandate to operate air traffic military services from Maastricht 2 4 9 New era in ground-ground data exchange starts with 3 10 1 NewPens project Important decisions for aviation at the World 6 10 12 Radiocommunication Conference DATA 9 7 8 12 2015 traffic: a summer surge then lower, steadier growth

5 COVER STORY: THE NETWORK MANAGER OPERATIONS CENTRE

16 Transforming relationships is key to future network management operations 26 Adapting, evolving, enhancing performance

FOCUS

32 Environmental gains from advanced navigation capability 36 Arrive on time with a minute to spare 40 Proving the future will work 43 SWIM: the global ATM intranet

INSIGHT

46 “Why aviation is so important for Europe” 18 Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Transport 48 “We will be working hard to increase transparency” Simon Hocquard, Chair of the Network Management Board 52 “Improving performance through predictability” Frank Brenner, Director General of EUROCONTROL 54 The Network Manager’s key challenges Joe Sultana, Director Network Manager 28 46 VIEWPOINT 57 ROMATSA: Towards a regional approach on Free Route Airspace Cârnu Fănică, Acting Director General of ROMATSA 60 The ground coordinator concept: ACI Europe’s collaborative solution for meeting cross-industry air traffic challenges Andreas Eichinger and Thorsten Astheimer, Fraport AG 64 Continuing reluctance to commit to a fully-integrated European ATM system 52 60 Mark Deacon, Navigation Services Administrator, Monarch Airlines 4 Welcome to Skyway Magazine

DETAILS Contacts

Managing Editors Lucia Pasquini Lucia Pasquini, Catherine De Smedt Managing Editor E: [email protected] Editor T: +32 2 729 34 20 Philip Butterworth-Hayes Philip Butterworth-Hayes Sub-editor Editor Julie Cotterill E: [email protected] T: +44 1273 724 238 Design Intermedia Solutions PMI Media Ltd T: +44 1794 368925 61 Davigdor Road, E: [email protected] Hove, BN3 1RA, UK www.intermediasolutions.com www.pmi-media.com

Advertising EUROCONTROL Kay Rolland 96, rue de la Fusee, 101 rue de Sèvres 1130 Brussels, Belgium 92100 Boulogne Billancourt – France www.eurocontrol.int T: +33 609 133 510 E: [email protected] European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) February 2016. All rights reserved. The entire contents of this publication Printing are protected by copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced, EUROCONTROL Printshop stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of EUROCONTROL. The reproduction of advertisements in this publication does not in any way imply endorsement of their content SPRING 2016 by PMI Media Ltd or EUROCONTROL. The views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policy of EUROCONTROL.

Cover: Masakazu Matsumoto. Imagery provided by: FABEC, NATS, ROMATSA, TAROM, Monarch, TWENTY YEARS OF NETWORK MANAGEMENT Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz, Aitor Agirregabiria, T A, Ercan Karakas,

Violeta Bulc: Europe’s new aviation strategy Lumu, SSGT Kim Price, MKonair, Alan Wilson, Ben Goode, Adrian How air tra c will grow in the next few years Pingstone and Sahil Bolurker.

Advertisers index Inside front cover – World ATM Congress / 5-7 – Indra / 11 – Frequentis / 21 – Enaire / 24 – ADB / 28 – Guntermann & Drunck / 31 – Safegate / 34 – DSNA / 39 – EUROCONTROL / 45 – ESSP / 51 – Esterline / Inside back cover – ATC Global / Outside back cover – Frequentis

For more information and to receive a free copy of Skyway, please contact the Managing Editor Lucia Pasquini, EUROCONTROL

This document is published on behalf of EUROCONTROL by PMI Media Ltd in the interests of exchange of information. 160201 - Anuncio Revista Skyway 2016 - B - Arte Final.pdf 1 01/02/2016 16:21:04

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39,000 professionals, 40 nationalities R&D 6-8% of sales. indracompany.com 6 Indra Advertising Feature iTEC SUITE DCT TO THE FUTURE In today's environment, ANSPs are looking for ATM systems which allow them to provide more effective services to their clients, to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, and complete ATM system that is already in operation for major Euro- to ensure safety is at the highest level. pean ANSPs including DFS (Karlsruhe ACC) and NATS (Prestwick Centre). The Core product is the foundation of the iTEC Suite. As one of the most advanced ATM systems in the world, it delivers TEC Suite is the latest automated assistance to ATC personnel. development of Indra’s The Complementary products can be integrated with the Air Traffic Management Core product by the use of standard interfaces and technologies (ATM)i system, which has where appropriate, in order to support a comprehensive and flex- been developed in collab- ible air traffic management solution. The design of the iTEC Suite oration with major Euro- Complementary products allows them to be integrated easily into pean Air Navigation Service different ATM environments, and facilitates customers to make Providers (DFS - Germany, up their own ATM systems. Some of the iTEC Suite Complemen- ENAIRE - Spain, LVNL - The tary products are: iSDPS (Indra Surveillance Data Processing Sys- Netherlands and NATS - tem), iSNS (Indra Safety Nets System), iTCM (Indra Traffic Com- UK). iTEC Suite incorporates plexity Manager), iXMAN (Indra Integrated Arrival/Departure the results from ongoing Manager), iTBS (Indra Time Based Separation System), iSWIM research and development (Indra SWIM Interoperability Node System), iDBM (Indra Adap- performed by Indra ATM tation Database Management), etc. within the context of SESAR The Core functions can be deployed as a whole suite or in a and provides a highly modu- modular way. This modular architecture enables a tailored solu- lar and configurable solution tion, suited exactly to the needs of the ANSP and to today’s com- for the needs of the global air plex air traffic management environments. The following section traffic market. describes the functions and the Core product components: iTEC Suite is built upon ■■ FDP Function: The Flight Data Processor is the critical func- two concepts: 4D Trajectory and Global Interoperability. As a tra- tion for enabling trajectory-based operations to facilitate jectory-based system, iTEC Suite is able to predict where flights iTEC products. It provides real-time flight information and will be in the future, allowing the controller to manage the flight processed ATM data (e.g. surveillance, meteorological, etc.) in advance by means of conflict-free plans. Conflict-free plans to other functions, in addition to providing correlation and have a positive impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of the flight path monitoring. Furthermore, it enables automated service that an ANSP can provide to their clients, reducing con- co-ordination between internal sectors and with adjacent trollers’ workload by minimizing routine tasks (fewer changes air traffic control centres, dynamic sectorization with inter- in level or speed), while increasing safety and productivity; and nal and external sectors, and a flexible use of airspace. It also reducing flight diversions, flight time, fuel consumption and manages the air-ground data link communications. emissions. Furthermore, the concept of Global Interoperability The most significant capability, however, is the 4D trajectory supports greater overall traffic capacity in airspace, and easy calculation, which allows the Free-routing concept implemen- integration with the wider ATM network. tation, and utilizes flight plan, meteorological, surveillance iTEC Suite is a complete catalogue of Indra ATM automation and aircraft performance data combined with airspace data, products, built upon core elements from the iTEC International supported by ATC procedures, to calculate the expected tra- Collaboration. It provides a state-of-the-art, comprehensive, and jectory of the flight in four dimensions. modular ATM solution with the capability to adapt to the specific ■■ CWP Function: The Controller Working Position encompasses needs of each client; and delivers improvements in efficiency and all the capabilities related to data presentation and interaction advanced technology. with the controller. It provides a Human Machine Interface iTEC Suite products can be divided into two levels: Core and (HMI) that integrates surveillance, flight and other operational Complementary products. data (e.g. meteorological, airspace, alerts, etc.) in an efficient The iTEC Suite Core product incorporates the latest oper- manner, fully configurable according to the assigned user role ational concepts validated in SESAR into the capabilities of a and fully consistent with Human Factors principles. It also Indra Advertising Feature 7

provides a set of advanced tools to assist controllers in the product is performing decision-making process, fully configurable according to as expected and accord- the customer’s needs and the controller role. ing to the agreed ser- ■■ Conflict Management Function: This function pro- vice levels. In addition vides automated decision-making support and real-time to encompassing the assistance to both planning and executive controllers, for controlling and mon- detecting conflicts between aircraft trajectories, consid- itoring of iTEC Suite ering planning constraints and clearances. This function Core components, the is provided by a set of components that are based on the technical support func- computation of accurate 4D trajectories, and covers the tion records all relevant whole conflict management capabilities range. ATM data and log files, The Medium-Term Conflict Detection (MTCD) compo- and analyses all pre- nent, which is already in operation in Karlsruhe and Prest- viously recorded data wick ACC, is aligned with validated SESAR concepts, and for different purposes: supports all conflict management capabilities. The Coor- checking the correct dination Trajectory Module (CTM) and Tactical Trajectory behaviour of the sys- Module (TTM) components are designed to manage plan- tem, evaluating system performance, generating reports, etc. ning/coordination conflicts and tactical conflicts sepa- ■■ External Flight Information Supply Function: The Infor- rately based on the planning/coordination and tactical/ mation Subscriber System component allows authorized deviation trajectories respectively. The TTM and the CTM external flight data users to subscribe to a general communi- have been validated within the SESAR environment. cation service, for receiving flight plan data in a periodic man- Initial SESAR validations related to the TTM have shown ner or to perform queries on specific flight plans on demand. a significant decrease in the controller’s workload while It also provides the capability of defining and applying filters running air traffic simulations at up to 155% of the 2015 for the selection of flight plans of interest. sector limits. Depending on the customer’s needs and the complexity Main capabilities of the iTEC Suite of the airspace, one or a combination of these components

can be acquired. ■■ Advanced and user-friendly HMI specifically tailored for use ■■ Integrated Operational Management Function: The by En-Route, TMA and APP controllers, flight data operators, Integrated Operational Management Position (IOMP) is a and operational and technical supervisors.

web-based solution which encompasses all the functions ■■ Advanced flight data processing and accurate 4D trajectory related to the air traffic assistant and the operational calculation.

supervisor in a single HMI. The IOMP has a web-browser ■■ Full OLDI silent coordination for external/internal ground- client architecture which allows this function to be ground interoperability.

accessed from different platforms wherever a web-browser ■■ Air-Ground Data Link applications and services providing runs. This commonality reduces hardware, maintenance aircraft-controller interoperability for both FANS and ATN and software upgrade costs. aircraft.

Some of the IOMP capabilities when the user has ■■ Enhanced tactical and planning ATM capabilities, including logged-in as an air traffic assistant are amending and Conformance Monitoring and Conflict Management.

correcting messages the system could not automatically ■■ Flight Plan data distribution to other external ATM systems process (e.g. an erroneous flight plan), and creating, mod- and agencies.

ifying and cancelling manual system flight plans. When ■■ Enhanced supervision and analysis capabilities, including the user has logged-in as an operational supervisor, one of technical monitoring and system control and recording. the main capabilities of the IOMP is managing the distribution of Air Traffic Controller (ATC) workload between iTEC Suite represents a pragmatic solution for today and the available resources through dynamic sectorization beyond that guarantees a system evolution fully aligned with the updates. Additionally, it allows the operator to perform SESAR functionality roadmap, and Pilot Common Project (PCP) several configuration tasks such as sector consolidation, ATM functionalities (AFs). and to change system-wide operational parameters such Developed in accordance with the European Flight Data as the behaviour of some flight plan processing functions. Processing (eFDP) specifications and including the outcomes of ■■ Technical Support Function: The Technical Support research and development activities from the SESAR (Single Euro- function consisting of the CMS (Control and Monitoring pean Sky ATM Research) program, iTEC Suite is a fundamental System), TSP (Technical Supervision Positon), RS (Record- step towards the objectives of the Single European Sky (SES) pro- ing System), and DAT (Data Analysis Tool), provides all gram which continues evolving to meet the demand of the future capabilities required to ensure that the iTEC Suite Core by means of excellent levels of reliability, quality and safety. ▪ WAYPOINTS

EUROCONTROL awarded Jac Jansen, Director of MUAC said: mandate to operate “Airspace is a finite resource which military air traffic services should be used in the most efficient way to serve the public interest. An from Maastricht integrated civil-military system will provide the most positive effects for THE 41 EUROCONTROL MEMBER the network and will fully support States, meeting in Brussels on 8-9 MUAC’s objectives in respect to the December 2015 decided to entrust EURO- EU’s ATM Performance Scheme.” CONTROL with an extended mandate The Director General of Civil Avia- to operate military air traffic control tion in the German Federal Ministry of services in addition to the current civil- Transport and Digital Infrastructure, ian air traffic control services out of the Gerold Reichle, said: “Rome wasn’t EUROCONTROL Maastricht Upper Area built in a day! Looking back to more Control Centre (MUAC). This will be for than 20 years of very positive experi- the north German (Hannover UIR) and ence with the civil-military integrated Dutch airspace (Amsterdam FIR). provision of air navigation services by This extended mandate allows the DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH, it provision of integrated civil and military was overdue to complete this success- air traffic control services, which will be ful model in the missing part of the provided in future by the air traffic con- German airspace controlled by the troller dealing with both types of service Maastricht Upper Area Control Cen- in an integrated way. tre.” “Integration of civil and military air “The conclusion of complete civil- traffic control brings major benefits both military integration in the air naviga- from an operational and a financial per- tion services in the Federal Republic spective,” said Frank Brenner, Director of Germany has been a longstanding General of EUROCONTROL. “This decision process. It continues the tradition of by the States means that MUAC will be able jointly managed air navigation services to drive improved efficiency and capacity in Germany. I expect that the complete in the core area of Europe which already integration will accomplish substan- handles over 5,000 flights every day.” tial efficiency gains not only for the The EUROCONTROL Agency has been operational air traffic but for the civil authorised to conclude an agreement with aviation in Europe as well,” said Lt Col Germany concerning the provision by the Karsten Hartwig from the German Organisation of air traffic services for oper- Ministry of Defence. ational air traffic in the Hannover UIR. Lt Col Marco Zeemeijer, On Friday 18 December 2015, Henrik The Member States also authorised Head of Air Command and Con- Hololei, Director General of DG MOVE, the Agency to open negotiations for the trol at the Royal Netherlands Air and Frank Brenner, Director General conclusion of a special agreement with Force added: “This is a unique of EUROCONTROL, signed a contract the Netherlands concerning the provision step for the RNLAF and for civil- under which EUROCONTROL will by the Organisation of air traffic services military cooperation in the Nether- continue to provide support to the EU’s for operational air traffic in the Amster- lands. It ensures the continuity of Performance Review Body until the end dam FIR, in line with the principles set operations as well as access to upper of 2016. This support will be carried out in the National Airspace Vision of the airspace for the military, but most out under the existing framework Netherlands. importantly, military mission effec- which has been in place since 2010 and A project to deal with these additional tiveness will remain at least at the will be provided by the independent tasks has been established with the goal to same level as currently, but I expect it Performance Review Unit (PRU). see results by the end of 2016/spring 2017. will even become better.” ▪ Waypoints 9

NewPens meeting participants New era in ground- ground data exchange starts with NewPens project

ON 14 JANUARY 2016 EUROCONTROL exchange across the whole of Europe as tems and Infrastructure Services of hosted a major meeting to move forward ATM will become much more data-driven DFS, was elected as Chairman of the with the implementation of NewPENS. in future,” said Frank Brenner, Director NewPENS Executive Board (PEB), and NewPENS, which will build on the suc- General of EUROCONTROL. “NewPENS Mr Maksim Ethermaj, Director of the cess of the current Pan-European Net- will carry data from the Network Man- Technical Division of ALBCONTROL, work Services (PENS) infrastructure, ager, the EUROCONTROL Centralised Ser- as Vice-Chair. aims to become the means of ground- vices and from the air navigation service The current PENS contract will to-ground communication for all con- providers.” come to an end during 2018. The new nections between all ATM stakeholders The meeting, made up of 36 represent- governance structure will therefore across Europe. Following the decision of atives from 23 organisations, kick-started be focusing on ensuring that the time- the 41 EUROCONTROL Member States to the governance arrangements between line for having a new contract in place entrust EUROCONTROL with a Common EUROCONTROL and the air navigation can be followed. The calls for tender Procurement Agreement (CPA), 34 organ- service providers for the NewPENS pro- will be published in the first semes- isations, both civil and military, have ject. During the meeting, Mr Daniel ter of 2016, with offers expected in signed the Agreement and are now part Weder, Chief Executive Officer of sky- December 2016. The aim is to have the of the NewPENS project. guide, was elected as Chairman of the Top contract in place by the end of 2017 so “NewPENS enables System Wide Management Body (TMB). the migration to the new provider can Information Management (SWIM) data Mr Egon Koopmann, Director Sys- start by the middle of 2018. ▪ 10 Waypoints

Important decisions for aviation at the World Radiocommunication Conference

THE WORLD RADIOCOMMUNI- CATION CONFERENCE 2015 (WRC- 15), held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 2-27 November 2015 has resulted in a number of important aviation-related decisions. These include the protection of the aviation spectrum from encroachment by On 14 December 2015, Dr Fang Liu, reducing fuel burn and emissions; and Secretary General of ICAO, visited mobile telecommunications organisa- include the ability to obtain more data EUROCONTROL. Dr Fang Liu was tions, an agreement on controlling air- from the aircraft systems during all briefed about the different functions craft systems using Wireless Avionics phases of flight. of EUROCONTROL including the Intra-Communications (WAIC) and an support the Agency provides to ICAO WRC-15 agreed on a primary allocation agreement on a primary allocation to for a range of tasks and functions. She to the radiolocation service in the 77.5– the radiolocation service in the 77.5–78.0 was also briefed on the Agency’s role 78.0 GHz band for ground-based appli- GHz band for ground-based applications. in crisis management and air traffic cations, including automotive radars. Further important decisions included flow management on European level Aviation will be able to use off-the-shelf increased protection of the COSPAS- and visited the Network Manager automotive radars located in the wing SARSAT system in the frequency band Operations Centre. tips of aircraft to detect other ground 406 – 406.1 MHz, a new primary alloca- objects that might be in the path of the tion to the aeronautical mobile-satellite taxiing aircraft. And the WRC agreed to (R) service in the Earth-to-space direction services to provide a safety-of-life service beef up protection of the frequency used in the frequency band 1087.7-1092.3 MHz was mitigated and postponed to 2023. for satellite-based Search and Rescue – the for the satellite reception of Automatic This particular WRC-15 agenda item was COSPAS-SARSAT system. Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) about using Fixed-Satellite Service (FSS) The WRC granted a new primary allo- emissions from aircraft and a mitigation bands, which is not recognised in the ITU cation to the aeronautical mobile-satellite of the risk to aviation of using non safety as a safety service, for the Control and (R) service in the Earth-to-space direction services for safety-of-life services. Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) in the frequency band 1087.7-1092.3 MHz The EUROCONTROL delegation com- of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in for the satellite reception of Automatic prised Raffi Khatcherian (head of dele- non-segregated airspaces, a safety-of-life Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS- gation), Sven Fraenkel and Jacky Pouzet. service. Provisional allocation will come B) emissions from aircraft, limited to mes- EUROCONTROL advises States on aviation into force after the WRC-23 (planned for sages from aircraft that are transmitted spectrum matters and is consulted at dif- 2023) upon the approval of necessary in accordance with ICAO standards. The ferent negotiation steps. It also promotes standards. Should no solution be agreed, WRC agreed a Resolution that outlines the European Aeronautical Common Posi- the ITU RESOLUTION COM4/5 (WRC-15) protection arrangements and future tion (EACP) and makes sure that European will be abrogated. studies related to the reception of ADS-B aviation has the appropriate secure radio WRC-15 also approved a worldwide transmissions by the satellites. spectrum it needs to operate safely and primary allocation to the aeronautical To accommodate the evolving Global efficiently, that aviation’s “safety-of-life” mobile (route) service in the band 4200- Flight Tracking applications, WRC-15 services are protected from harmful inter- 4400 MHz to support WAIC. WAIC will approved an agenda item for WRC-19 ference and that European aviation can enhance efficiency and reliability while aiming at considering regulatory actions implement new technologies necessary maintaining or improving current for the development and implementation to meet future growth. required levels of safety. It will reduce the of the Global Aeronautical Distress and The risk to aviation of using non safety wiring and associated aircraft weight, Safety System (GADSS). ▪ ADVERTISING FEATURE vitalsphere nation-wide safety-critical ATM-grade network performance44+ networks 250,000 global networks users Spanning 5 continents nation-wide safety-critical networks 44+ofnetworks the world safer with 250,000 33% Frequentis networks global networks users Spanning 5 continents Design Implementation Operation of the world safer with 33% Frequentis networks Design Implementation Operation

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2015 traffic: a summer surge then slower, steadier growth

n 2015 European air traffic remained crisis in Ukraine and industrial action. Routing aspects on average 1.5% above 2014 traffic After the summer schedules began, sus- levels. There was sustained growth of tained growth was observed: July, August DURING THE FIRST HALF of 2015 almostI 2% throughout the summer driven and September were, with more than Ukraine’s overflight flows decreased by mainly by the low-cost sector, which grew 30,700 flights per day on average, the bus- 64% over the same period last year fol- at a rate of 5%. The full-fare sector, which iest on record. lowing the unavailability of airspace in makes up the majority of European airline With the start of the winter sched- the State which started in early 2014. As a traffic, just achieved a positive growth ules traffic growth reverted back to lower result, central European States (for exam- rate for the year. These traffic levels are in rates, between 1% and 2%, in line with ple, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, line with forecasts published for Europe1 the forecast published in September Romania, Slovakia and Turkey) continued in February and September 2015. 2015. December traffic hit a 2015 record of to see increases in overflights as the flows Inside Europe several events caused 3.5% owing to sustained rates during the between Europe and the Middle East/Far airlines to change their routes impacting year-end holiday period and an artificial East Asia were re-routed in a more south- overflight growth in several States. Some rebound caused by industrial action in erly direction. The changes in traffic pat- of these events were carried over from last December 2014. terns are still in place but have dwindling year – such as airspace closures in Ukraine effect as the main changes are more than and Libya – while others were more recent Network contributors 12 months ago. Ukraine recorded further developments, such as unit rates increase decreases in overflights from November in Germany. Outside Europe, the USA IN 2015, TURKEY REMAINED the 2015 following a mutual ban on flights overtook Russia as the non-European main contributor to traffic growth, add- between Russia and Ukraine. destination adding the highest number ing some 170 daily flights, followed by the The closure of Libyan airspace in of flights, as Russian traffic contracted. United Kingdom (+140 flights per day). In 2014 continued to have a strong impact terms of percentage increases Spain (+4%) on Greece as the flows between Europe IFR movements and Greece (+5%) also witnessed traffic and Africa, which had previously crossed rises. Germany added 80 flights per day Maltese airspace, shifted eastwards into IN 2015 MAJOR EUROPEAN carriers (excluding overflights). Greece. From August onwards some pro- managed to reduce their losses and even Norway, hit by the oil crisis, removed cedural changes aimed at re-balancing recorded a collective increase in operat- most flights from the network since the the flows between Malta and Greece, ing profits compared to the same period beginning of the year, due to the weakness especially on west-east flows, took effect. in 2014. The final figure for the year was in its internal traffic and other arrival/ Between July and September, Cyprus not available at press time. European traf- departure major flows, amounting to a recorded strong increases in overflight fic growth was limited at the start of the loss of around 70 daily flights from the growth, which is mainly explained by year compared to other months as a result European network. Ukraine also removed some traffic increase in flows from/to of factors such as an economic recession 50 flights a day, mainly due to the contin- Israel (up to 25% in some cases). in the Nordic States, a continuation of the uation of the crisis which began in 2014. In 2015 growth in overflight move-

1 Europe stands for ESRA08, the EUROCONTROL Reference Statistical Area (see eurocontrol.int/faq/statfor for more details) Data 13

Flights share by market segment

= 100,000 ﬂights in 2015

Traditional scheduled 5,239,000 (53.7%) 1.0%

Low-cost 2,728,000 (28.0%) 5.5%

Business aviation 651,000 (6.7%) -2.6%

Charter 436,000 (4.5%) -8.8%

All-cargo 334,000 (3.4%) 0.9% 9,752,000 2 TOTAL FLIGHTS Other IN ESRA083 364,000 (3.7%) 3.1%

ments was relatively weak in Germany Federation. A 19% drop in flights from/ currently healthy and the summer season (below 2%) compared to the busiest north- to Russia (caused by the financial crisis demand should be focused on the Greek west European States. The Netherlands in Russia in April 2014) was recorded on and Spanish islands, Portugal and Cyprus. recorded an increase in overflights of average in 2015, also leading to a reduc- The growth rate in summer 2016 almost 5%. Germany recorded no change tion in European overflights (eg Turkey), should be very strong in the Mediterra- in the overflight distance flown in 2015 notably on flows between Egypt and nean, although Turkey could suffer as compared with 2014 while its neighbours Russia. Morocco and the United Arab mentioned above. The Euro 2016 football to the west recorded positive changes in Emirates were respectively the third and tournament will generate a slight boost to 2015. The impact of the unit rate increase fourth extra-European partners. traffic in France. Traffic flows in 2015 were in Germany might be part of the reason very influenced by route changes in and behind this. Many flights avoided Ger- The future around the Ukraine area but these have many or, if this was not possible, mini- now largely stabilised. mised their distance flown over the State. IFR TRAFFIC IS FORECAST to grow One of the biggest events on the hori- by 2.3% in 2016 over 2015, a slight down- zon is the opening of the third airport in Extra-European partners ward revision on earlier forecasts. In Istanbul, scheduled to take place in Octo- terms of the route network there will con- ber 2017. This will have a positive impact SINCE THE BEGINNING OF the year, tinue to be blockages in the network as a in that Turkey will be able to accommodate the USA has become the number one desti- result of events in the Ukraine, Libya and growing traffic demand and the effects nation from Europe in terms of number of Syria. It is also likely that Russian traffic will be seen in growth rates across Europe. flights: around 430 departures per day on will be disrupted as a result of the situa- The forecast growth rate of 2.3% in average, now larger than the Russian Fed- tion in Ukraine and changes in Russian 2016 is still at least one per cent below eration (360 departures per day on average tourism destinations. The States in north historic trends prior to the financial cri- for the period January to December 2015). western Europe are returning to growth sis. This suggests that air traffic is being This is a return to the situation before rates between 1.5% and 2.5%, with the driven by the underlying gross domestic 2011 when the USA was the first destina- UK and Spain leading the recovery in this product performance and the other driv- tion from Europe, ahead of the Russian area. Domestic traffic in these States is ers of growth are slowing down.

2 Includes "Non Classified" and "Military" 3 ESRA08 definition in STATFOR FAQ (see eurocontrol.int/faq/statfor) 14 Data

10 busiest airports Arrivals & Departures in 2015

2 4

3 10 1

9 7 8

TOTAL NUMBER OF % GROWTH FLIGHTS IN 2015 ON 2014

1 6 Paris CDG 476,000 0.9% Munich 377,000 0.8%

2 7 London Heathrow 474,000 0.3% Madrid Barajas 367,000 7.0%

3 8 Frankfurt Main 468,000 -0.2% Rome Fiumicino 315,000 1.0%

4 9 Amsterdam 462,000 2.9% Barcelona 289,000 1.8%

5 10 Istanbul Ataturk 454,000 5.7% London Gatwick 268,000 3.0% Data 15 Top airports Traditional scheduled per market segment1

Arrivals & Departures in 2015 1 London Heathrow 456,000 -0.2%

2 Frankfurt Main 408,000 0.0% 3 Paris CDG 378,000 0.8% 4 Istanbul Ataturk 364,000 4.4% 5 Amsterdam 336,000 0.6%

Low-cost Business aviation

1 Barcelona 183,000 5.7% 1 Paris Le Bourget 45,000 -4.6%

2 London Gatwick 180,000 3.6% 2 Geneva 30,000 -10.9% 3 London Stansted 141,000 8.8% 3 Nice 28,000 -4.7% 4 Dusseldorf 126,000 17.8% 4 London Luton 26,000 1.5% 5 Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen 125,000 13.6% 5 Zurich 21,000 -0.4%

Charter 2 All-cargo

1 Antalya 51,000 -12.4% 1 Leipzig 36,000 8.9%

2 Moscow Domodedovo 17,000 -36.5% 2 Istanbul Ataturk 32,000 29.1% 3 Hurghada 17,000 -18.1% 3 Paris CDG 32,000 -2.5% 4 Sharm El Sheikh 14,000 -18.2% 4 Cologne Bonn 27,000 5.0% 5 Palma De Mallorca 11,000 -8.5% 5 Liege 24,000 7.3%

1 Source: EUROCONTROL Statfor 2 Helicopter flights were removed for this ranking, out of area airports only include European flights 16 The Network Manager Operations Centre

TRANSFORMING RELATIONSHIPS IS KEY TO FUTURE NETWORK MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS 17

There is more to managing the European air traffic management network than the professionalism of the people involved and reliable technology – understanding the priorities of all partners and developing systems and procedures to meet those priorities is vital, too.

butterfly flaps its wings in the Brazilian rain forest and a hurri- cane changes course and carves Aa path of destruction through towns and cities thousands of miles away. The butterfly effect is an element of chaos theory which describes how an almost infinites- imal change in one state can have huge, unforeseen consequences stretching across many others. The people who work in the EUROCONTROL Network Manager Operations Centre (NMOC) have become experts in the power of this phenome- non. Sometimes it is easy to plot from an early stage the huge potential signifi- cance to the European air traffic network of an Icelandic volcano exploding or the USA shutting its airspace in the wake of a terrorist attack. But these are big events, unlikely to occur more than once or twice a decade. It is far more complex to forecast the consequences of hundreds of small, daily events which, if left unmanaged, could send out huge ripples of disruption across the continent and beyond, like a stone thrown into a stream, delaying flights, increasing fuel bills and adding to the environmental burden of aviation. A group of passengers is late for an important connecting flight. A new law limiting pilot flight hour restrictions comes into force. There is sudden short- age of de-icing units at one of the continent’s hubs. Fog shuts an airport for two hours. A radar breaks down. For every 18 The Network Manager Operations Centre

aircraft operator, airport and air navigation service provider (ANSP) the effect of these small, individual phenomena is different and almost impossible to measure - unless the continent’s daily operations are connected into the operations and business planning of every relevant stakeholder. “Small amounts of disruption can have a bigger impact than larger disruption, so it really depends on circumstances,” says Duncan Philip, Operations Control Centre Support Manager at easyJet, and an aircraft operator liaison expert in the NMOC. “A five-minute delay can be a game spoiler for us and a one-hour delay might actually be fine.”

FROM ITS INITIAL OPERATIONS over 20 years ago, the operations centre has been in a state of almost constant evolution. The Central Flow Manage- ment Unit (CFMU) was created in 1995 as a response to the chronic delays plaguing European air traffic throughout the 1980s; in 2011 the European Com- mission nominated EUROCONTROL as the Network Manager (NM). So now the NMOC is driven by a growing number of very challenging capacity and flight efficiency targets. The only way it can meet these is to continue to develop collaboration and trust with all operational stakeholders – airlines, ANSPs, airports and military authorities – and in this, transparency and relationship-building are key. The NMOC is, in many ways, the heart and brain of the European air traffic management system. It is The NMOC is, in many ways, the heart responsible for flow and capacity management, flight planning, collecting and brain of the European air traffic and disseminating information about management system. capacity and delays, coping with and recovering from crises, analysing events after they have occurred. But it is also a community of experts (see “The Operations Room – the hub of Network Management”) and, increasingly, managing the network is about widening and deepening cooperation among all stakeholders. Aircraft operators are the principal customers and NM has sought to transform its relationship with them in a number of ways, for example, by creating a flight efficiency initiative which suggests to airliners shorter, more fuel-efficient routes – this feeds directly into the operations centres of individual airlines so they can put their own parameters of cost inside the planning tool provided by NM. And they can check any rerouting proposal directly against this cost. There are now two permanent airline representatives based in the NMOC, one from the International The Operations Room – The hub of Network Management

OPERATIONS MANAGER • runs the Demand Data Repository coordinating appropriate measures • manages the day-to-day operations; (DDR) and Data Steward Function with NMOC; (DSF); • optimises the daily service delivery; • helps optimise airspace allocation; • maintains IATA and ICAO code- • drives a high-performance operation • helps optimise civil-military matching tables for aircraft based on the Network Manager Plan; coordination in crises. operators, airports and aircraft • acts as the operational focal point for types. SHORT-TERM STRATEGIC disruptions and crisis management. Call Sign Management Cell (CSMC) AND PRE-TACTICAL FLOW MANAGEMENT REAL-TIME SYSTEMS • helps aircraft operators use the Call OPERATIONS OPERATIONS & Sign Similarity Tool (CSST) which MONITORING detects and de-conflicts similarities. The pre-tactical team manages the short-term strategic and pre-tactical • is in charge of monitoring NM NMOC supports the EC Safety ATFCM from six days before a flight applications, infrastructure, systems Assessment of Foreign Aircraft takes place: and networks. These systems ensure (SAFA) Programme by telling the continuous availability of air authorities about flights which are • simulates network events (major traffic flow management service data banned in the EU or due for ramp sporting events, industrial action, processing and data communication inspections. new systems at air traffic control facilities; centres, major military exercises, etc) to mitigate impact; • is the single point of contact for TACTICAL FLOW all operational-related technical MANAGEMENT • works proactively with air traffic incidents and problems for internal OPERATIONS control centres, the Aircraft and 6700+ external stakeholders • offers alternatives to regulated Operator Liaison and Military and users; aircraft to minimise delay; Liaison Officers to create a network plan before the day of operation, • is a technical helpdesk staffed by • monitors the tactical ATFCM coordinating issues affecting the high-profile certified technicians situation to ensure pan-European network; and runs in shifts to ensure that the compatibility; NM services are up and running on a • shares the plan with aircraft • optimises in close coordination 24/7 schedule. operators, airports and air with ANSPs: traffic control centres, following a FLIGHT PLANNING –– sector configuration and scenarios collaborative decision-making process. SERVICES (re-routing, level capping); –– ATFCM measures; AIRSPACE DATA Integrated Initial Flight Plan –– flight efficiency; MANAGEMENT Processing Systems (IFPS) –– H24 helpdesk; Aeronautical/Operational • receives, processes and Infrastructure distributes flight plan data for 41 • constantly updates information to EUROCONTROL Member States all stakeholders and airspace users • creates and maintains in the CACD: as well as some adjacent States; through the headline news on the routes, SIDs, STARs, CDRs, RAD, NOP Portal. PTRs, airports and all related data as • provides the flow management published in the States AIPs. system (ETFMS) with a copy of AIRCRAFT OPERATOR flight plan data; LIAISON AO/ANSPs Addressing Management • gives ANSPs flight plan data that Aircraft Operator Liaison Officers are • supports AOs in the set-up and can be automatically processed; the main point of contact with aircraft maintenance of NM services’ • provides real-time assistance, operators in the NMOC. They: addressing parameters. 24/7, in flight planning for aircraft • assist the pre-tactical team in operators. Operational Pre-Validation and preparing the daily tactical plan; Impact Assessment Flight Efficiency Support • participate in daily tactical • assesses network impact of future • helps airspace users to reduce operations, in particular re-routing; airspace changes or specific network environmental impact and to plan • monitor the weather, anticipate and events in close coordination with flights more efficiently. report on its impact on the network. ANSPs and national authorities.

Repetitive Flight Plan (RPL): MILITARY LIAISON Centralised Airspace Data Function • feeds the IFPS with scheduled flight OFFICER (MILO) (CADF) plan 20 hours before estimated off- • collects information about major • manages the Airspace Use Plan in block time (EOBT); military exercises/events; close coordination with Airspace • mitigates impact on the network by Management Cells. 20 The Network Manager Operations Centre

The operational level has to be a collaborative effort between aircraft operators, airports, operational managers at EUROCONTROL and ANSPs – there is an NM/EC Crisis Cell with quick access to political decision-makers, including government Transport Min- isters, Directors General of Civil Aviation of all European States and the top management of military and national security entities.

FLYING THROUGH EURO- Air Transport Association (IATA) and one from the PEAN AIRSPACE is now a closely choreographed European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA), exercise. With the performance scheme in place, all with complete access to all areas. the various flight characteristics have to be balanced, “The NMOC needs to have knowledge and under- as there are targets for delays and flight efficiency – standing of the impact of key constraints such as the merely getting an aircraft off the ground on time is EC regulation 261, the new passenger compensation not much use if an on-time departure results in hav- rule,” says Duncan Philip. “It represents potentially ing to increase flying time by bypassing a congested a huge cost for us, so we’re trying to manage it by area. To help aircraft operators fly more direct routes, watching delays very carefully, all the time. Safety is the Network Manager has championed new initia- always the number one priority, but we have to be able tives such as Free Route Airspace to free airlines from to control our costs without compromising safety.” static airway routes, cutting flying times for passen- The Network Manager employs staff to check gers, the fuel bill for aircraft operators and Europe’s the flight efficiency of current routes and those environmental burden. being planned and there are two representatives in NM airspace managers need similar skill sets the operations room from military to controllers’ plus a whole lot more. organisations to liaise on military They need to understand the entire operations. EUROCONTROL has for European network, have the network many years pioneered the flexible use “Safety is always the picture constantly in mind and deal of airspace (FUA) concept, where civil number one priority, with the interactions. They have to and military aircraft operators can but we have to be aware of cultural differences and share a common airspace. With the how to work with colleagues in all development of an airspace database, be able to control parts of the continent, not giving which can be updated in real time and our costs without instructions, as a controller does, but related to the flight plan processing discussing measures and agreeing on system, FUA was added to the list of compromising safety.” solutions. CFMU competencies early on. After Duncan Philip, Operations Control “The one thing we had been able many years of collaboration with Centre Support Manager at to develop over the years was trust,” military partners, NM can now track easyJet, and an aircraft operator says Žarko Sivčev, former CFMU vol- opening and closing times of military liaison expert in the NMOC canic ash expert and now operations airspace blocks, making them availa- manager at the European Aviation ble, where appropriate, to civil oper- Crisis Coordination Cell. “Airlines and ators. It also helps speed the transit air traffic control centres had come to times of military aircraft through civil airspace. realise that when they called us they would get an In a crisis situation, four or five airlines send answer, even in an event such as the 2010 ash crisis, representatives to Brussels to help airlines gener- which was the biggest crisis to hit European aviation ally support and interpret the complex situation if since the Second World War.” a large section of airspace is closed. Crisis manage- Slots are allotted in a completely equitable way ment needs to be managed at both operational and by a computer algorithm and there is therefore no political levels, with a strong link between the two. favouritism for any airline. Aircraft are not allowed

22 The Network Manager Operations Centre

to depart until slots are clear and available. All profes- stant communication with flow centres throughout sional users – airlines and control centres – can view the continent to help manage local issues within a this computer programme at work on their terminals. wider network context. “Some might argue this can NM will have a broad knowledge of the expected bring certain inefficiencies, with all the local dif- traffic loads though the EUROCONTROL traffic fore- ferences, but I believe this organisation enables the casting service and the airlines’ own twice-yearly highest positive effect on safety through collabora- schedule planning conferences. Short-term strate- tive decision making where we make the decisions gic and pre-tactical flow management operations together, based on the most accurate information,” begin to fill in the blanks on the details of expected says Davor Crnogorac, Head of ASM Department, traffic loads – this covers the planning phase between Croatia Control Ltd. six days to one day before operations, when the largest portion of flight plans are still missing for the BUT RELATIONSHIPS ARE A two-way street. planned day – but more than 80% are generally not The Network Manager has had to understand how yet filed the day before operations. the operational and business priorities of aircraft All flight plans for any aircraft flying through operators, ANSPs and airports drive capacity plan- Europe and Morocco are filed in anIntegrated Ini- ning. For example, at hub-and-spoke operations, NM tial Flight Plan Processing System (IFPS), where will need the airline to identify which flights should they are checked and validated. The flight planning be prioritised to make the crucial connections and services desk has a vital role to play not just in help- which flights can be delayed slightly because they do ing to ensure that the most efficient flights are being not have connecting passengers. NM needs to under- planned but in improving predictability – the very stand how local wind conditions will impact airport heart of efficient air traffic management. emission and noise levels, if there is a community “Centralising the flight data processing has added particularly sensitive to these issues on one side of a great deal of value,” says Riitta Uolamo, head of FDO the airport. at Finavia. “The most important advantage is that the The Network Manager is working with individ- data is up to date, relevant and available 24 hours a ual ANSPs to collaborate closely on short-term ATFM day in NM, ATS units and the cockpit. And we all fol- measures in a programme called “collaborative traffic low the same rules. It’s also important to know in the management” where controllers throughout the con- pre-flight planning phase about all the restrictions tinent know what measures NM is taking to balance in force, so there is no need to update the flight plan capacity and demand and NM can see what they are anymore; this allow us to accurately predict capacity doing which might have an impact on the plan. NM at an earlier stage.” has access to radar data which shows whether the Everyone in the system relies on accurate and plan is being followed or not, so can recalculate where timely airspace data – weather, the status of runways, military areas, everything a pilot will need to know to file an accurate flight plan. TheAirspace Data Man- agement team manages and provides all necessary airspace information to feed the IFPS and Enhanced Tactical Flow Management Systems (ETFMS) and aeronautical data systems of operational stakeholders. “Aeronautical data exchange works well and is particularly critical in areas such as pre-validation exercises, examining major airspace changes,” says Erika Liebick, National Environment Coordinator at DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung. “This requires extensive data exchanges which we have to validate via the NMOC in Brussels, as many different systems from different ANSPs are involved.” Tactical flow management positions look after day-to-day operations, ensuring that no part of the network is overloaded – or is about to be overloaded. This is a collaborative process, the NMOC is in con- The Network Manager Operations Centre 23

the capacity and the demand are imbalanced – part of the ETFMS. “The most important achievements are proba- bly not observed similarly by all stakeholders,” says Davor Crnogorac. “In our case, optimisation of manpower planning and individual controller shift ros- tering has made a significant impact. Systems have also evolved a lot at each end; ETFMS has become even more advanced, ANSP systems are safer and faster with the new advanced ATC tools and I see for a fact that AOC systems are more dynamic in flight planning.” “Tactical operations and tactical flow management have gone from being about applying static global regulations when capacity is above demand to today’s local practices to micro-managing flows, or flights, to avoid regulations,” says Sten Holst, FMP manager at Malmö ATC centre, part of the Nordic Unified Air traffic Control (NUAC) consortium. "I believe that demand is going to increase and it will increase faster than capacity because ANSPs are in a more rigid system. We can't keep up with the business plans of the airlines and I do believe we will see higher peaks. We also have a problem with the com- puterised flight planning because if the data has not been input correctly, then that impacts traffic flows. Another problem is the yearly differential in en-route charges which can cause traffic flows to shift unpre- dictably. When the increase in charges in Germany were announced, for example, we saw an immediate shift in the flows. How am I supposed to prepare my flow thinking if, on day one, it's all fine and the next day everything has changed?”

The Network Manager Operations Centre 25

“The biggest problem is therefore predictability,” are over 6,700 external stakeholders and users and says Sten Holst. “Even with free route airspace, which over the last two decades there have been no major we have in Sweden, controllers will still want to find system failures. The last 20 years have seen a contin- shorter routings which can then lead to overloads uous evolution of the technical systems designed and downstream. I think we need a tool developed to manage the increasing that can evaluate complexity; say number of roles the CFMU and NM I have a predicted traffic flow of 48 have been asked to perform – but aircraft an hour in a high sector; in “The demand that we’ve now the NMOC faces a number of theory that should not be a problem major challenges if it is to meet the but if 42 of those are descending or got at the moment is the demands of the future. climbing the complexity changes biggest we’ve ever seen” “The demand that we’ve got at rapidly.” the moment is the biggest we’ve Duncan Philip, Operations Control It is not just aircraft operators ever seen and, as airspace users we Centre Support Manager at who are integrated within the net- pay the bills, so there has been a lot easyJet, and an aircraft operator work, airports are also vital stake- of work to try and make NM more liaison expert in the NMOC holders. Thanks to the growing pop- efficient just in terms of resourcing ularity of programmes such as Air- manpower and so on,” says Dun- port Collaborative Decision Making can Philip. “Aircraft operators have (A-CDM), aircraft operators, air- invested heavily in new technology space planners, airports and air traffic management such as highly-sophisticated flight-planning technol- professionals are now starting to get a much clearer ogy and at the moment it is being underused. I know picture of the flight turnaround process at even the there are moves afoot to try and improve that but it busiest hubs. And with this clearer picture airspace seems to be quite a slow burner.” planners are, at last, starting to be able to understand In addition to regional targets, NM also has to and predict how individual airport operations will interface with traffic flows in the rest of the world. impact the entire European air traffic management About 20% of flights come from outside Europe and network. this is expected to rise to 25% in the next 10 years as NM’s services, including flight planning services higher growth rates in the Middle East, Southeast for aircraft operators, work to a 24/7 schedule. There Asia, and South America impact on global traffic. ▪ 26 Our 20 Year Journey

Adapting, evolving, enhancing performance

THE TWENTY YEAR JOURNEY OF THE NETWORK MANAGER Our 20 Year Journey 27

The Network Manager has become a global centre of excellence for balancing continent-wide air traffic demand with capacity, managing crises and reducing delays, disruptions and environmental burdens.

he journey from the original Central Flow If a single flow control centre was to be built then it Management Unit (CFMU) in 1995 to today’s also made sense to incorporate military and civil flow Network Manager (NM) has been a series of management operations. EUROCONTROL launched steppingT stones, as deeper and wider collaboration its Flexible Use of Airspace (FUA) concept, where civil between the unit’s stakeholders at an operational and military aircraft operators can share a common level – aircraft operators, air navigation service pro- airspace, in the mid-1990s and the resulting airspace viders (ANSPs), airports – has been paralleled by top- management results were included into CFMU oper- down institutional change. This has meant that NM ations. Initially the CFMU comprised two elements: is now one of the pillars of the Single European Sky flight planning and air traffic flow management. But (SES), which has brought the performance framework with the development of an airspace database, which to air traffic management (ATM) and air traffic flow could be updated in real time and related to the flight management (ATFM). plan processing system, FUA became a component From the outset, the CFMU/NM has been con- element of CFMU. stantly evolving as its potential to improve the per- In 1999 EUROCONTROL published its ATM 2000+ formance of Europe’s ATM system – by increasing Strategy. This included the concept of adding capac- safety, reducing delays, costs and environmental load ity to the notion of air traffic flow management to – has been seized upon by aircraft operators and poli- produce the concept of air traffic flow and capacity ticians, both to manage crises and to improve services management (ATFCM). It was a transformational to the travelling public. change. Taking on the role of capacity optimisation, The original pan-European ATFM concept called the CFMU concerned itself with finding ways to max- for the development of five regional units: Rome, imise capacity locally and at a network level. This Madrid, London, Paris and Frankfurt. But it soon meant looking for new ways to reduce overload – such became clear to everyone involved in the process as rerouting traffic through neighbouring airspace or that developing a single central flow management slightly advancing or reducing departure times – on system – and a single centre to centralise all flight a voluntary basis collaboratively with ANSPs, rather plan processing – would be a more sensible approach. than issuing a regulation which would keep an air- KVM FROM G&D IT control that towers above the rest

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craft on the ground. It was the initial step in moving Giovanni Lenti, Head of Network Operations. “A flight from air traffic “control” to “management” and “ena- will not be forced to wait at the airport gate because of bling”. CFMU airspace managers were now working traffic congestion but it will decide whether to absorb with controllers to increase the capacity of the overall the delay partially (or totally) in flight, partially (or system. “We would talk to the centres – could they totally) on the ground, as the mandatory time will maybe use controllers and sectors differently to bet- be at the destination airport or entering a congested ter absorb the bottleneck?” says Ken Thomas, Head of radar sector en-route.” the Network Operations Management Coordination Once CFMU operators had access to every flight Unit. “We were talking to the military about maybe plan and correlated radar position, that information changing their planning to something that could give could be shared with airports, aircraft operators and us more capacity, talking to the airlines about rerout- ATC units. This meant that on a flight between Ath- ing around bottlenecks so as not to increase delay.” ens and London the controller for London’s airspace This shift from control to management led to the would know that the flight was due to enter London emergence of the concept of the European ATM net- airspace three hours, rather than 20 minutes before, work. Via the CFMU, national flow managers began to which made capacity planning a lot easier. This data see Europe as a single network involving many stake- is available now not just on the standard EURO- holders, all concerned with improving safety and CONTROL display but can be inserted directly into the optimising capacity. And among these stakeholders customised systems of ANSPs. were airports, which had not yet been integrated into The next stage of the evolution of the ATM net- the ATFM system. With this more “network-cen- work management process was to integrate airports tric” view of Europe’s ATM system, CFMU operators into the system. Integration is a two-way process and started to refine their capacity planning capabilities, by starting the flow of information to stakeholders, at the strategic level. This involved looking at over- the CFMU increased the flow the other way – airports all demand at the start of the year, at the pre-techni- began supplying data of their own to the system, such cal planning phase – a week in advance or a day in as the time of pushbacks from the stand, which auto- advance – and then at the tactical level during oper- matically generated an ATC message for the CFMU. ations. In other words, the process of consolidating Information flow started to become more formal- the strategic/pre-tactical/tactical phases had begun. ised, with teleconferences, daily conferences and the The objective was to define as precisely as possible development of web-based interfaces for exchanging the predicted traffic load at any time and place – and information. the main sources were the flight plans filed by pilots before each flight and the radar data which showed THE SINGLE EUROPEAN SKY II (SES2) legis- the actual traffic in the air. So the CFMU became lative package, released in 2009, introduced per- a central repository for real-time flight plans and formance objectives and a timescale for targeted radar data, and began to make much more accurate improvements. To help meet the targets, EURO- predictions of real traffic loads. As accuracy increased CONTROL produced a “playbook”, which sets down so did capacity. There was less need to keep capacity alternative tactics and strategies which flow manag- in reserve; the capacity of the European ATM system ers can use to improve the system’s performance. increased between 5 and 10% during this period. The political, industrial and social landscape of Europe and its neighbours is in a state of constant flux THIS PROCESS OF IMPROVING predictability (see 'Disruption and crisis management' overleaf). In is now an integral part of NM operations and will 2010, after a series of major crises, NM was given new continue well into the future. “In a few years we will capabilities to handle crises and speed the recovery. have traffic predictability that is very close to 100% The centralised flow management function is now and completely different flow management,” says vital in handling any reduction in airspace or airport 30 Our 20 Year Journey

capacity, in anticipation and recovery. It Disruption and crisis management allows the rest of the network to continue Crises have frequently acted as a catalyst to change, requiring NM to take on new roles. working more or less normally and the disruption to be handled smoothly. The CFMU was also a leading player in The Balkan war (1999) led to the closure of airspace and the International Civil Aviation Organi- airports in many Balkan States and airspace above Hungary, zation (ICAO) initiative called “Flight Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria was disrupted by the crisis. Plan 2012”, to move to a flight plan for- The CFMU worked hard to find solutions to the crisis but mat which would be able to exploit new delays in 1999 were 30% higher than expected. The aftermath of the war in 2000 and the increase in traffic across Europe technology, such as precision-based nav- aggravated network delays. igation (PBN), providing all stakeholders with a more accurate and flexible means of communicating the predicted path The 11 September 2001 attacks closed airspace over the USA. of the aircraft. Not all aircraft operators The CFMU, using its highly interconnected communication were ready for Flight Plan 2012, so CFMU network, informed each European ATC centre, airport control flight plan managers developed a switch, tower and over 250 aircraft operators using US airspace of whereby aircraft operators filed plans in the fact. Within four minutes each flight scheduled to depart the old format and these were then auto- from Europe to the US was prevented from leaving and those matically converted to the new format. aircraft already in mid-flight were diverted to safe landing places or returned to their original airports. The CFMU also When the CFMU was created, about 50% prevented other flights from taking off to accommodate of flight plans were processed automati- homeward-bound aircraft. cally. Today this figure is over 96%, leading to huge economies of scale and the ability to see the entire network picture. When the eruption of the Icelandic volcano, on 14 April 2010, happened the CFMU organised teleconferences where the IN 2009 THE PRICE of oil rose to above forecasts published by London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre $100 a barrel and there was a new imper- and decisions taken by individual State authorities, were ative to reduce the amount of fuel airlines presented and their impact explained. There were up to 500 were burning. EUROCONTROL and its participants at CFMU volcanic ash teleconferences. The Crisis Cell focused on how to unlock the paralysis of the European airline partners launched a major initia- network in a situation where the potential risk to flights from tive around flight efficiency to compare the ash could not be accurately assessed. Much has been done the flight profiles of different airlines to to be better prepared for any return of volcanic eruptions in look for “best-practice” flight planning Europe. ICAO has agreed to amendments to the ICAO EUR and operations. The Agency also devel- and the NAT Volcanic Ash Contingency Plan. oped new tools and procedures to make use of military airspace when it became available. While efficiencies were being On 10 December 2011, Russian satellite Phobos-Grunt left its achieved, mistakes were still being made orbit and was about to fall back to earth; on 16 January 2012, which led to flight inefficiencies. So the the Russian government requested all European States to close their airspace for two hours, in case the satellite crashed CFMU managers introduced a formal in Europe. NM tracked the predicted fall of the satellite and post-operational process of analysing shared this data with colleagues throughout the continent. what routes aircraft operators flew and After close analysis, the operations centre decided that Europe whether they could have been improved. was not at risk. Airports and airspace remained open and the In July 2011, the European Commis- satellite fell into the Pacific Ocean. sion set up the Network Manager as part of Regulation (EU) No 677/2011. NM has been helping to bring short-term Air The MH17 crisis, in July 2014 gave NM a new role, working Traffic Flow and Capacity Management with ICAO and States to develop a conflict zone portal for the European region, collecting information about conflicts in (ATFCM) measures carried out by indi- neighbouring areas. Airlines always have the final say on whether vidual ANSPs closer to their own by inte- or not to fly over a particular country but they can get information grating its systems and procedures with from a wide number of sources. NM now consolidates this individual ANSPs, making flow manage- information from different sources and provides access to this ment a shared responsibility. ATFCM is sensitive information to appropriate personnel. now in every operations room and every air traffic control centre in Europe. ▪ Safegate Advertising Feature 31

3 REASONS TO CONSIDER MODERNIZING ATCO WORKING POSITIONS By Fredrik Johansson – Safegate Group

ince the early days of 3. Gains from aviation, air traffic con- systemized trollers (ATCO) have Shad to deal with multiple num- workflow and bers of screens, mimic panels operations and other input devices clut- tering and even complicating AS AN EXAMPLE OF sys- their work. The controller is temized workflow, stop bars forced to create a mental image can be set up to be automati- of the total situation on the air- cally controlled based on cur- field, despite the multitude of rent runway status, location tools on the Air Traffic Control of aircraft and if line up clear- (ATC) console. Today, the market is realizing there is a better way ance is given by ATCO. Automation removes the need for ATCO that has significant advantages. Indeed, the market trend towards to manually turn off the stop bar when the aircraft arrives to the modernizing ATCO working positions through ATC system and runway entry point, thereby, reducing workload and enforcing display integration is a growing topic in the industry. the usage of stop bars. This systemized approach can be utilized The most pressing reason for considering modernization is with any task throughout the workflow where a non-critical projected growth of air traffic that threatens to strain even the activity can be supported by a system instead of putting addi- most sophisticated airports today. That’s why these 3 reasons for tional workload on the air traffic controller. modernizing ATCO working positions are worth thinking about. By systemizing the operational process the system takes on non-critical tasks to reduce the controller workload and improve 1. A bigger focus on safety safety. The resulting improved mental image allows the controller to concentrate on a safe and efficient traffic flow. For congested THE INTEGRATED SYSTEM PUTS together all relevant airports, this frees up unused capacity where traffic expansion information that the controller needs to make the correct deci- may not otherwise be possible. sion and manage traffic flow. The integrated system holds a number of functional modules integrated into one main display, THE MOST IMPORTANT TAKE AWAY is that there are plus one electronic flight progress strip screen, for each working reasons the market trending towards this approach to ATC. It all position. Thus, the ATCO is not distracted, has all the information ties together and increasingly, airport operations are seen more he or she needs, and can make better decisions. The resulting like one airport, one system, one process. Reducing the workload reduced workload leads to increased safety for all stakeholders and providing sophisticated support for the ATCO is a great step interacting with the flight process; from air traffic control to -air forward. In order to do that, we can rethink how it works today line to ground handlers or maintenance staff. for a more modern ATC tomorrow. ▪

2. Improving ATC efficiency and decision making Fredrik Johansson is a Product Manager at Safegate Group and expert of the SafeControl TODAY, THE COMMON PRACTICE for ATC systems is to ten- Suite. Read his work and more from our der and purchase them as separate systems and perhaps interface experts on the Safegate Group Blog. them at a later stage. This approach loses out on the value system and display integration offers. www.safegate.com Vital surveillance, planning, control/monitoring, and clear- ance systems and functionality are integrated into this display      to provide the controller with situational awareness and decision -making support throughout the operational workflow. Integra- tion like this can also provide different information and functionality based on user area of responsibility which improves the ability of the ATCO to make decisions. FOCUS

Environmental gains from advanced navigation capability

Tests using advanced flight ifications contain functions which can be procedures demonstrate used to design and operate more advanced flight procedures. One example is the radi- RF LEG SEGMENTNEXT more flexible transition us-to-fix (RF) function which enables an to final approach. equipped aircraft to fly a repeatable curved trajectory with a constant turn radius, as presented in Figure one. ARC ocus on more efficient, greener CENTRE operations at European airports Aircraft turn FIX has accelerated interest in per- performance using

SEGMENT Fformance-based navigation (PBN) proce- PREVIOUS dures that offer more predictable arrival radius-to-fix functionality and departure routes. The opportunity to fly short routes and to avoid populated THE RF FUNCTION WITH associ- Figure one: Constant radius arc or RF Leg. areas is prompting air navigation service ated turn radius needs to be coded in the It defines a constant radius turn between providers (ANSPs) and airports to invest database of an aircraft’s flight manage- two fixes, at a specified constant distance in new airspace design procedures to sup- ment system. To operate the function the from the centre fix port modern satellite-based operations. flight management system as well as the “There are different specifications aircraft navigation displays and flight you can use within PBN, some of which guidance system must be capable and “A number of ANSPs in Europe are require only minimal new operational certified. A survey initiated some time currently making use of RF functionality procedures,” explains David De Smedt, ago by the EUROCONTROL Navigation in some of their standard departure or EUROCONTROL Senior Navigation Unit indicated that currently all flight arrival and approach procedures,” says De Expert. “Unlike conventional navigation, management system manufacturers are Smedt. “Amsterdam Schiphol and Zürich PBN does not exclusively rely on signals able to offer the function in their products airport have an RF leg in one of their from the ground, and supports more pre- either as a standard fit or as an option. In published departure procedures, while cise trajectory planning which brings terms of current fleet equipage in Europe, Gothenburg and Stockholm airports in multiple benefits.” it was estimated that more than half the Sweden feature an RF leg as part of a green For some time now the EURO- aircraft population today already have the approach path that reduces noise for local CONTROL Navigation Unit has been function available. inhabitants.” actively involved in defining standards The function can be applied in depar- The performance of RF differs from for navigation which do not solely depend ture, arrival and approach procedures and classic aircraft turn performance due to on ground infrastructure but also rely on can provide benefits whenever accurate the fact that a classical turn algorithm global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and repeatable aircraft navigation dur- will determine its own turn radius based technologies and self-contained aircraft ing turns is required. This can be the case on external conditions (aircraft ground- navigation systems (also called Inertial in obstacle-rich environments (where the speed) and internal criteria (preferred Reference Systems). PBN is a collection of function is used as part of a certain PBN bank angle). The result is that the clas- standards containing navigation perfor- specification called RNP-AR) or where sical turn algorithms in navigation sys- mance and functional requirements which environmental constraints require tems generate turn trajectories that can can be applied to a certain airspace, proce- the aircraft to fly a defined, repeatable vary for each aircraft type and each set of dure or flight route. A number of PBN spec- turn path. external conditions. Focus 33

RWY08L Testing advanced PBN procedures RWY08R IF003 A PARTICULAR AREA OF applica- IF006 bility of the RF function is the transition IF009 to final approach. Traditionally an aircraft is tactically controlled at the end of the arrival phase in the Terminal Area. This implies that it is put on a radar vec- RF003 tor after which it is cleared to intercept the final approach segment, served in case of precision approach operations by an Instrument Landing System (ILS) or RF006 GNSS-based Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS). Note that the term “xLS” RF009 is often used as a generic term for ILS and ILS-look-alike precision approach systems like GBAS. Alternatively a more specific procedure could be defined whereby the air- Figure two: Test-procedures consisting of craft flies a curved path in space, which radius-to-fix leg connected to final approach connects to the final approach segment at a certain distance from the runway threshold. The EUROCONTROL Naviga- and flight guidance modes. Figure three tion Team has designed a set of test-proce- illustrates one of the procedures as shown dures consisting of an RF turn which con- on the navigation display of one of the nects to either a 3 nautical mile (nm), 6nm aircraft after implementation of the pro- or 9nm final approach segment, as indi- cedure in the database. cated in Figure two. In order to limit the bank angles, a speed constraint was put Effect of navigation errors at the start point of each RF turn. A verti- and external influences cal path along the RF turn was defined by altitude constraints at the start and end LATERAL NAVIGATION ERRORS points of the RF leg. WITH a magnitude of up to 0.15nm were Figure three: Example of implemented “EUROCONTROL simulated a num- introduced while flying the PBN pro- procedure in one of the aircraft types ber of different operating conditions to cedures. The effect of those navigation test the procedures,” explains De Smedt. errors was that the assumed end point of “These included a range of meteorolog- the RF leg was shifted north or south of bility to cope with these height variations ical conditions including different tem- the final approach centreline. Therefore, while intercepting the xLS glide path, the peratures, wind strength and a mixture in order to intercept the lateral compo- tests were conducted under temperature of different aircraft types.” nent (localiser) of the xLS final approach conditions ranging from ISA-35 degrees The test procedures were imple- segment, the aircraft and/or flight crew to ISA+35 degrees, where ISA stands for mented and flown in five different cer- had to make a correction. Additionally, the International Standard Atmosphere tified, professional flight-crew training a crosswind of 25 knots was programmed (defining a standard temperature of 15 simulators of the following types: Airbus into the simulator. degrees Celsius at sea level). A340, Boeing B737, Boeing B777, Embraer Before intercepting the vertical 190 and Bombardier Q400. The simula- component (glide path) of the xLS final Test results tors were equipped with navigation equip- approach segment, the aircraft uses bar- ment from different manufacturers. The ometric inputs for vertical navigation HIGH-DEFINITION VIDEOS FROM purpose of the test was to investigate the along the PBN procedure (RF leg). Con- THE cockpit displays were recorded dur- capability and measure the performance version of barometric inputs to aircraft ing each simulation run, as well as the air- of various aircraft types while transition- height is affected by temperature: under craft’s flown profiles. Figure four provides ing from the PBN procedure (RF leg) to cold temperatures the aircraft's real an overview of recorded horizontal and the final approach segment. This tran- height is lower than the height indicated vertical aircraft trajectories with a final sition requires the avionics and aircraft in the cockpit. The opposite applies for hot approach segment intercept at 6nm from navigation systems to switch navigation temperatures. To test the aircraft’s capa- the threshold. MODERNISATION OF ATM SYSTEMS DSNA, the French Air Navigation Service Provider, is building a Single European Sky strategic vision, where User Preferred Routing becomes a reality.

This new advanced ATC tool contributes to improve both safety and capacity. Further deployments are planned in Italy and Bordeaux ACC by the end of 2016.

Designed by DSNA, ERATO is a modern set of tools (MTCD, MONA, What-if) for air traffi c controllers: • Confl ict detection (aircraft fi ltering, agenda) • Monitoring fl ight trajectories (alerts in case of divergence in the vertical and/or horizontal plan) • Extrapolation of the situational awareness and simulation

8 - 10 March, 2016 (Madrid) come and see a demo at our stand #480 !

Ministère de l’Écologie, du Développement durable et de l’Énergie

www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr Focus 35

4500

4000 The horizontal view in

48.38 3500 Figure four also indicates the location of the runways at the 3000 airport by means of the two 2500 bold black lines. The designed

2000 vertical path is indicated in the vertical view of Figure four 1500 Height above Thresfold [ft] above Thresfold Height

Latitude [deg] by means of the black dashed

1000 line. This represents a two-degree barometric descent path 500 during the PBN procedure 48.23 11.54 11.83 15 12 9 6 3 0 -3 connected to a three-degree Longitude [deg] Along Track Distance from Threshold [NM] glide path along the final approach segment. Figure four indicates that there is a Figure four: Recorded horizontal (left) and vertical (right) aircraft variation in aircraft behav- trajectories for 6nm final approach segment intercept iour during the intercept of the final approach segment, both in the horizontal and in the vertical dimension, especially when exposed to lateral Recommendations navigation errors and temper- The simulations have led to a series of recommendations for the design and ature deviations. The temper- deployment of advanced PBN to final approach operations as follows: ature deviations cause the aircraft to fly above or below the • Localiser and glide path of the final • Similar to the vertical intercept behaviour, flight designed path along the PBN approach can be intercepted at the crew interventions are required in some systems to procedure. Low temperatures same point in the procedure provided establish the aircraft on the localiser at the end of did not cause any problems for that this point is at a minimum the RF leg. This indicates that, although the overall the glide path intercept as the distance from the threshold. For human-in-the-loop operation could be completed aircraft made a level-off when this minimum distance, 5nm is successfully during the tests, the investigated reaching the published glide proposed. In this case, observed airborne systems do not yet all provide a level path intercept altitude. As lateral navigation performance along of automation which is suited for all applications the PBN procedure should be less and which can cope with all external factors. in this case the aircraft was than 0.15nm. Depending on those external factors, the intended below the designed path, the procedure and the design of the airborne system, actual intercept point of the • Temperature deviations between flight crew interventions remain necessary to glide path was shifted closer ISA-35 and ISA+35 degrees Celsius complete the operation. to the threshold. The high cause the aircraft to arrive at the temperatures caused a signif- glide path intercept point with no The findings are subject to flight trials co-funded by more than half-scale deviation on the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) icant variability in glide path the glide path deviation indicator, Joint Undertaking to validate the new approach and intercept behaviour. While which is within operational limits. landing technologies in a range of different airport the flight guidance systems of The higher temperatures within environments. Since the start of 2015, 15 companies, some of the aircraft were able this range will require flight crew including ANSPs, airports, airlines and avionics to cope with the height varia- interventions to get the aircraft fully suppliers, formed the Advanced Approaches to Land tions caused by high temper- centred on the glide path. This should (AAL) consortium to conduct more than 140 flights atures during the intercept be accomplished no later than 3nm until July 2016, to test new PBN procedures. Both of the glide path, other sys- from the threshold (at around 1,000 Frankfurt and Bremen airports in Germany have feet using a three-degree glide path). since announced plans to test and implement RF legs tems required intervention to intercept the xLS final approach path, and other by flight crews. However, at • To improve the glide path intercept in airports are expected to follow. a distance of less than 2nm case of high temperatures, the glide beyond the intercept point path should be intercepted from a “You can use RF legs in any flight phase in the of the 6nm final segment shallower angle. For example in the terminal area. More airports are recognising the simulations, a three-degree glide benefits of the procedures and are starting to in Figure four, all vertical tra- path was intercepted from a two- participate in trials. It is not yet that widely used, but jectories are fully centred on degree barometric descent path. it is certainly coming,” concludes De Smedt. the glide path. ▪ 36 Focus

Arrive on time with a minute to spare

Asking aircraft to add a minute to their Cruising Time seems an unlikely way to arrive on time with less holding delay, but that is exactly what has been achieved by members of FABEC (Functional Airspace Block Europe Central) and its partners.

lose collaboration years. “We have developed between six control common procedures together centres managed by with all the partners,” says NATSC UK, Maastricht Upper Theo Hendriks, Capacity Pro- Area Control Centre (MUAC), gramme Manager at MUAC. the Direction des Services “We are looking for homog- de la Navigation Aérienne enous implementation of (DSNA) of France and the Irish arrival management support, Aviation Authority (IAA) has even if local procedures vary.” streamlined arrivals into Maastricht plays a central role, London Heathrow, reducing handling many of the arrival holding time and cutting streams to all these airports. emissions. The cross-border “We have introduced this Extended Arrival Manage- without any negative impact ment (XMAN) programme became fully operational on Maastricht’s performance, and it is our intention at London Heathrow in November 2015, the first of 24 Delay situation to maintain this so that our customers take full ben- major European airports required to implement the at the London efit of the XMAN service on top,” he adds. procedures under Implementing Rule 716/2014. The Heathrow stacks XMAN extends the active planning horizon for development demands close cooperation between arriving aircraft as far away as 350 nautical miles air navigation service providers (ANSPs) and is based (nm) from the airport. This is made possible by shar- around a completely new way of sharing information. ing the airport’s arrival management information By slowing streams of arriving aircraft during with adjacent service providers in real-time, enabling the cruise phase, flights spend less controllers to issue speed instructions time holding in stacks close to the where appropriate. At the heart of the airport. “NATS is focused on reduc- process is the Single European Sky ing noise and environmental pollu- “Activities like XMAN and air traffic ATM Research programme (SESAR) tion,” says Paul Nicholls, NATS Queue flow capacity management (ATFCM) concept of System Wide Information Management and Airspace Efficiency require a lot of collaboration between Management (SWIM) which enables Manager. “We keep aircraft in the air- partners. There is no room for XMAN partners to share the same borne bank to make sure we always questions about sovereignty. The spirit information using a web-based ser- have capacity during the hours of in the group is exceptionally good.” vice. In the case of Heathrow, NATS operation, but aircraft now arrive at Swanwick releases information from the holding stack up to a minute later Gerald Regniaud, XMAN its Harris Orthogon arrival manage- than previously.” By simply absorbing DSNA Coordinator ment system to all XMAN partners one minute during the en route sec- using Snowflake’s GO Publisher soft- tor of the flight, aircraft can reduce “We have developed a common ware. Neighbouring centres in France, carbon emissions by 15,000 tonnes a approach, together with NATS, for Ireland, Scotland and Maastricht can year. EUROCONTROL’s most recent XMAN - including the kind of data, act on identical flight information estimates based on data collected the kind of technology, and the kind according to predetermined guide- during the 18-month trial period show lines. For example, a predicted flight of operational procedures. This is airlines can cut €4 million annually delay of more than seven minutes all agreed within the larger from fuel bills at Heathrow alone. prompts a controller to issue a speed FABEC framework.” The procedure is to be rolled reduction instruction for that flight. out at Frankfurt, Munich, Amster- Dr Frank Zetsche, FABEC “This is a forward-looking SESAR dam and further airports in coming XMAN Project Leader, DFS concept that uses service-oriented Focus 37

Information exchange

THE FABEC XMAN PROJECT is addressing the roll-out of XMAN across multiple airports, supported by a SESAR real-time simulation undertaken at architecture,” says Nicholls. “We are the first to EUROCONTROL's Experimental Centre in Brétigny, deploy the SWIM architecture and all the flexibility The delay situation France, in December 2015. Traffic samples and delay it offers. It is down to the end user - in this case the at the London scenarios were created for seven hub airports which ANSP - to use the information in the way they need Heathrow stacks delivered simulated arrival information to a real-time to.” Maastricht has gone so far as to integrate it with of Lambourne, simulation platform. Controllers from four different the radar data, adds Hendriks: “Every time we receive Ockham, Biggen upper area control centres participated in the exer- information from a partner downstream, the data is and Bovingdon cise applying the current XMAN operational concept. checked by the MUAC system and, if The results are contributing to further validated, displayed in the radar label development of the procedures to on the controller’s display. It has to be apply to multiple users whether busy quick and easy to execute so as not to “We carried out extensive analysis hubs or regional airports. disturb the efficiency of the controller.” on the impact the procedure has on Several XMAN partners are using In trials conducted since April the airlines. We analysed 50,000 the existing standard On Line Data 2014, Maastricht issued speed instruc- Interface (OLDI) exchange mecha- different flights and correlated the tions to between 100 and 250 flights nism to receive arrival management results. The evidence shows the daily, and achieved a compliance rate data from downstream participants. procedure only benefits the airlines. of 89%. “We have a continuous view “Arrival management messages can of the information, and we trans- They still land at the same time, be relayed through this existing fer the delay request for a particular despite joining the stack later.” inter-centre exchange link,” explains flight close to 300 nautical miles from Paul Nicholls, NATS Queue Dr Frank Zetsche, FABEC XMAN Pro- the airport, or 50-60 minutes’ flying Management and Airspace ject Leader. “Initially, Frankfurt and time. This information should be no Efficiency Manager Munich will use OLDI links to deliver different whether it is from London, data directly into partner systems. Frankfurt, or Schiphol. There is a lot SWIM output is richer, but the receiv- of detail involved in implementing “We developed a detailed set of ing partner has to set up a sophis- the new procedures at a high perfor- procedures that do not disturb ticated data processing platform in mance unit such as Maastricht. You controller efficiency. They are order to use the information.” DFS need transparency between all the easy, quick and executable in a way plans to move to a SWIM environ- actors and SWIM is the tipping point that fits the controller’s method of ment, but sees OLDI as a first step in for the concept.” working. MUAC offers experience the process. “We already exchange The XMAN SWIM application that can be applied to the whole information with Vienna via OLDI, will become the very first European and we are investigating further links programme” SWIM activity to be standardised by to our partner ANSPs in the east.” a European Organisation for Civil Avi- Theo Hendriks, Capacity Programme The two data exchange mecha- ation Equipment (EUROCAE) working Manager Maastricht UAC nisms are complementary according group. Working Group 104 is due to to Vincent Taverniers, Maastricht deliver minimum aviation system XMAN Operational Coordinator. The overall objective of the FABEC XMAN/ performance standards (MASPA) in “OLDI is enough to transmit the AMAN project is to develop, validate and 2017, and will be available for re-use implement cross-centre and cross-border arrival manager message to the con- for standardisation of other SWIM arrival management procedures and troller for tactical operations. If you services in the future. techniques. want a wider picture, for example to 38 Focus

“It is much more efficient to lose time en route at high altitude than holding at lower levels, as there is less impact on fuel consumption, emissions and passenger comfort. XMAN enables airports like Heathrow to cut holding time, while others affected by bad weather or occasional overload might, in some occasions, even completely avoid have a view of what is going to hap- air traffic flow capacity management holding.” pen in an hour, you need technology (ATFCM) situational awareness, short- like Extensible Markup Language Vincent Taverniers, Maastricht term ATFCM measures (STAM), and (XML) so you can decide what infor- XMAN Operational Coordinator extended ATC planning.” He says the mation you want to retrieve for your system is SWIM-ready and is already own centre.” Amsterdam controllers exchanging information based on have been sending OLDI XML format and web-based messages to Maastricht protocols, and predicts the controllers since 2011 in XMAN portal will play an order to request speed important role in coordinat- adjustments a few minutes ing many activities, includ- before sector transfer. This ing departure management allows fine-tuning of the information. “We are only at arrival sequence, and can be the beginning of SWIM.” used in tandem with XMAN DSNA is upgrading the activity which takes place at Thales arrival manager at distances up to 350nm from Paris Charles de Gaulle to the airport. implement XMAN from The Irish Aviation 2018. While arrival manage- Authority initially added ment information has been a stand-alone human- shared between approach machine-interface (HMI) at and area control centres in Shannon area control centre to display The controller’s radar label showing France for almost a decade, this will be the Heathrow landing sequence and asso- the requested speed instruction (M75 = the first cross-border application. DSNA ciated delays, and intends to introduce Mach 0.75) for a London Heathrow inbound is also installing the system at Nice, Lyon automatic exchange of XMAN data via flight (BAW8RM) as a result of XMAN airports and Marseilles ACC, adding more OLDI from mid-2016. IAA’s Cooperation Heathrow operations partners to the XMAN community. of Air Navigation Service Continuing this level of providers (COOPANS) auto- collaboration and coordina- mation system is already tion will be key to the long- configured to accept arrival term success of XMAN. As management messages and the concept moves to the this will allow delay data to next development phase, in be automatically displayed which as many as a dozen to Shannon controllers in airports will be able to share the track data block. arrival information with DSNA, meanwhile, is Maastricht, the technology also developing a SWIM and operational concept platform, and currently has to be sustainable. “It displays information on is important to design, a dedicated HMI at Reims develop, and implement the and Brest area control centres in France. procedures with the assurance we can Gerald Regniaud is DSNA’s XMAN Co- Traffic overview of flights inbound do another 10 airports on top,” says Hen- ordinator: “We have a new HMI and we have to London Heathrow driks. “The work we are doing now is just ideas to display other functions such as the first step for a European roll out.” ▪ EUROCONTROL KEEP ABREAST OF EUROCONTROL AND ATM NEWS “Driving Excellence in ATM Performance”

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AD_Publications 2016.indd 1 04/02/16 07:07 40 Focus

Proving the future will work tion in complexity and diversity of HMIs.” With the first Single European Sky It is one of the most complex and vital challenges facing air traffic ATM Research (SESAR) programme in its management (ATM) today: how can we ensure that airspace deployment phase, the EEC has played a pivotal role in helping validate some of design improvements, new concepts and tools will deliver the the initial SESAR concepts – and those safety, capacity, flexibility, cost and environmental benefits that pre-date SESAR such as free route air- research models suggest? The EUROCONTROL Experimental space – for a wide number of clients within and beyond the SESAR Joint Undertaking. Centre in Brétigny, France, is helping to find the answers. ESCAPE is also a vital component in enhancing the Network Manager’s Euro- ith billions of euros being Over the past 50 years the EURO- pean route network design function, by invested in new ATM tech- CONTROL Experimental Centre (EEC) in enabling a full cycle of new concept devel- nologies and procedures – Brétigny, south of Paris, has developed opment. It allows researchers to plan the forW both research and deployment – it is a suite of tools to simulate the deploy- initial conceptual elements through critical that once in operation they deliver ment of a wide range of new procedures detailed designs of airspace structures the planned benefits. It is a complex chal- and technologies from very small to large up to validation of new concepts via real lenge because a capacity or cost benefit multinational airspaces – and has devel- time simulations before implementation. in one area can reduce safety or environ- oped the experience and independence The centre has recently completed a mental performance in another. A sector to ensure that results will be accurate and simulation exercise for Danube FAB cli- redesign in the upper airspace can reduce timely. ents, where it simulated the full airspace workload for one controller – but adds to “We are unique in that with our of Bulgaria and Romania, in a traditional, another’s at lower levels. There is only one ESCAPE simulator (see box on page 42) we fixed-route structure and then a free-route authoritative way of validating the bene- can simulate very large airspace changes,” structure to assess the potential benefits fits of new technologies and procedures said Philippe Debels, Airspace Simulation of free route in terms of kilometres flown, and that is to simulate their introduction Manager. “We are also flexible – we can capacity and workload. in the most realistic way possible: quite emulate almost any system in Europe. Clients include FAB partners, indi- difficult when it comes to remodelling the A recent simulation for the Functional vidual air navigation service providers airspace around an airport and extraordi- Airspace Block Europe Central (FABEC) (ANSPs), airports, airspace users and narily difficult when the entire airspace countries involved eight different types other stakeholders, covering all phases of of a functional airspace block (FAB) is of human-machine interfaces (HMIs) for flight and from a network – that is capac- involved. example; now we have basically no limita- ity demand and balancing – perspective. Focus 41

They come to the EEC because expensive) simulation.” the centre has a long and suc- "We are unique in that with our As the ATM system of the cessful track record in validat- ESCAPE simulator we can simulate future will involve more inte- ing new ATM concepts. It uses grated operations between E-OCVM, the European Oper- very large airspace changes" airspace users, airports, Net- ational Concept Validation Philippe Debels, work Manager and ANSPs, Methodology, a recognised Airspace Simulation Manager the validation platforms will validation process developed become more complex and by EUROCONTROL and used networked. The centre has in SESAR that gives solid guidelines on While there is no ultimate substitute recently installed an Airbus A320 cockpit, how to build a robust and convincing case, for live trials, platforms such as ESCAPE a 3D tower simulator and an Airport Oper- demanding evidence at every step. EURO- can be used to run preparatory exercises ation Centre (APOC) simulator. When CONTROL also has a unique combination before the live trials take place – so they integrating the cockpit, tower and ATC of skills and experience in dealing with are less costly and more effective. Value platforms it is now possible to simulate multi-cultural ATM issues and a reputa- for money is a key requisite in any plat- time-based separations on final approach tion for impartiality. form validation trial. This is where com- and assess the benefits for all stakehold- “Our SESAR work has included proto- plex tools and years of expert experience ers. Within a networked concept of oper- typing simulations in an iterative cycle to can prove invaluable. ations even a simple concept can have a develop or to fine-tune a certain concept “One of the major constraints when complex series of consequences on other like Point Merge, Short Term Air Traffic running real-time simulations is the lim- stakeholders, so it is important to under- Flow Management, User Driven Prioriti- ited availability of experts and air traffic stand whether an ATC improvement in sation Process, Time-Based Separation or controllers. In order to make best use of one small area, for example, could result Extended Arrival Manager or for specific their time and effort we build experi- in increased fuel burn or workload in needs of specific airports,” said Philippe ments that are a grouping of many pos- another. It is also increasingly important Debels. sible scenarios, which remain realistic, to assess the overall performance impact even if in real life they are unlikely to of specific concepts or combination of con- OVER THE PAST FEW years, the EEC occur at the same time. This is very much cepts on the Network. has introduced a range of inter-connect- appreciated by our clients," said Philippe These capabilities underpin some able simulator platforms including an Debels. of the EEC’s main contributions to the aircraft cockpit, a Network Manager “Before running a large simulation SESAR programme, not just in develop- platform, the ATC system and the airport we suggest a simplified (and less costly) ing very large-scale demonstrations, but tower. This allows the centre to validate prototyping simulation, with a reduced also assisting the Deployment Manager very complex concepts which have a mul- set of airspace configurations and poten- with the implementation of concepts that ti-stakeholder, multi-national dimension. tial new tools. So if, for example, a service are mature, either for individual States or With a concept such as extended-AMAN provider wants to introduce free route FABs or the Network Manager. (arrivals management), for example, the airspace and a set of controller decision “Further down the road we will centre is ready to validate the procedure support or safety tools, not all yet fully increasingly support validation of inte- not just for one airport but across several adapted to their own needs, we can use grated network, ATS and airport opera- ANSPs and different airports, looking the prototyping simulations to reduce the tions with the newly deployed network at how the new traffic flows will impact number of options and fine-tune the tools management platform and the airport flight operations in many States. before going through a larger (and more operations platform,” said Philippe Debels. Platforms to cover every step of the future

The Brétigny EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre features a large number of different types of simulator platforms and various tools for validation.

The largest one is the air traffic control simulator ESCAPE, the EUROCONTROL Simulation Capability and Platform for Experimentation. ESCAPE is a vital component in enhancing the Network Manager’s European route network design function, by enabling a full cycle of new concept development. It allows researchers to plan the initial conceptual elements through detailed designs of airspace structures up to validation of new concepts via real-time simulations before implementation. It is built around major components such as the EUROCONTROL air traffic generator (eATG); the flight data processor (ground); the human machine interface (with a vast library of existing interfaces); the data preparation module and the Base of Aircraft Data, which is a database of aircraft performance models. It comprises several ATC simulation rooms: two large rooms with up to 40 controller positions each and a smaller one, accommodating up to 16 positions. A further room with 46 piloting positions can simulate realistic aircraft operations for the ATC simulations.

For network issues and planning there is the EUROCONTROL Network Management Validation Platform (NMVP), a clone of the NM operational system, and the Innovative Network Operations Validation Environment (INNOVE), which supports hybrid validation exercises where either humans are in the loop, or models emulate behaviours and operational processes. For airports, the centre hosts the airport operations centre gaming platform (APOC) and the combined eDEP and UFA 3D visualisation tower simulator. For the cockpit, the centre has installed the EUROCONTROL Cockpit Simulator (ECS), based on the ECA Faros Airbus A320 cockpit simulator and for measuring the environmental consequences of new tools and procedures the IMPACT suite of simulators allows for emissions and noise assessment studies.

The centre also houses a variety of mathematical simulators such as AirTOpSoft, CAST (a comprehensive Total Airport simulator) RAMS (ATC fast-time simulators), SAAM (System for traffic Assignment and Analysis at Macroscopic level) and R-NEST (an integrated validation tool combining advanced dynamic air traffic flow and capacity management capabilities with powerful airspace design and capacity planning analysis functionalities) for airspace and network studies. ▪ Focus 43

SWIM: the global ATM intranet Over the past few years Europe has made significant progress in developing new system wide information management communications and is now working with partners outside the continent to extend SWIM links globally.

nformation management is a fundamental enabler of air traffic manage- Use ment (ATM) and the connection of all SWIM-enabled application IATM players via a common network is a cornerstone of the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) concept. This is Governance being achieved through SWIM (System Wide Information Management) which SWIM Information Services makes full usage of the capabilities of internet protocol (IP) communication technologies, secured Internet or private Infrastructure networks like the Pan European Network Services (PENS/NewPENS). Through the SESAR Programme, IP-based network Europe has made significant progress on defining, developing and validating SWIM. Much of these developments have found their way in the International Civil on SWIM Concept and the ICAO Global Air Aviation Organization (ICAO) Manual on Figure 1 – The Scope of SWIM Navigation Plan (GANP)/Aviation System SWIM Concept (Doc10039) which includes Block Upgrades (ASBUs). To foster Euro- the SWIM definition, SWIM principles, uptake of SWIM and this makes SWIM pean SWIM implementation, the Euro- the rationale for change and the associ- visible to the ATM public in several ways. pean Commission has adopted the Pilot ated benefits. The SESAR SWIM Master Class, for Common Project (PCP) regulation which ICAO SWIM is defined as: “SWIM example, is an activity open to all whereby includes, among others, provisions for consists of standards, infrastructure and providers and consumers of ATM data the deployment of initial SWIM (iSWIM) governance enabling the management work together during six months to dis- based on the SESAR Programme outputs. of ATM information and its exchange cover and develop, in a cooperative fash- The iSWIM activities will be supported between qualified parties via interoper- ion, SWIM activities. Starting in 2012 with by relevant standards and guidance able services”. SWIM is structured into the Network Manager (NM) Business to through the planned EUROCONTROL layers (Information, Services and Infra- Business (B2B) services as a SWIM Pio- SWIM Foundation technical specifica- structure) and identifies the need to have neer, the latest 2015 edition welcomed 55 tion documentation detailing further the appropriate standards. Furthermore, international teams becoming an impor- SWIM building blocks such as the ATM transparent governance (of which stand- tant European (and wider) collaborative Information Reference Model (AIRM), the ardisation is part) is also considered a key platform generating excellent knowledge services rule book providing guidance for element. about SWIM and taking SWIM from its service building, SWIM Technical Infra- In a nutshell SWIM brings the wide- concept to real value-added solutions. structure Profiles and Registry usage. spread (including airlines and airports) SWIM Global Demonstrations are The EUROCONTROL Network Man- information technology approach of ser- currently being launched to facilitate col- ager continues to be a front runner in vice orientated architecture (SOA) to the laboration between multiple worldwide SWIM deployment with the Business to European ATM system whereby all ATM regional actors building SWIM services Business (NM B2B) web services covering stakeholders are accessing, sharing and together. This will generate hands-on flight services (flight preparation, flight processing ATM information through experience with positive effects on opera- plan filing and management), airspace (re-usable) services. tions, cost-effective development, concept services (management and publication of At a practical level the SESAR SWIM improvements, and global harmonisation airspace information), general informa- outreach activities demonstrate and com- of SWIM elements. tion services and flow services (flow and municate the benefits of a SWIM-enabled The current state of SWIM develop- capacity management) and in future the ATM system. European and Global SWIM ments in Europe has been a great source Centralised Services. community stakeholders accelerate the for, and is aligned with, the ICAO Manual These NM B2B Web services are used 44 Focus

The Communication Network of today (top) and tomorrow (bottom) Flow MET Management Service Centre Provider

Military operationally by over 200 organisations OPS Airport across the ATM stakeholder community from Centre filing a flight plan and checking airspace constraints up to implementing air traffic flow and capacity management (ATFCM) measures. The (secured) Internet-based service continues to grow and in 2015 reached 1.5 million interchanges per day. Stakeholders rapidly adopt this online business model trigger- ing an ATM business transformation. Indeed Vehicles it is noted that software start-ups exploit the opportunities offered by the use of Internet’s technologies to step into the ATM business. In the context of SWIM deployment it is ANSP also worth noting the Arrival Management ATC Airline (AMAN) developments by NATS (UK) with the Operations SESAR Masterclass award winning “Arrival Centre Sequence Service” as one of the SESAR ATM Information Services has now entered operations and is proving to have operational benefits in the tens of millions euros per year. Although the vast majority of the NM B2B connections are over a (secure) Internet Flow MET connection, certainly ANPSs have a need for Management Service a more private and dedicated IP network. For Centre Provider this Pan-European Network Services (PENS) are currently being extended to ‘NewPENS’ through a joint procurement process with a Military few dozen other organisations. It is also worth OPS Airport noting that, where relevant, all Centralised Centre Services that are currently being procured are designed to be SWIM-enabled applications. The next phase for SWIM is to start now with SWIM-enabled applications exchanging flight and flow information with countries outside the European region. The main objective is to improve traffic predictability with a time horizon of three hours before entering Vehicles the European area. This has been successfully implemented with the Federal Aviation Administration and is planned to be extended to the United Arab Emirates, Brazil and, it is ANSP hoped, with others. The 2016 ICAO General ATC Airline Assembly will be a good opportunity to seek Operations further global agreement for the need of a Centre SWIM-enabled application for ‘Global ATFM’ to use harmonised data exchange and associated operational procedures. ▪

INSIGHT

Why aviation is so important for Europe

Violeta Bulc is the European Commissioner for Transport

urope has been striving to advance aviation with an entrepreneurial spirit since its early days. From the invention of the Montgolfière Eto the great pan-European project of Airbus which is manufacturing the largest commercial airliner of our days, European pioneers have a history of shaping global aviation. The liberalisation of the EU's internal aviation market in the 1990s was an unprecedented game changer. We removed all commercial barriers within the EU, allowing airlines to offer more routes and more frequencies at a lower price for passengers. It also allowed low-fare airlines to emerge and to grow. For the first time, air travel was no longer the preserve of the wealthy. Today, millions of Europeans take to the skies every week and around two million jobs in the EU depend directly on the aviation industry – contributing €110 billion to the EU's economy each year. Aviation is central to the EU's drive to facilitate jobs and growth. The 27,000 flights passing through Europe every day represent 26% of the world market, and are crucial for the success of the EU's internal market. It would however be a mistake to take all of this for granted. European air traffic is expected to grow by 50% between 2012 and 2035, which creates a series of new challenges such as capacity, safety and sustainability. Europe also faces increasingly tough competition. Just as the past two decades saw air travel become reality for the masses, the same is now happening in other regions in the world. The centre of gravity of the aviation industry is shifting away from Insight 47

Europe towards new emerging markets. Through hard work and cooperation, much progress If we want our manufacturers, airlines and has been made by airlines, airports, air navigation service other businesses to continue to thrive, we need to providers and by all those who work behind the scenes to support this development so the EU aviation sector ensure our safety and comfort when we travel by plane. This can keep up with the pace of growth and change for the EU industry and its citizens. Investment is why this year we have organised the first Single European in aviation therefore plays a key role in the new Sky awards contest through which the Commission aims strategy and we need to take action to provide to reward and highlight those who have contributed to clarity and certainty for investors. the implementation of the Single European Sky. New steps That is why on 7 December 2015 the European ahead are needed in ATM. As to EUROCONTROL, I am sure Commission put forward a new Aviation Strategy for Europe. We want to give European aviation a that the Network Manager will contribute successfully and new impetus, comparable to the one we inspired significantly to the implementation of the Aviation Strategy. in the 1990s. With this ambitious Strategy, our aim is to reinforce European global leadership for businesses; which is why we will also propose Transport and aviation will have a new EU-wide rules to unleash the full economic role to play in tackling climate change, potential of drones. It is my vision to make our but there is no silver bullet. Improving airspace more efficient, leading to shorter flights. air traffic management and reducing We also aim to tackle congestion at our airports congestion will help cut emissions, but to accommodate increasing demand for flights. Of innovative new technologies also need course, our citizens expect us to ensure European to be brought to the market as soon as safety standards remain the best in the world: no possible, in order to cut harmful emis- other country or region offers such comprehensive sions. Now is not the time to maintain rights in the event of denied boarding, long delays the status quo. or cancellations. Now is the opportune time to work Ensuring safe and efficient management of together, to ensure that we keep it that flights in European airspace constitutes a key way, to meet head-on the challenges component of our new strategy. For over a dec- that lie ahead. Ultimately, you and ade now, the EU's Single European Sky initiative all Europeans will benefit from more has been implementing reforms in air traffic man- routes, at a lower price and with a better agement to modernise our ATM systems. service quality. ▪ 48 Insight

“We will be working hard to increase transparency”

Simon Hocquard is Chair of the Network Management Board, having been appointed by the European Commission in 2014 for a five-year period. He is responsible for guiding the Board’s active oversight of the Network Management function, its operation, budget and governance structure.

As Chair of the Network Management Board (NMB) for the period 2015 and 2019, what are your key priorities?

irstly, I want to put on record my thanks to the whole Management function if we are to provide effective Network Manager team for the hard work and dedication governance and oversight and ensure that NM deliv- they show in helping to keep Europe’s skies moving. The ers efficient, cost-effective and operationally effective FNetwork Manager (NM) does a lot of things well and has a very services. professional and capable team. We will look to NM to build on It will also help identify any governance overlaps these strengths, while providing challenges and direction where and provide recommendations both for the short necessary. term, in order to ensure that full implementation of The coming years are important for the evolution of the Net- existing powers is being achieved, and for the medi- work Management function. I, and indeed the whole NMB, want um-long term, including any possible amendments to to make sure that the European network works to the benefit of the Network Function Implementing Rule. the aviation industry and ultimately to passengers, helping to We also need to set clear performance metrics to deliver the European Commission’s vision of a Single European ensure that NM continues to deliver benefit to the Sky (SES). That’s our number one priority and everything else aviation industry in Europe and, most importantly, serves that objective. to passengers. I know that the Network Manager does Transparency is crucial, alongside performance, and we a lot of things well and we will look to build on these will be working hard to increase the transparency of NM and its but we need transparency and clear performance activities. This is why we have asked the Commission to conduct metrics alongside this to identify which areas are a comprehensive audit of the activities of the Network Manager working well and to provide challenge and direction to ensure it is delivering the best possible service to Europe’s avi- where it is necessary. ation industry and Europe’s citizens. My other priority will be to ensure that the Net- The audit will help define the scope and nature of the Euro- work Manager takes a true, network-wide function pean network, as set out by the Network Function Implement- and that the NMB is operating effectively as a Board, ing Rule, and will provide an assessment of the Network Man- providing the strategic governance, direction and ager’s financial, organisational and operational effectiveness. oversight to the Network Manager to ensure that it It will be supported by a clear statement of existing contractual delivers efficient, cost-effective and operationally arrangements/service level agreements. It is important that we effective services, which support a sustainable and have a clear picture of the costs associated with the Network competitive aviation industry in Europe. Insight 49

Do you think that the Network Manager is doing a good job and what do you think are its main challenges?

think operationally the Network Manager does targets to measure against, covering aspects such as cost-effi- many things well. It has a talented team with ciency and resilience. The audit should help with this and with strong expertise in this area and those people understanding how the Network Manager’s current activities helpI to smooth the flow of traffic across Europe, to map against the existing NM Implementing Rule (IR). the benefit of Europe’s citizens and Europe’s aviation There are also political challenges, or at least challenges industry. This is particularly true in areas where that today’s political climate has created, which often manifest there are high fluctuations in demand, where the as operational challenges. With political developments such as Network Manager does a good job at helping the flow the situation in Syria and the Ukraine having a major impact on of the European network as a whole. traffic flows, some countries are seeing shifts of traffic volume in These are dynamic and challenging times though excess of 35%, which has major implications for the smooth and and this brings with it challenges for the Network efficient functioning of the network. Manager, particularly when we think of the NM of And there are challenges around the evolution of the Network the future. There are governance challenges I raised Manager. The NM of the future is likely to look different to the previously around providing transparency so that it is NM of today. We need to decide, as an industry, how we want the clear what is being undertaken by the Network Man- NM function to develop and evolve and what it will look like. ager and the costs associated with those activities. We We can then start addressing the challenge associated with that need to get more clarity around the specific activities around what services the Network Manager should provide and the Network Manager should be undertaking and what technologies and resources are required to deliver those how we set effective and meaningful output-focused services effectively.

How do you think that NM and its governance will evolve?

o tell the truth, I don’t think the governance obviously there are discussions about the future designation of surrounding the Network Manager as it the NM function. I think the main focus of the Network Manager stands today makes it easy for those account- of the future has to be about providing a good service to custom- Table for the NM’s functions. The European Aviation ers – airlines, air navigation service providers (ANSPs), the mili- Safety Agency’s (EASA’s) audits have already raised tary – and being transparent. this as a concern and it is something that needs to be The European network as a whole is only going to get more addressed. Again, I hope that it’s something that we crowded and congested in the years to come. An efficient and can tackle once we receive the findings of the Euro- effective Network Manager will have a major role to play in pean Commission's audit. The Network Manager supporting the industry’s growth by ensuring a smooth flow of needs clear governance surrounding its activities traffic as volumes increase. SES ATM Research (SESAR) deploy- and the activities being undertaken by NM in service ment and an increasing demand for trajectory-based opera- of the industry – and to meet the NM IR – need to be tions will bring with it new challenges in terms of the Network more clearly defined and subject to clear performance Management Function. One very important component of any metrics. This will help the NM’s governance to be future Network Manager, however, is that the industry takes an improved for the benefit of the industry. active role in its governance to ensure that it continues to serve In terms of the evolution of the Network Manager, their needs. 50 Insight

NETVIZ NETVIZ NETVIZ

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How can NM work with European air traffic management (ATM)/ industry to help ensure that European ATM has a strong global presence, with particular reference to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) global air traffic flow management (ATFM) concept?

he European ATM industry at least focus on customer needs over NETVIZ PREMIERES AT ATM MADRID. already has a strong global pres- and above politics. Visit us at booth 213, expo-hall 9. ence, so we start from a good While we want to see effective Simon Hocquard, NETVIZ PREMIERES AT ATM MADRID. Tfoundation. We all recognise that connec- global cooperation, we also want Chair Network Management Board Visit us at booth 213, expo-hall 9. tivity between regions is important and Europe’s aviation industry to remain In his day job as Director of the Network Manager can support that competitive in the global market place Operations, Strategy at UK Air NETVIZ PREMIERES AT ATM MADRID. When it comes to guiding aircraft safely to their destination, only the best visualization solution is connectivity. Information sharing will and the Network Manager should have Navigation Service Provider NATS, Visit us at booth 213, expo-hall 9. good enough. That is why Esterline has now equipped its leading Codis ATC 2Kx2K display with be particularly important in the future. an important role to play in that too. Simon Hocquard leads the creation Whenthe unique it comes NetViz to guidingstreaming aircraft capabilities. safely to Built-in their destination, or retro tted only into the your best existing visualization Esterline solution display, is New technologies and the deployment By evolving and ensuring that the NM of the operational, technical, training goodNetViz enough. offers true That At is The why Glass Esterline recording has now capabilities equipped (mathematically its leading Codis lossless ATC 2Kx2K compression display withand of SESAR will help with this global con- of the future is a customer-focused, and associated business strategies thea low unique bandwidth). NetViz NetVizstreaming helps capabilities. you to reduce Built-in costs or retroand, most tted intoimportantly, your existing take Esterlineair traf c display,control nectivity and we do need to start sharing output-oriented and transparent for NATS and is responsible for NetVizto whole offers new trueheights. At The Glass recording capabilities (mathematically lossless compression and the business contribution to major When it comes to guiding aircraft safely to their destination, only the best visualization solution is information to help global traffic flows entity that serves the industry, it can a low bandwidth). NetViz helps you to reduce costs and, most importantly, take air traf c control initiatives including the Single good enough. That is why Esterline has now equipped its leading Codis ATC 2Kx2K display with and networks. help to ensure that European ATM is to whole new heights. European Sky. thewww.esterline.com/codis unique NetViz streaming capabilities. Built-in or retro tted into your existing Esterline display, The Network Manager will need to well connected and that Europe’s avi- NetViz offers true At The Glass recording capabilities (mathematically lossless compression and evolve to support this global connectivity. ation industry retains a strong global He was previously Operations awww.esterline.com/codis low bandwidth). NetViz helps you to reduce costs and, most importantly, take air traf c control Director at NATS Swanwick Centre, This evolution should be benefit-driven, presence. I look forward to working to whole new heights. customer-driven and in line with what with the Network Manager and my running the largest Air Traffic Control Centre in Europe and is a former air industry needs; it should steer clear of pol- colleagues on the NMB in the coming traffic controller. He is a graduate of www.esterline.com/codis Featuring CODIS Products itics to the extent that that is possible, or years to help make this happen. ▪ the INSEAD Advanced Management Programme and of the UK Institute Featuring CODIS Products of Directors’ Chartered Director EST-Air Traffic-advertentie-Jane's-210x275-FIN.indd 1 03/02/16 16:42 Programme.

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NETVIZ PREMIERES AT ATM MADRID. When it comes to guiding aircraft safely to their destination,Visit onlyus at the booth best 213, visualization expo-hall 9.solution is good enough. That is why Esterline has now equipped its leading Codis ATC 2Kx2K display with Whenthe unique it comes NetViz to guidingstreaming aircraft capabilities. safely to Built-in their destination, or retro tted only into the your best existing visualization Esterline solution display, is goodNetViz enough. offers true That At is The why Glass Esterline recording has now capabilities equipped (mathematically its leading Codis lossless ATC 2Kx2K compression display withand thea low unique bandwidth). NetViz NetVizstreaming helps capabilities. you to reduce Built-in costs or retroand, most tted intoimportantly, your existing take Esterlineair traf c display,control NetVizto whole offers new trueheights. At The Glass recording capabilities (mathematically lossless compression and When it comes to guiding aircraft safely to their destination, only the best visualization solution is a low bandwidth). NetViz helps you to reduce costs and, most importantly, take air traf c control good enough. That is why Esterline has now equipped its leading Codis ATC 2Kx2K display with to whole new heights. thewww.esterline.com/codis unique NetViz streaming capabilities. Built-in or retro tted into your existing Esterline display, NetViz offers true At The Glass recording capabilities (mathematically lossless compression and awww.esterline.com/codis low bandwidth). NetViz helps you to reduce costs and, most importantly, take air traf c control to whole new heights.

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EST-Air Traffic-advertentie-Jane's-210x275-FIN.indd 1 03/02/16 16:42 52 Insight

Improving performance through predictability

Frank Brenner, Director General of EUROCONTROL

e are currently celebrating 20 years of airspace or adverse weather, the Network centralised flow management in Europe, Manager is vital in making sure that disrup- operated initially by the Central Flow tion is kept to a minimum. It is able to do this ManagementW Unit (CFMU) and now the Network because it has a unique position at the heart Manager (NM). As Henrik Hololei, Director General of Europe, with close working relationships of the European Commission’s DG MOVE, recently with air navigation service providers (ANSPs), commented: “The CFMU can rightly be considered airports, airspace users and the military. It is an unparalleled success story – a true ‘team effort’. widely recognised not just for its professional- Comparison is often made to other regions, notably ism but also for its impartiality. It has no moti- the United States, and I firmly believe that despite the vation other than improving the performance significant difference – that they are one and we are of European aviation. many – we do it better!” Despite this remarkable record, we need The Network Manager has built on the success to constantly move forward – improving the of the CFMU and has gone further, taking a much performance of the network and making more proactive approach to identifying the areas sure that it is ready, not just for the forecast with difficulties and work- increase in demand (16% more flights by 2021, ing closely with our partners compared with 2014), but also for the new across Europe, both tactically technologies and systems coming out of the “We are also enhancing and strategically, to find solu- Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) predictability by tions. We have also played a initiative, that will enable a significant step leading role in improving the forward in performance. Here we are working improving links with network and, in particular, with the SESAR Joint Undertaking, of which our global neighbours” encouraging the introduction EUROCONTROL is one of the two founding of Free Route Airspace, not members: it has developed many new con- just within a country but also cepts and technologies that are now, step by cross border. step, coming to maturity. All this work enables up to 34,000 aircraft to flow Some of the new technology can most more safely over Europe every day, and to flow more efficiently be implemented at network level, smoothly, with fewer delays, more cheaply and with rather than separately in each of our 41 Mem- reduced impact on the environment. Where there ber States. Here, the Centralised Services ini- are difficulties, such as those resulting from closed tiative is already proving to be a great success Insight 53

and is generating widespread interest among ANSPs in more efficiently. providing services outside their national boundaries. We at EUROCONTROL are also enhancing pre- We also need to think further afield. More than 10% of dictability by improving links with our global neigh- the flights arriving at an airport in Europe come from out- bours. We already share real-time operational data side the continent and so they are not subject to flow man- with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and agement. At some airports, this proportion is significantly this means that we are able to see where aircraft from greater; at London Heathrow, for example, approximately the US are well before they enter our airspace, indeed 38% of arrivals are from outside Europe. This, together while they are still over North America. Accurate pre- with the fact that Heathrow operates close to capacity, is dictions mean that busy air traffic control regions why we see so much stacking in the London area. can be run closer to capacity, which significantly Some very valuable work is being done to address this enhances performance. Building on the success of issue by developing and introducing extended arrival the link with the FAA, we recently signed agreements management, so that some aircraft flying to Heathrow with both Brazil and the United Arab Emirates to will be instructed to fly at lower speeds while still hun- share real-time operational data with them – which dreds of kilometres away and under the control of another will again improve performance. ANSP. This will reduce congestion and the need for stack- Ultimately, the International Civil Aviation ing in the London area and will save fuel. The approach Organization (ICAO) envisages a global ‘network of may well be adopted in future by other major European networks’ all sharing information with each other. airports. This is still some time away but there are a number Indeed for traditional European hub airports we see of regional initiatives throughout the world, looking an absence of plans for new infrastructure, which will to see how they can improve performance; we are lead to potential traffic increases not being supported. in contact with many of these, providing insights This will result in a change to more point-to-point con- gleaned from the European experience. The ICAO nections. Assembly this autumn will provide a real opportu- Airport Collaborative Decision Making not only saves nity to move ahead towards the concept of global money and helps minimise the environmental impact at flow management. Europe has an excellent record of airports, it also dramatically improves the connectivity of working together at ICAO, effectively and construc- airports with the network. This means that the Network tively. EUROCONTROL, with its unparalleled techni- Manager can much more accurately predict when aircraft cal expertise, plays a major role in this process and will take off and thus exactly when they will be at all the our experience will be invaluable in developing this different points along their route; this helps manage flows concept further. ▪ 54 Insight

The Network Manager’s key challenges

Views from Joe Sultana, Director Network Manager

ir traffic management (ATM) in general – and especially in Europe – has proven to be much less adaptable and more resistant to Achange than the airline sector. The volatility of traffic flows, the ability of aircraft operators to respond to changing travel destinations, the predicted increase in the number of saturated airports and the inevita- bility of unforeseen disruptive events are permanent features of the European aviation scene. Allowing the maximum number of aircraft to fly in an air traffic control (ATC) sector or to an airport, but not more than can safely be managed, will therefore be a challenge for the foreseeable future, certainly in the next 20 years. A dynamic ATM system, one which leads rather than lags in the ability to meet airspace demand, is essential. A cost-optimal ATM system will always take the cost of providing a service into account when looking at ways of trying to meet demand. It is not efficient to have a system capable of meeting all the demand all the time, irrespective of the cost: the European performance targets will balance costs, delays and flight efficiency. The continued need for flow and capacity management does not mean that the way we deliver it will remain the same. The determining parameter in the dynamic ATM environment is predictability – for an aircraft operator to manage the business, for ATM to manage the Europe-wide operation, for passengers to organise their lives around air travel and for economies to be as efficient as possible. Insight 55

Cooperative traffic management

AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION SYSTEMS CAN already deliver an aircraft from A to B with an accuracy of seconds. The technology is out there to share that information between the air and ground, and between ground ATM systems, on a continuous basis. The challenge is how do we adapt our flow control procedures and systems? The way ahead is a move from air traffic flow management (ATFM) to cooperative traffic management (CTM). A global perspective The change will be based on the ability of ground systems to calculate the 4D trajectory of a flight, a paradigm shift being THERE IS NOW AN International Civil researched in the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) Aviation Organization (ICAO) Global research and development programme. It will result in removing ATFM Guidance Document, which takes the current artificial barriers between ATFM and ATC. the successor of flow control – air traffic At present, flow manage- flow and capacity management – into a ment ends when the aircraft global arena. is off blocks. ATC has then The European model may not fit “The way ahead is a move to both separate flights and exactly with the realities of other regions from air traffic flow manage the aircraft tactically but the concepts, systems, standards, in the air. But it currently does and data formats used in Europe drive management (ATFM) this while disregarding the the interoperability needed for the future to cooperative traffic changes to the ATFM plan and regional ATFM hubs to deliver a seamless without considering the wider global operation to airspace users. management (CTM).” network impact. The 12 or so ATFM regions in the world In a CTM world, con- have different local flow management straints on the trajectory of a arrangements, all with a different model. flight will be managed close to So EUROCONTROL is working with ICAO the constraint point in the air, rather than by delaying a depar- on a concept of seamless and interopera- ture: an aircraft will be given a point in space to reach rather than ble ATM operations via data exchange and a delayed take-off time on the ground. other techniques, to be used by a limited For this to work, there has to be a precise picture of both the number of regional air traffic flow and actual and forecast traffic situation on a network level. ATC and capacity hubs. ATFM have to adopt a completely cooperative traffic manage- There is evolving interest in this ment approach so that any ATC measures affecting the aircraft’s approach in South America, the Middle trajectory are taken with the constraint point in mind and fed back East and Asia. Discussions have already into the network picture for consequential action on other flights. begun on sharing the Network Manager’s The Network Manager already produces correlated position models of a central flight plan database reports based on the ANSPs’ surveillance data. Knowing where and flight plan update exchange with every flight is, every 30 seconds, for more than 85% of the time them. makes for much greater predictability in the system. The aim is to EUROCONTROL has a unique set of improve this knowledge and so enhance predictability throughout. systems as well as expert operational and The current Network Manager has strategic technical pro- technical knowledge that can be used to jects which will allow data to be shared between systems at local help improve global connectivity. In part- regional and network levels. Even more importantly, it has the nership with European air navigation ser- right level of authority and status to be a credible partner in ful- vice providers (ANSPs) and industry, we filling its role as a network designer and capacity planner, as well can forge a model that will help smooth as acting as an impartial network ATFM service provider. traffic flows across the globe. 56 Insight

Facing the future

OVERCOMING FUTURE CHALLENGES WILL what is going on – and collaborate with require all the experience the Network Manager has them on finding the best ways of deal- built up in the last 20 years. The Network Manager ing with situations that affect all parts will also have to draw on the support provided by its of the network. relationships, carefully cultivated over this time, with In future, the Network Manager airports, ANSPs, civil and military airspace users. will have to evolve. The next perfor- Over the last two decades, our activities in flow mance improvements needed to sup- management have grown from balancing demand port an expanding European aviation and capacity to redesigning route networks, con- system, including Cooperative Air trolling the impact of planned events as well as dis- Traffic Management, are part of the ruption of all sorts, and helping States achieve their ongoing operational and technical performance targets in the areas of safety, capacity, development projects. environment and cost efficiency. The Network Manager will have to It is worth noting that only Europe provides cen- deploy improved technical connectiv- tralised planning services. Ninety-six per cent of ity to and for network stakeholders and flight plans are processed automatically, allowing the apply a cost-conscious, high-technol- Network Manager to build up a clear picture of what ogy version of network management. is happening where. The Network Manager can work Having done this, it will be well out where problems will arise – and it can come up placed to deliver the Single European with a solution to them. By being in constant contact Sky – both within and beyond the Euro- with all players, it can ensure that everyone knows pean Union’s airspace borders. ▪ VIEWPOINT

ROMATSA: Towards a regional approach on Free Route Airspace

The Romanian air navigation service provider has taken an important partnership role in introducing the operational concept nationally, within the regional airspace block (FAB) and most recently across FAB borders, writes Cârnu Fănică, Acting Director General of ROMATSA.

he objective of Romania’s des- (NM), ROMATSA implemented night FRA cross-border FRA by 2019, dependent ignated air navigation service operations at national level, as the first upon the outcome of a number of studies provider (ANSP) ROMATSA has step of a common project with its DAN- and simulations. Talways been to improve the performance UBE FAB partner, BULATSA. This was The extension of FRA to daytime of air traffic management, both for Roma- done six months earlier than planned, in 24-hour operations is dependent on sev- nian airspace and in the region. Under the November 2013. eral factors, including airspace redesign, Single European Sky (SES) framework, The first step of this implementation air traffic management systems upgrades ROMATSA has committed to implement- was at a national level, so information (to ensure early conflict detection and res- ing the Free Route Airspace (FRA) opera- could be collected on how traffic will olution, for example) and seamless inte- tional concept within the DANUBE Func- migrate to a free route environment from gration of new technology such as data- tional Airspace Block (FAB) and other a fixed route network prior to further link. In particular, FRA implementation neighbouring countries. implementation. will mean that flight data processing sys- Since the establishment of the A further intermediate step will take tems will need to have additional capabili- DANUBE FAB towards the end of 2012, place in 2016 when FRA will become oper- ties to ensure the safety of operations. one long-term strategic objective has been ational at night throughout the FAB. The DANUBE FAB ANSPs commissioned the implementation of FRA at FAB level. last step, financially supported by the the NM Simulations Team at the EURO- Based on a harmonised FAB approach and European Commission through its TEN-T CONTROL Experimental Centre (EEC) in in cooperation with the Network Manager financing, is to gradually deploy 24-hour Brétigny, France, to provide a real-time

The benefits of the FRA concept implementation are expected to be:

reduction of carbon dioxide better sectorisation that emissions through the use of fuel efficiency is optimised to more optimal routes meet demand 58 Viewpoint

BUKOV DOBOK SCV VILLS RUMUK BAMUD ROMOL UNIRA HUMOR NUNTA BUSES UBASA KARIL POGAV BIBOR BUKUR BAPGU BADOR VAMES ASTOD ASKUT ROMAG GILUS INBID RILASLARMU LIBDO BCU BUCSA KODRU NARKAMEGIK OBORU OBARALUNAV TOMET APTAN REBLA SORAN ROSIA RAROS ARVAK TGM FOSCA KUMIG SIGHI BADKA BAGRI BUDOP BUKANPEKID EVIKA BLAIACOPSA GLT BEPEBIRMAM OSDOR DEMUN OGATA DEGET EVRIK DEROT ABEGO RAMBIMOBRA NOPTI URELA TIRVO TUREL NEPOT SIB TEGRI UREKI LAPKA MOPUG VASIS DVA DIPIN PILAT CETUL INVED PELUR LEMPA NURPOLUPUK GITMU BUKEL DENAK BARUK GALMITALAM RIVOS MOBLUAMLAV ROMUX NEKULAGNEP NERDI NETUL DITAX ENIMASOKRIBALBI VEVILIDARU DIRAL CND DENUBALENO ADINA LAMIT BIVBU TOSVI DIDEG IRDUMBINBI MAVIT FLR OSTAL REVDA SODGO ABRUT ARGES LUGEBDINRO INKOM DIRER PADGU VAMON OBUGARONBU POLUN KOMAN VELIP OVDOT VIKBIELVABSORDU ELDET RASUB ARROB UDROS ANASA NIGEV BULEN MATEL IDOMO ODERO NAVITSTOMOV UPAMA OSTOTVIMUR UTEKA LOMOS ETIDA BESLI MAKOL DOLAP RIXEN DINEN IBLAL NISVA ETROL VADEN TUDBO OKANA BENIL RILEX ALIKU IRKOT ADORU

VELBA NIKTI RODIP

EVIVI

rations for each sample were consid- Figure – DANUBE FAB FRA Phase 1 ered, with 13 mid-traffic sectors and 18 high-traffic sectors being analysed, using projected spring and summer simulation to validate conditions under traffic conditions for 2019. which FRA operations can be extended DANUBE FAB shared the expe- from night-time to full 24-hour opera- rience with representatives of tions, safely, efficiently and at an accept- State authorities from transport, Both FRA projects implementation able controller workload. The scope of the military and civil aviation depart- (DANUBE FAB FRA and N-FRAB) simulation was to develop a prototype and ments from DANUBE FAB states will bring tangible benefits to the to run a large-scale, real-time simulation and neighbouring ANSPs, inviting European ATM network. While validation exercise. them to observe the simulations on DANUBE FAB FRA is expected to save airspace users a total distance ROMATSA participated with 32 con- 5 November 2015. of 4000 nautical miles (nm) trollers (27 civil and five military) dur- In addition to the simulation, per day, N-FRAB implementation ing the large-scale real-time simulation DANUBE FAB contracted a safety means yearly: exercise that took place at the EEC from case study for the implementation 27 October to 12 November 2015. During of FRA operations, which is a safety 560 tonnes the exercise, different airspace configu- assessment of the concept, design, in fuel savings

reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 1700 tonnes and nitrogen oxide by 8 tonnes shortening routes by 71000nm shortening the overall flight duration by 9600 minutes Viewpoint 59

implementation, transition and oper- effort from Romatsa, HungaroControl ing the online data interchange (OLDI) ation of full FRA operations and will and EUROCONTROL, which supported with the partners. Following the tests, address the development of the DAN- the initiative of the two air navigation the infrastructure was considered ready UBE FAB FRA operations safety case service providers. The concept became for the NFRA implementation. document. operational in August 2015, for the oper- In terms of the EU-wide performance The results of the simulation and ational hours between 22:00-04:00 UTC targets, FRA will enable full benefit and safety case studies form the basis of (coordinated universal time) during sum- contribution to the EU-wide environment the next two phases of the project. mer and 23:00-05:00 UTC during winter. and cost-efficiency targets and will ena- ROMATSA is also closely coop- N-FRAB is the first European initiative ble the maximum possible optimum use erating with its neighbouring ANSP in the region to enable Free Route opera- of airspace. HungaroControl to implement night tions in the area of responsibility of two ROMATSA will continue to support Free Route operations (N-FRAB) over ANSPs using different, interoperable air close cooperation and coordination in the boundary of the Romanian and traffic management systems and oper- the ATM/ANS domain, both at regional Hungarian flight information regions. ating in two Functional Airspace Blocks and European levels, thus responding to The implementation started in April (ROMATSA in DANUBE FAB, Hungaro- the increased demand for air traffic in the 2015, with a tight deadline. A very Control in FAB Central Europe). region, strengthening its efforts to ensure short time span has been assigned On a technical level, the ATM system capacity, while maintaining safety and to each action, relying on a major prepared for this implementation by test- improving environmental quality. ▪

Cârnu Fănică has been the Acting Director General of RA ROMATSA since September 2015. A former military pilot, he has acquired a vast experience in aviation training, air traffic management, resources and change management and international relations. He has been involved extensively in the development of the most important aspects of civil- military ATM cooperation in Romania. Recently, he was confirmed as member of the Air Navigation Services Board for the European Commission’s Reporting Period Two. 60 Viewpoint

The ground coordinator concept: ACI EUROPE’s collaborative solution for meeting cross-industry air traffic challenges

Andreas Eichinger and Thorsten Astheimer of Fraport AG

he European aviation industry initiative in 2004 Frankfurt Airport faces an increasingly competitive had 51 million passengers and 477,000 market environment, both within aircraft movements. The SES foresees Tand outside Europe. This leads to pres- the tripling of air traffic management sures to reduce costs and further improve (ATM) capacity, halving related costs operational efficiency. At the same time for airspace users, reducing aviation’s customers’ expectations are increas- environmental impact by 10% and ing. For example, many airports have improving safety by a factor of 10, as its launched programmes to improve cost high-level objectives. While passenger efficiency alongside initiatives focused on volumes have been steadily increasing, improving customer experiences. At the aircraft movements have been slightly same time, the general public expects the decreasing at most large European air- aviation industry to further improve its ports. This is proof of airlines employing environmental impact performance and higher-capacity aircraft: either larger its excellent safety record. A lot has been aircraft or aircraft featuring denser achieved by the industry in the past dec- seating configurations. Despite these ades but taking the aviation industry as a demanding operating conditions Frank- whole there is still potential to improve, furt Airport has grown steadily over particularly in the area of cross-industry the past decade and in 2015 dealt with collaboration. 61 million passengers while achieving When the European Commission one of the highest punctuality rates of launched its Single European Sky (SES) all European hub airports. Viewpoint 61

Challenges to accommodate Options to accommodate future demand unmet demand

IN ITS 2013 “CHALLENGES of ALTHOUGH AIRPORT CAPACITY IS not Growth” report EUROCONTROL forecast directly addressed as an SES high-level objective, demand for air traffic in Europe would it is clear that capacity in the air and capacity grow by 50% between 2012 and 2035. on the ground are intrinsically linked and that Because of the economic and sovereign one cannot be achieved without the other. This debt crisis in Europe preceding the pub- means that as long as SES high-level objectives lication of the report and its impact on air are not aligned with ground capacity objectives, traffic, the current forecast is somewhat the airport capacity crunch will remain the most lower than previous estimates. Slower significant threat to the achievement of the SES’s growth prospects notwithstanding, the high-level objectives. “Challenges of Growth” report concluded Airport capacity is not solely determined by that the airport capacity crunch remains the number of runways an airport has. Essen- as acute as ever. Due to the lack of air- tially, an airport can be considered as a system of port capacity in Europe 12% of air traffic “processors”, and overall airport capacity is con- demand will not be accommodated by strained by the capacity of the weakest link in this 2035. Consequently 237 million passen- chain of processors. This means that a combina- gers will be unable to fly. Although most tion of the following capacity drivers: hub airports continue to grow in passenger volumes, despite currently stagnat- ■■ runway capacity; ing aircraft movements, this trend will ■■ airport geometry; be broken in the near future and move- ■■ terminal capacity; ments will finally have to pick up again. ■■ apron/stand capacity;

The “Challenges of Growth” report also ■■ airspace capacity and forecast that average airport-related ■■ surface access capacity flight delays will increase from less than one minute to five or even six minutes per ultimately determines physical airport capac- flight by 2035. Such unprecedented levels ity. Like any production process, the physical of flight delays will severely impact cus- capacity of an airport is subject to constraints, tomer experiences. or factors reducing actual capacity. All drivers of airport capacity are usually further impacted by operating procedures and regulations, for example, noise considerations, special approach and departure procedures or airspace design requirements, limitations to runway use, night curfews. In essence, actual airport capacity is regularly much lower than physical airport capacity. To accommodate unmet demand the most obvious solution is the expansion of physical airport capacity. Contrary to what a number of public debates suggest the expansion of airport capacity is not just about building new runways. Instead all of the above capacity drivers determining airport capacity need to be considered. How- ever, the expansion of physical airport capacity is a long and difficult process in Europe given the lack of public acceptance for large infrastructure projects. An example is the expansion of airport capacity in the south east of England, which has been debated for many years now. But even if a decision to expand physical airport capacity is finally taken, it usually takes 10 to 15 years before new infrastructure is actually built. 62 Viewpoint

New technologies and procedures are part of the solution

GIVEN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, it is vital that existing capacity is fully optimised; this is both a business and social imperative. Improved utilisation of existing capacity is supported by technologies and procedures developed under the umbrella of the Single European Sky ATM Research Programme (SESAR). While SESAR technologies and procedures are often expected to yield significant improvements concerning SES high- level objectives, it should be determined on a case-by-case basis whether the developed technologies and procedures have a positive impact on capacity and ■■ Extended arrival management; efficiency of individual airports. A one- ■■ Required Navigation Performance size-fits-all approach is likely to worsen (RNP)-based operations; the situation as the funding required for ■■ Departure management integrated capacity expansion would be allocated to with Airport Collaborative Decision the implementation of technologies and Making (A-CDM) and Advanced Move- procedures that may not necessarily ben- ment Guidance and Control Systems efit airport capacity and efficiency. (A-SMGCS);

To ensure that only those technologies ■■ Time-based separation for final that contribute to SES high-level objec- approach; To achieve the desired synchronised tives are implemented in a synchronised ■■ Automated assistance for surface rout- and coordinated deployment of these and coordinated way, the European Com- ing and planning (part of A-SMGCS); technologies and to ensure maximum mission adopted its Implementing Regu- ■■ Airport safety nets (part of A-SMGCS); buy-in of the involved stakeholders, the lation 716/2014 on the establishment of ■■ Airport integration into the Network three groups of implementing partners — the Pilot Common Project (PCP) on 27 June through Airport Operations Plan/ air navigation service providers (ANSPs), 2014. The main elements of the Imple- Network Operations Plan (AOP/NOP) airlines and airports — set up the SESAR menting Regulation to be implemented integration and Deployment Manager late in 2014.The at the 25 airports within the geographical ■■ Initial System Wide Information Man- industrial partnership began operations scope of the regulation are: agement (SWIM). in January 2015, just in time to coordinate the implementing partners’ contributions for the first Innovations and Networks Executive Agency Connecting Europe Facility (INEA CEF) Transport Call 2014. Airport operators in the scope of the Pilot Common Project are represented through the SESAR Deployment-related Airport Grouping (SDAG), among them Frankfurt Airport. Since the adoption of the PCP Frankfurt Airport, similar to many other airports, launched or joined a number of implementation projects, some of them jointly with local process partners such as DFS and Lufthansa. Among these implementation projects is a project focusing on AOP/NOP integration led by the Network Manager. Viewpoint 63

Collaborative solutions to face cross-industry challenges

PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT ordination of the various process partners achievement of SESAR is that it brought contributing to the capacity of an airport process partners together and forced is required. Such a coordination should them to jointly discuss cross-industry include the strategic, pre-tactical, tacti- challenges and look for solutions. While cal and post-operations perspective and the group participating in these discus- should be based on a comprehensive sions during the SESAR development exchange of information. phase was somewhat limited, more part- The role of the Ground Coordinators is ners across all industry domains have comparable to the role of a conductor. The been joining the discussions since the function of a conductor is not only to beat beginning of the deployment phase. The time but also to bring together the various resulting mutual understanding is help- instruments and voices of an orchestra ing to tackle cross-industry challenges to form them into a musical and artistic such as the airport capacity crunch or whole. Similarly, the Ground Coordinator striving for efficient operations, and is should coordinate all process partners fundamental for reaching high-level SES within a local collaborative environment objectives. In this context, ACI EUROPE at an individual airport. Like a conductor set up a working group with members the Ground Coordinator relies on giv- from different committees to draft a ing impulses while the process partners concept paper on the Ground Coordina- remain responsible for their individual tor concept, a key collaborative concept operations. to address local issues. The ACI EUROPE A single process partner alone can Board adopted this paper during its 101st hardly achieve improvements in overall meeting in Amsterdam in January 2016. capacity and efficiency. Today, the differ- The Ground Coordinator is not neces- ent process partners at an airport depend sarily a new central control room such as on the exchange of data on current traf- an Airport Operations Centre (APOC); the fic as well as on short-term to mid-term Thorsten Astheimer is managing function can also be understood as a kind planning; however, up to now this has the SESAR development project of virtual control centre that includes mainly been done in limited operational for Fraport AG. He also acts as and coordinates all operational process “islands”, for example Airport Collabo- coordinator of the SESAR European partners at an airport. This is to prevent rative Decision Making (A-CDM) coor- Airports Consortium (SEAC) and has process partners that contribute directly dinating all process partners serving an been closely involved in the creation of the European ATM Master Plan. or indirectly to the capacity of the airport outbound aircraft and sequencing aircraft He has also been Airport Expert for trying to optimise capacity only in their departures. The Ground Coordinator con- the SESAR Deployment Manager in own domain. Such an approach would cept goes further and will allow continu- Brussels since January 2015. be suboptimal for the airport system ous improvement of the coordination because, for example, the utilisation of the and predictability of airside and landside runway system (essentially determined operations and will finally integrate land- by the ANSP) would be aligned with nei- side access modes. This will allow all pro- ther the terminal or apron/stand capacity, cess partners to improve the performance both of which are the responsibility of the of their operations throughout the entire airport operator. collaborative network, so shared value is Moreover, the capacity of the various generated and customers’ door-to-door capacity drivers usually is not determined experiences improved. Given that the by a single process partner but rather Ground Coordinator will be the one facil- Andreas Eichinger is in charge of results from the efficient interaction of itating data exchange among process Fraport AG’s strategic projects in airside operations and for SESAR the different partners. For example, with partners providing them with a common deployment at Frankfurt Airport. regard to terminal capacity, the capacity view of the current situation, the Ground He was previously seconded to ACI of passport control at Frankfurt Airport Coordinator could also act as the future Europe in Brussels and served as is ultimately determined by the Federal single point of contact at each airport for Manager Safety, Capacity, ATM and Police. For this reason, an effective co- the Network Manager. ▪ Single European Sky. 64 Viewpoint

Continuing reluctance to commit to a fully-integrated European ATM system

Mark Deacon has been closely involved with EUROCONTROL since the mid-1980s when he began representing Monarch Airlines and the International Air Carrier Association (IACA) at the initial flow management meetings in Brussels.

s an airline operating across the we continue to climb the learning curve buffer to absorb future traffic growth. European network our require- with new safety management system I have been a member of the EURO- ments of air traffic management (SMS) programmes and, despite increas- CONTROL Route Network Development A(ATM) are simple: to improve safety, punc- ing traffic, it is rewarding to note that 2015 Subgroup (RNDSG) for over 20 years and tuality and cost. While I would have to has turned out to be one of the safest years am pleased to see improved flight effi- admit that traffic has increased signifi- for commercial aviation. ciency brought about by increased use of cantly over the past 20 years I would ques- Monarch has set On-Time Perfor- dynamic airspace – through programmes tion the benefits (if any) of many of the mance (OTP) as one of its key operational such as Free Route and Flexible Use of Air- strategic programmes. The recent release targets and, alongside company policies space. One of the greatest innovations in of the 2015 European ATM Masterplan and procedures to maximise punctuality, increasing capacity has been the imple- highlights the Single European Sky ATM it relies on ATM to deliver the operating mentation of reduced vertical separation Research (SESAR) initiative as a critical environment to achieve this goal. Recent minima (RVSM) which has undoubtedly element in the future air transport system years have seen improvements in air traf- helped improve the efficiency of our and is intended to offer a high-level view fic control (ATC) and reactionary ATC flights. I joined RNDSG representing the of what is required to deliver a high-per- delay but we operate in specific markets International Air Carrier Association formance aviation system for Europe. which are very prone to peak time capac- (IACA) soon after the implementation of My thoughts on reading this went back ity issues. The global reduction in ATM the basic ATS route network (ARN1) ‘trunk to the European Air Traffic Control Har- delay is irrelevant to us when our on-time route’ structure and became increasingly monisation and Integration Programme performance targets have been destroyed concerned that for all the improvements (EATCHIP) and the later ATM 2000+ Strat- by industrial action, low productivity and shown on the new map of Europe the real- egy which were heralded at the time as even training – the winter delays through ity was somewhat different. We found the means by which a quantum increase Brest, France, due to En-Route Air Traffic that as soon as interesting new airway in ATM and airspace capacity would Organiser (ERATO) training ensured our links were added we faced increased route be delivered. Fifteen years separate the company annual OTP target would be availability document (RAD) restrictions two concepts and yet we are still waiting unachievable. Apart from the disruption applied by the States that prevented us for the promised paradigm shift in Euro- to our passengers we also risk legal chal- from making use of them. Many of the pean ATM. lenges and financial penalties through best options were conditional – and it has Safety is paramount for Monarch (as it EU261 claims for reactionary ATC delay. taken many years to reach a point where is for every airline) and this is one perfor- There has been much self-congratulation we can feel that as airspace users we are mance target that we expect to be deliv- by the ATM community over improved equal partners in some parts of Europe. ered. Over the past 20 years there have global delay figures but I believe oppor- Cost efficiency is not the same as flight been setbacks (such as the Linate, Milan tunities were missed during the years of efficiency and while EUROCONTROL (at runway incursion in 2001 and the Uber- financial crisis when increased invest- the behest of the European Commission lingen, Germany collision in 2002) but ment would have built up a significant and its flight efficiency targets) bases- effi Viewpoint 65

ciency on the shortest route, airlines take while others strive to increase through- ANSP staff level) to commit to a fully inte- greater account of upper air winds and put in very complex and dense airspace. grated European solution. I know I am not overflight charges. Our goal is to achieve While some ANSPs (and States) have alone in fearing that SES and SESAR will a safe on-time departure and on-time worked (some under new corporatised fail because States and ANSPs will block arrival at the lowest cost and this does structures) with their staff to deliver progress as they always have done. This not always equate to the shortest route. capacity, to become more proactive in can be because of issues of loss of sover- One of the early benchmarks used was to seeking solutions and to increase flexibil- eignty, legal/institutional concerns, mil- compare Europe to North America and it ity, others remain glued to a modus oper- itary issues or what is referred to as the can be argued that hard work over the past andi prevalent in the 1970s. We still find social dialogue. The implementation of 20 years has seen safety, environmental unused capacity, rigid structures, inflexi- Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs) was impact and punctuality at comparable lev- bility and a lack of will to provide capacity intended to overcome these blockers els. When SESAR was launched in 2005 its where it is needed and during the hours but it would appear they have not only key performance targets for 2020 were to that traffic demand requires it. Failure to succumbed to the same issues but have enable a threefold increase in capacity, to address productivity and operational effi- actually increased fragmentation of the improve safety by a factor of 10, to reduce ciencies in a small number of European network by protecting States and ANSPs the environmental impact of each flight Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) States is within another line of defence. For those by 10% and to cut ATM costs by 50%. In having a significant impact on the ability of us longing for one Single European Sky, 2011 70% more flights were operated in of the network to achieve what has been the FAB empires appear to be the biggest the US compared to that covered by Sin- promised to the airline industry and the blocker of all. gle European Sky (SES) but with 7% fewer travelling public. I remain sceptical that the much staff and at an air traffic controller (ATCO) After so many years and so many ATM alluded to ‘paradigm shift’ in European cost per flight hour of 48% less. programmes we are led to expect that Sin- ATM can ever be achieved while social In 2012 user charges cost the airlines gle European Sky and SESAR will provide issues remain. I fully understand the some €7.5 billion – and it is only natural the step change, but the elephant in the concerns of those who believe that tech- that we question what, exactly, we are room has always been the acceptance of nology and new working practices will see paying for. There are a number of air all those providing ATM (and by this I a reduction in employment within ATC/ navigation service providers (ANSPs) in mean all – at State, National Supervisory ATM, but the airline industry has for years Europe with very low productivity levels Authority (NSA), ANSP management and been forced to downsize and adopt new 66 Viewpoint

technologies and ways of working in order the promised ATM systems will deliver updated European Master Plan to become to survive. In the air we have lost flight or the planned advanced airspace struc- a reality within the agreed timescales and engineers and navigators and ground tures will be available. We require some I expect a significant reduction in ATM staff numbers are now being reduced certainty that our significant investment costs alongside the promised threefold through automation and outsourcing. will be an enabler for the savings that we increase in capacity and improved flight The significant costs expected to be borne have been promised for many years. efficiency. We have wasted enough time by airlines for airborne equipage to meet The updated European Master Plan and money on European air traffic man- SESAR targets were expected to be cov- includes yet more ATM roadmaps that agement and only when the promised ered by the reduction of ATM costs by highlight the performance improve- long-term benefits are finally delivered 50%, an aspiration that may be regarded ments we can expect from new ground will airspace users be in a position to offer as a challenge too far. User charges remain and airborne technologies which should their congratulations. ▪ one of our biggest costs and yet I see little enable us to make the right investment sign that there is either a willingness or a decisions. My fear is that over the years clear path forward among many ANSPs to we have built up a sizeable atlas of such reduce this financial burden imposed on roadmaps but the vision we had 20 their customers irrespective of the level of years ago has still to become reality and service provided. what is planned for SESAR is little more We are now building the future of than what we were promised from long- Monarch Airlines, which came under new forgotten ATM programmes. In compar- ownership in October 2014, with invest- ison, the early SESAR targets now appear ment in new technologies and a fleet rather ambitious. replacement programme commencing Given that it is now too late for report- with the delivery of the first Boeing 737 ing period two (RP2), I would like to see Max-8 in 2018. We are currently consider- strong RP3 performance targets agreed ing our equipage options but, despite the and delivered by all and, most impor- huge investment required, past experi- tantly, that these are not watered down ence of European ATM programmes gives by States and ANSPs putting their own us little confidence that the mandates interests before those of the travelling we aim to comply with will be in place, public. I expect the vision outlined in the Mark Deacon is Navigation Services Administrator of the UK’s Monarch Airlines ATC adv for Skyway.pdf 1 2016/1/12 10:51:22

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