Regional Cooperation in ATM Towards a More Efficient Provision of Air Navigation Services

Regional Cooperation in ATM Towards a more efficient provision of air navigation services

Maastricht UAC CEATS Functional airspace blocks

ICAO, IATA and IFATCA: Cooperation is key to safer aviation

Skyway is a quarterly publication of the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, EUROCONTROL Volume 9, Number 38, Autumn 2005 3 Editorial Focus 4 Regional cooperation in ATM: a challenge for today and for the future 9 Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre: consolidating airspace in the heart of Europe 11 Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre: maximising the benefits of regional cooperation 14 CEATS: a regional ATM solution 20 Restructuring European airspace: functional airspace blocks

Datelines 19 EUROCONTROL to launch new air-ground communications safety action plan

News 23 EUROCONTROL is recognised for excellence!

Stakeholder Forum 24 ICAO’s perspective on regional cooperation: cooperation key to safer aviation 26 IATA’s perspective on regional cooperation: addressing European airspace fragmentation 28 IFATCA’s perspective on regional cooperation: at the heart of the global ATM system Skyway Magazine is a EUROCONTROL publication. Articles appearing in this magazine do not necessarily reflect EUROCONTROL’s official policy. Interview Publisher: Víctor M. Aguado 30 Dynamic Italy: interview with Massimo Garbini, Managing Editor: Gerhard Stadler Editor: Lucia Pasquini Director Airport Operations Department, ENAV S.p.A. [email protected] Editorial Team: Christos Petrou, Jean-Jacques Sauvage Linguistic Advisers: Language Service (DGS/LSEC) Review Layout: Frédérique Fyon Photography and pre-press 32 Multilateration takes off in Europe coordination: Christian Sampoux Printing: EUROCONTROL Logistics and 35 Investigation into loss of communication Support Services, Bureau DGS/LOG

Articles, photographs and letters from Report readers are welcome. Whilst every care will be taken of material submitted for 38 Visits and agreements publication, the Managing Editor regrets that he is unable to accept responsibility for any loss or damage.

EUROCONTROL Website: http://www.eurocontrol.int Dear Readers, Chers lecteurs,

EUROCONTROL is firmly behind EUROCONTROL soutient activement les initiatives de regional cooperation initiatives in the coopération régionale dans le domaine de la gestion du trafic field of air traffic management. aérien.

We are convinced that regional Nous sommes convaincus que la coopération régionale rial cooperation will enable faster, more permettra une mise en oeuvre plus rapide et plus efficiente cost-effective implementation of ATM des installations ATM et qu’elle favorisera, par ailleurs, l’har- facilities, and – as an added benefit – monisation et l’intégration au niveau européen. that it will sustain European harmoni- EUROCONTROL considère l’approche régionale plus effi- Edito sation and integration overall. cace que l’approche locale parce qu’elle conduit, à terme, à EUROCONTROL holds that a regional approach is more une convergence des systèmes et qu’elle contribue aussi au efficient than a local approach as it leads to a convergence of renforcement de la sécurité à l’échelle du continent. systems and it does much to promote safety across the con- En tout état de cause, la coopération régionale n’est pas tinent. un impératif uniquement pour les États européens, mais aussi Yet regional cooperation is not only essential for European pour nos voisins. Les États qui s’associent aux initiatives de States, but also for our neighbours. States involved in coop- coopération peuvent, eux aussi, tirer pleinement parti des eration initiatives are able to take equal advantage of the ben- avantages que procure un système ATM performant de gran- efits offered by an efficient, wide-reaching ATM system. de envergure. Regional cooperation in ATM paves the way for the La coopération régionale dans le domaine de la gestion achievement of strategic European ATM objectives. I see the du trafic aérien ouvre la voie à la réalisation d’objectifs straté- most important benefits of regional ATM cooperation as giques européens en matière d’ATM. Ses principaux avan- being: tages me semblent être les suivants : Political – closer cooperation in the ATM field fosters clos- politiques – le renforcement de la coopération dans le er political relations and enhances understanding on a wide domaine ATM favorise le resserrement des liens politiques et scale. la compréhension sur une grande échelle ; Economical – better use of resources and improved eco- économiques – une meilleure utilisation des ressources, nomic stability have a positive impact on regional economic une intégration plus poussée et une plus grande stabilité éco- development. nomique ont une incidence positive sur le développement Costs – sharing resources reduces costs and, in doing so, économique régional ; the area becomes more attractive to airspace users. financiers – le partage des ressources se traduit par une Operational – improved organisation of ATC facilities and diminution des coûts, ce qui rend la région plus attractive services makes it possible to meet user requirements and pour les usagers de l’espace aérien ; enhance safety in general. opérationnels – une meilleure organisation des installa- There are a number of regional developments in existence tions et services ATC permet de répondre aux demandes des today, including those managed by States and air navigation usagers et d’améliorer la sécurité en général. service providers; they are operated under the auspices of On dénombre, à l’heure actuelle, une série d’initiatives de ICAO, the European Commission and EUROCONTROL. There coopération régionale, dont certaines sont gérées par les have also been some recent bilateral initiatives exploring the États et les prestataires de services de navigation aérienne, avenues towards future functional airspace blocks. Given the sous les auspices de l'OACI, de la Commission européenne variety of current developments, it seems to me that there is et d’EUROCONTROL. Viennent s’y ajouter plusieurs initiatives an urgent need to tackle the issue of overall network coher- bilatérales récentes, qui explorent la piste des futurs blocs ence. By coordinating these developments, we will be in a d’espace aérien fonctionnels. Eu égard à la variété des déve- stronger position to contribute to the optimisation of the pan- loppements actuels, il me paraît urgent de veiller à la cohé- European aviation network as a whole. rence globale du réseau. En coordonnant ces développe- ments, nous serons mieux armés pour contribuer à l’optimisation du réseau aéronautique paneuropéen dans son ensemble.

Víctor M. Aguado Víctor M. Aguado Director General Director General

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 3 RegionalRegional cooperationcooperation inin ATMATM AA challengechallenge forfor todaytoday andand forfor thethe futurefuture

4 Focus Together, aviation and tourism Regional ATM cooperation the Agency has developed a regional form the world’s largest covers all activities, meas- ATM cooperation strategy that: industry – contributing more ures, agreements, plans and than 10% of the global econ- programmes by which groups ■ encourages regional ATM omy. of neighbouring States and/or cooperation; their air navigation service ■ ensures support and facilitation A safe and efficient aviation providers (ANSPs) undertake for existing initiatives; system is a fundamental pre- to achieve commonly agreed ■ identifies possible new areas By Jean-Jacques requisite for a healthy busi- Sauvage, objectives and/or to share of cooperation. ness environment. Air trans- Head of the services and resources in port is a growth industry. It is Cabinet of order to enhance ATM per- Regional ATM cooperation will allow expanding 2.4% faster than the Director formance. The role of EURO- faster, more cost-effective implementa- GDP rates on average. General, and CONTROL is to add value tion of ATM facilities and will sustain through cooperation agree- European harmonisation and integra- Not surprisingly, airlines and ments so as to achieve the tion. The underlying rationale for a passengers, who are the Organisation's objectives of sound strategy is that the ATM Strategy ones that finance the ATM accelerating the establish- 2000+ and the Single European Sky infrastructure, are demanding ment of a uniform European (SES) initiative does not need to be efficient solutions because ATM system in European air- implemented at the same speed in traffic in Europe is growing – space and at and around Europe due to the economical, techni- and is expected to double by airports. cal, operational and institutional environ- Willy Depouillon, 2020. ments which vary from one sub-region to Stakeholder Implementation The institutional and strate- another. Therefore, a regional approach Governments and service Service (DAP/SIS) gic basis for stimulating is a more efficient tool towards conver- providers need to ensure that regional ATM cooperation gence of systems implementation for they develop their ATM infrastructure to can be found in the revised EURO- Europe as a whole. meet future growth and enhance safe- CONTROL Convention, Statute of the ty and security levels. Isolated ATC Agency, the European ATM 2000+ The application of regional ATM cooper- service providers have limited chances Strategy and the EC Single European ation should not be strictly limited to the of meeting the challenge because in Sky. The EUROCONTROL Agency European Civil Aviation Conference an international environment the future includes the regional development ele- (ECAC) area but should also address lies in regional cooperation and har- ment in its vision and strategy. States at the periphery of ECAC that are monised regional systems. interested. Outside the ECAC area, The overall objective of the European there is a clear wish to cooperate under Experience has shown that there are ATM, as defined within the EURO- the auspices of ICAO through EURO- substantial opportunities in increasing CONTROL Convention and the CONTROL in the execution of regional airspace capacity and the efficiency of European ATM 2000+ Strategy, is obvi- activities. flight operations through regional and ously of a regional cooperative nature. sub-regional ATM cooperation. Future ICAO, EUROCONTROL and IATA sup- Within Europe and at its interfaces national and regional ATM strategies port the need to avoid proliferation of there is a full range of initiatives on ATM must be linked because each State is ATC Units and infrastructure. Regional cooperation. Regional ATM coopera- an element of the complex ATM net- ATM cooperation aims at performance tion can take a wide range of configu- work. efficiencies consistent with this goal. rations. It can result in uniform air traffic services provision, but it can also be The ICAO Global Air Navigation Plan Whilst the EUROCONTROL pro- limited in scope to cover common pro- for CNS/ATM Systems recommends grammes adequately address the issue curement and/or shared use of ATS that “The basis of developing a global, of harmonisation and integration of systems, software and data. integrated ATM system will be an ATM in Europe, a structured approach Furthermore, it can be restricted to agreed-to structure of homogenous to regional ATM cooperation is needed cooperation in a number of ATS areas ATM areas and major international traf- to achieve the ultimate objectives of the e.g. planning, training and working fic flows.” The ICAO European Region ATM 2000+ Strategy (and subsequent- methods, ATM coordination mecha- Transition Plan to CNS/ATM identifies ly any Master Plan derived from it such nisms or to find practical solutions to the need for “efficient coordination as SESAME) more expeditiously, effi- problems related to airspace structure, between adjacent FIRs”. ciently and cost-effectively. Therefore, routes and capacity.

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 5 Focus The main existing regional developments

Different regional developments are the air navigation systems of these five CASO (Trans-Caucasus Airspace currently under way, either at the initia- States. The general objectives of the Organisation): tive of the States concerned or under AEFMP initiative are the harmonisation regional development between the auspices of EUROCONTROL or of air navigation service provision of the Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia ICAO. These differ in nature and scope. five States, the optimisation of the sur- under the auspices of ICAO to enable They are: veillance function and radio coverage and facilitate harmonisation of the air via the updating of the installations and navigation systems of the South ACB the sharing of data and infrastructure, Caucasus States, to define problem (ATM Cooperation in the Balkans): the improvement of voice communica- areas and prioritise tasks relating to the a programme of ATM cooperation in tions between adjacent ATC units provision and operation of the ATS the Balkans launched in 1999 by through networking or standardised services and facilities and to provide Albania, FYROM and Greece, with the signalling, the harmonisation of techni- guidance to regional projects. aim of establishing common ATM plan- cal components of ATC systems by ning by the three States. The major adopting common standards and CEATS UAC objectives are the promotion of the specifications and the improvement of (Central European Air Traffic Services ATS relations to improve air navigation ATM by means of the implementation of Upper Area Control Centre): service provision, the encouragement new routes, airspace structures and the agreement signed in 1997, aims to of civil-military cooperation and har- common procedures. create a single unified air traffic control monisation and the gradual integration system in Central Europe for the upper of the ATS systems at the technical ASATC airspace of Austria, Bosnia and and operational levels. (Air Safety and Air Traffic Control): Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech a project for the Western Balkans Republic, Hungary, north-eastern Italy, ACE (ATM Cooperation and financed by the European Commission the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. The Coordination in South-Eastern Europe): and executed by EUROCONTROL with exact geographical scope of activities an initiative in South-Eastern Europe the participation of the JAA. It aims to and date of operation are currently under following the signature of a support the Western Balkan States of discussion between these eight States. Memorandum of Understanding in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2003 between Bulgaria, Moldova, Croatia, FYROM and Serbia- EMAC (Europe-Middle East Romania and Turkey with a view to Montenegro in the establishment of Regional Coordination): implementing regional harmonisation competent civil aviation authorities, the a European/Middle East regional devel- and integration mechanisms. With development of regulations and proce- opment initiated in 2003 by Cyprus, the support of ICAO and EURO- dures for aviation safety, the develop- Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, CONTROL, the parties will cooperate ment of air navigation services to inter- based on an agreement between these and coordinate their actions in the fol- national standards, the preparing and States, addressing cooperation and lowing ATM areas: safety, capacity adoption of strategies and policies for coordination to be provided by EURO- management, ground communications developing air transport and the devel- CONTROL relating to the following ATM infrastructure, 8.33 kHz expansion, opment of human resources by training areas: ATM, safety, training, air naviga- navigation, surveillance, automated of CAA and ANSP staff. tion charges and consultation with the data processing, aeronautical informa- users. tion services, human resources man- BANC agement and training, R&D and air (Baltic Air Navigation Cooperation): FABA: navigation charges. initially, a regional initiative between an EC initiative launched in 2005 aim- the three Baltic States and Poland with ing at the early implementation of the AEFMP (Algeria, Espana, a view to creating one common FIR in Single European Sky in the Balkans France, Morocco, and Portugal): the Baltic Sea, it has now become an with the support of EUROCONTROL, an Air Navigation Systems Harmoni- initiative between Lithuania and ICAO, NATO, Albania, Bosnia and sation Plan signed in December 1996 Poland, to be explored with the other Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, by Algeria, France, Morocco, Spain Baltic States aiming at coordinating FYROM, Greece, Romania, Serbia and Portugal relating to the technical national plans for their respective Montenegro and UNMIK1. harmonisation and integration between CAAs and ANSPs.

6 Focus In addition to these regional developments, the EU States were invited by the European Commission to submit Maastricht UAC RADA before the end of the year proposals for in operation since 1972 and responsi- (Regional Air Navigation Services the reorganisation of their airspace into ble for air traffic control in the upper air- Development Association): Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs) space of Belgium, the Netherlands, an initiative launched in 2003 by the which should be justified by opera- Luxembourg and the North-West of ANSPs of Armenia, Azerbaijan, tional, economic and safety cases, as Germany. It is the first example of func- Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova and provided for in the Single European Sky tional airspace consolidation in Europe, Ukraine. The primary goals of the Regulations. In this context, NATS2 and working on the basis of operational Agreement are the exchange of IAA3 commissioned a study to examine requirements and major traffic flows experience and development of joint the options for establishing an FAB in rather than State boundaries. projects on CNS/ATM systems the UK and Ireland’s joint airspaces. implementation; the optimisation of ROMATSA Romania and ATSA Bulgaria NUAC (Nordic ANS Cooperation): operations and infrastructure, coop- presented to the EC a joint proposal for under development, addressing initially eration in the field of civil/military creating the prerequisites for the estab- the upper and lower airspace of coordination, of AIS development lishment of an FAB open to the other Denmark and Sweden, with the option and of Global Navigation Satellite parties to the ACE Memorandum of to also include other parts of the Nordic System implementation and the Cooperation and other States in the airspace. The agreement is aimed at development and harmonisation of Region. The French and Swiss ANSPs the harmonisation of ANS within the two ATC systems in line with ICAO and DSNA and skyguide also launched a States and the exchange of views and ECAC policies and EUROCONTROL study in order to evaluate the added information. programmes. value of an FAB approach between these two States. Aena of Spain and Ana of Portugal as well as Naviair of Denmark and LFV Group of Sweden Regional cooperation adopted a similar approach.

CEATS However, the optimal solutions should Austria Bosnia and Herzegovina be assessed on the basis of sectorisa- Croatia Czech Republic tion, as well as operational, technical, Hungary Italy (Padua UIR) economic and political requirements. Slovenia In this respect, the EUROCONTROL Slovak Republic Agency can assist the European Middle East Regional Commission and States in the field of Development (EMAC) airspace design in support of the Cyprus Egypt development of FABs. This support Jordan would be based on: Lebanon Syria Maastricht UAC ■ the definition of a future route net- Belgium Germany (Hanover UIR) work based on traffic demand and Luxembourg The Netherlands taking into account military requirements; ATM Cooperation ATM Cooperation AEFMP Plan Nordic ANS in the Balkans in South-Eastern Algeria Programme ■ the delineation of sector families (ACB) Europe (ACE) France Denmark Albania Bulgaria Morocco Finland (sectors closely related to one FYROM Moldova Portugal Iceland Greece Romania Spain Norway another, for example sectors feeding Turkey Sweden traffic into major airports); Air Safety and Air Baltic States Trans-Caucasus RADA Group ■ the grouping of the sector families Traffic Control Regional Project (CASO) Armenia 1 - United (ASATC) Cooperation Azerbaijan Azerbaijan into a coherent FAB using additional Albania initiative Georgia Georgia Nations Interim Bosnia and Herzegovina Estonia Armenia Kazakhstan criteria. Administration Croatia Latvia Moldova Mission in Kosovo FYROM Lithuania Ukraine Serbia-Montenegro Poland The most important benefits of regional 2 - National Air Traffic Services, UK ATM cooperation are mainly economi- 3 - Irish Aviation cal and operational. Authority

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 7 Focus The optimisation of the European common capacity planning and man- ment of the general security climate ATM network, a key objective in the agement process. The tools and through the shared use of information EUROCONTROL strategy, will benefit methodologies are used for all States and information sources and will from regional cooperation, through and ANSPs and these could serve to allow the implementation of coordi- the: evaluate the potential of any new nated cross-border actions in the regional initiative, i.e. route network security domain. ■ progressive reduction of airspace changes, resectorisation measures, fragmentation; including further consolidation of service provision, In conclusion, in a continent as increase of airspace capacity and etc. The Agency also gives full sup- diverse as Europe, regional ATM developments towards functional port to the development of local or cooperation is a key factor in airspace blocks; regional capacity plans (LCIPs). enhancing the performance of ATM ■ achievement of significant cost as a whole and developing a truly savings through the sharing of The Agency is developing new integrated and cost-effective pan- know-how, infrastructure, facilities capacity enhancement programmes European system. The regional and services in a rational manner at network level (i.e. the Dynamic approach is the appropriate avenue amongst participating States; Management of the European towards system convergence in ■ standardisation of procedures and Airspace) and ensures the common Europe. training; and application of existing programmes ■ reduction of workload for pilots and systems. EUROCONTROL EUROCONTROL encourages region- and air traffic controllers alike, shares its experience on the utilisa- al cooperation in ATM matters and with consequent safety benefits. tion of common procedures in considers such activities to be an civil/military cooperation so that important element in improving and Regional ATM cooperation is benefi- capacity enhancement based on developing the European ATM sys- cial to States as it enables the cost-effective measures is ensured. tem. Regional ATM cooperation relies achievement of strategic ATM per- on these initiatives as well as on the formance objectives: safety, capaci- With regard to cost-effectiveness, continued close cooperation with the ty, cost-efficiency, security and the EUROCONTROL is moving towards civil and military aviation authorities environment. The role of EUROCON- setting pan-European processes that and the ANSPs of the States con- TROL is to add value through direct will ensure consistency between var- cerned. support so as to achieve the ious performance objectives. The Organisation’s objectives of acceler- Agency will prioritise those EATM Indeed, as already explained, ating the establishment of a uniform Programmes that could bring an regional ATM cooperation is a European ATM system in European immediate contribution to capacity mechanism for achieving enhanced airspace and at and around airports. enhancement or having the potential ATM performance in Europe. to contribute directly to cost reduc- Therefore, EUROCONTROL has a With regard to safety, most of the tions. role to play in proactively providing existing EUROCONTROL pro- support to regional ATM coopera- grammes aim at enhancing safety Regional ATM cooperation could also tion initiatives. This role will take the Europe-wide. The Agency offers lead to benefits in connection with form of promoting and supporting regional and local support for the: environmental sustainability. These existing multinational regional consist of cross-border solutions to cooperation groups and facilitating ■ development and implementation optimise arrivals/departures allowing coordination actions to overcome of safety regulations and safety direct descents and climbs by traffic difficulties between adjacent states, management; in particular in the case of small, supporting the functioning of effi- ■ uniform adoption and application multi-fragmented airspace, the coor- cient and viable regional structures of safety cases and reporting dinated allocation of optimum flight and identifying new opportunities schemes; levels and the possible elimination of and interfacing areas where coop- ■ common organisation and opera- flight level changes in such airspace eration could lead to important tion of support services; portions. improvements and benefits for ■ application of common regula- the aviation community. EURO- tions. Finally, regional ATM cooperation CONTROL’s support is aimed at could also provide advantages in the adding value where a tangible con- With regard to capacity, EURO- security domain. Well-organised col- tribution to the air navigation system CONTROL has already in place a laboration will lead to the improve- can be made. ■

8 Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre

Consolidating airspace Focus in the heart of Europe

“The Maastricht Centre was probably one of the boldest air traffic management projects of the golden sixties. It was the first true consolidation of airspace in the heart of Europe, and a remarkable example of successful European construction”.

René Bulin, Director General of EUROCONTROL from 1963 to 1978.

By Mireille Roman, Communications Officer, Maastricht UAC

The Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre is responsible for air traffic control in the upper airspace (above 24,500 feet) of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the north-west of Germany. To cope with complex patterns of air traffic demand and airspace architecture in the area, the Centre is organised on a European, rather than a national, basis.

In operation since 1972, this avant- garde four-State regional cooperation project, both for civil and military air traffic control, is the first example of functional airspace consolidation in Europe, taking due account of operational requirements and major traffic flows rather than State boundaries. On top of the safe and efficient provision of air navigation services, one important mission of the Maastricht Centre is to pave the way for innovative safety, capacity and efficiency-enhancing programmes by conducting pre-operational trials of new operational concepts and technologies.

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 9 Focus

This year’s developments on the The Maastricht European scene are a poignant reminder Upper Area Control Centre that European construction should not building in 1972 be taken for granted. After many cen- turies of gory wars, having realised that survival depended precisely on how they Centre processed the first aircraft to fly national boundaries, to achieve greater could best join forces in a rapidly chang- through its area of responsibility, in the technical and operational synergies and ing geopolitical and socioeconomic envi- Belgian Olno Sector. It was LTU 121 – a to derive financial benefits from joint ronment, the European nations, at the S210 Caravelle- departure Lanzarote, developments. beginning of the fifties, made a con- inbound for Düsseldorf. For the first time, scious choice to cooperate. Today, the traffic in one country was controlled from Back in 1972, Belgium and triumphs of European cooperation are an international ATC facility located in Luxembourg were the first nations to many, but before the benefits could be another country. This marked the begin- entrust their national airspace to EURO- reaped, many hurdles had to be over- ning of the first regional air traffic servic- CONTROL. They were followed, shortly come – both on the ground and in the es integration initiative in Europe – an thereafter, in 1974, by Germany, which skies. advanced concept for the time. transferred the management of the Hanover UIR to EUROCONTROL. One With the creation of the EUROCONTROL With the advent of fast jet aircraft in the year later, in 1975, the transfer of the Organisation at the beginning of the six- late fifties, heralding a totally new air traf- German military sectors (“Lippe ties, the foundations for efficient fic management environment, the origi- Radar”) marked the start of exemplary European cooperation in air traffic man- nal scheme to face the challenges civil and military cooperation. It was not agement were laid. The decision, by the ahead was to create a small number of until 1986, after several years of difficult Permanent Commission of EURO- large ATC centres to cover the core negotiations, that the Netherlands CONTROL, to create the Maastricht European upper airspace. The eventually decided to follow suit and Upper Area Control Centre on 28 Maastricht, Shannon (IRL) and Karlsruhe joined the regional cooperation project. February 1964 was one of the early ini- (D) UACs were all conceived according tiatives aiming to cope with the rapid to the same rationale and had a similar Today, in 2005, with the strongest traffic development of civil aviation and vocation: to provide efficient, seamless growth ever experienced in its history improve safety, capacity and efficiency air traffic services over a large portion of with least delay, the Maastricht Centre is throughout the continent. multinational airspace irrespective of living proof that forward-thinking European nations could turn regional On 29 February 1972 at ATM cooperation into safety, 23:05 UTC the newly estab- capacity, efficiency and environ- lished EUROCONTROL mental benefits for one and all. Upper Area Control With outstanding safety standards, a remarkable operational productivity deemed the highest in Europe by recent bench- marking studies and a very good cost-effectiveness ratio, the Maastricht Centre is the first example of successful pan-European cooperation in the provision of regional air navigation services and an example of successful European construction. ■

10 Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre

Maximising the benefits Focus of regional cooperation

A SAFE AND BUSY 2005 date, with no compromise to safety, an tions in 1972, the Maastricht Centre has efficient traffic growth while increasing played a pivotal role within Europe as a The first months of 2005 saw one of the its competitiveness, i.e. reducing the pilot centre for pre-operational trials of strongest traffic growths in the last ten costs for air navigation service provi- some of these new concepts and tech- years spanning the whole geographical sion. At the same time, if the future nologies, validating them for opera- area of the Maastricht Upper Area requirements are to be met in terms of tional use, then introducing them into Control Centre. safety, capacity and efficiency, it is day-to-day operations – to the benefit important to maintain investments in of the entire aviation community. With a traffic increase of 7.5% in the future ground-breaking systems and first eight months of the year and an technologies. The start of data link overall reduction of 80% in delays, the deployment over year has yielded the capacity increase greatly needed by the airspace users. PIONEERING ADVANCES continental Europe IN TECHNOLOGY The most fascinating technological Daily traffic hit new record levels on 16 The dramatic improvements in current advance is epitomised by controller- September 2005, with 4,485 flights safety and capacity levels to accom- pilot data link communications processed in one single day, represent- modate a possible doubling of traffic by (CPDLC), which were trialled at ing an increase of 6% on last year’s 2015/2020 can only be achieved by Maastricht as early as 1995. The oper- busiest day (4,235 flights processed on introducing a new generation of ational introduction of the new commu- 10 September 2004). advanced ATC systems. Leading-edge nications medium in the Centre’s brand new operations room was achieved in 2003, with the first CPDLC message Total economic cost per flight hour controlled exchanged with Lufthansa flight 462 In the first eight months from Frankfurt to Miami, using the new of 2005, the Maastricht € ergonomic human-machine interface. 372 366€ UAC total economic cost 339€ per flight hour controlled went down to €250, This development marked the begin- a reduction of 30% on 250€ the previous year. ning of operational data link deploy- It is calculated on the basis ment in continental European airspace € of 62 per minute delay. under the aegis of the LINK2000+ Note: the figure relating Programme, a programme which is to 2005 refers to the first expected to deliver, in time, a 10% eight months of the year capacity increase. and will change in the 2002 2003 2004 2005 light of final yearly data. (first 8 months) For many years, pilots and controllers communicating in continental airspace In parallel, for the first eight months of technologies and ATM concepts will be have done so using radiotelephony the year, the total economic cost per phased in over the next few years to voice communications. With the advent flight hour controlled was reduced by give controllers the ability to handle far of controller-pilot data link communica- 30% compared to the same period in more aircraft than currently possible, tions, both parties now have an alterna- 2004. This development will provide an with even higher levels of safety. tive communication medium, which important contribution to the objective they can use, when appropriate, to of reducing user charges in the area. The operational potential of a large air- exchange routine, non-time-critical space where national boundaries long messages. One of the most important challenges ago became irrelevant has been con- facing the Maastricht Centre in the stantly exploited over the last three Currently, just 2% of all long and short future will be to continue to accommo- decades. Since it began initial opera- haul flights passing through Maastricht

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 11 Maximising the benefits of regional cooperation (cont’d)

Focus UAC’s airspace (1.4 million/year) use data link communications. However, this figure will increase substantially in the near future, as new partners commit to join the operations. Currently, the airlines participating in the data link programme include American Airlines, British Midland, Continental Airlines, Lufthansa, El Al, Japan Airlines, LTU International Airways, Reach, Qantas, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Singapore Cargo, United Airlines and US Air, with Air Europa, Air Berlin, Airbus Transport International, Lufthansa shorthaul, Fedex Express and several other airlines expected to join the operations later in 2005.

The first flight which logged into the new operational system at Maastricht on Wednesday, 18 June 2003, was Lufthansa flight 462 from Frankfurt to Miami. CPDLC connection occurred at New Flight Data 08:29 UTC as the aircraft entered the Luxembourg sector at an altitude of 24,000 feet. The first Processing System CPDLC message exchanged between the controller and aircrew was the "Change Frequency" message as the aircraft departed Maastricht airspace and transferred to Reims. The message The technological advances will not dialogue took 32 seconds to complete. The flight left the Luxembourg sector airspace at 08:35 end with the introduction of CPDLC. In UTC and entered French airspace to continue its journey to the USA. a few years’ time, the Maastricht Centre will implement a new backbone to its ATC infrastructure, the new Flight Data Processing System. A fundamental technical enhancement due to become operational in 2007, the new Flight Data Processing System will contain several key features, which will accommodate safely and efficiently the challenges ahead in terms of airspace density and complexity.

The feedback from the controllers using the CPDLC menu-based messa- ging system is positive. They see savings in voice communication time, a better workload distribution between the planning and executive controllers, and the introduction of automation in the system all helping them in their day-to-day work. The use of CPDLC also helps aircrew and controllers reduce misunderstandings that can sometimes occur with traditional voice communications.

12 Focus The new system will deliver several new layers of functionality by providing controllers with highly accurate trajectory predictions – thereby enhancing safety, minimising delays and reducing aircraft fuel-burn and emissions. It will furthermore allow a flexible sectorisation, medium-term conflict detection functionalities and work load monitoring functions for a quantitative and complexity rating of the traffic load.

A true safety and capacity enabler for the future, the new Flight Data Processing System will support the new operational concepts expected to emerge in the future (e.g. DMEAN, the Dynamic Management of the European Airspace Network programme).

OPTIMISING AIRSPACE MANAGEMENT FURTHER Maastricht UAC sectors The sixteen ATC sectors currently extending over the 260,000 km2 airspace have been designed for maxi- els of collaboration between the four overcome in the past will certainly ease mum efficiency from the air traffic States. and speed up the process of creating a management point of view and tran- large functional airspace block in the scend national borders. PROTOTYPE FUNCTIONAL area, which could possibly extend AIRSPACE BLOCK beyond current boundaries. Unquestionable safety, capacity, efficiency and environmental benefits The publication of the first Single While the cost of flight-related ineffi- have been generated by this multina- European Sky regulations has given a ciency in Europe has been estimated at tional cooperation in the past. new, legally binding, impetus to the €1 billion per annum, the Maastricht However sustained airspace optimi- European airspace consolidation Centre has long demonstrated the sation and civil-military cooperation process. The Single European Sky leg- operational and economic efficiencies are central to enhancing further the islation has laid the groundwork for the which can be achieved when nations performance of the ATC operational establishment of Functional Airspace cooperate. environment and keeping pace with Blocks, following the example of the the inexorable traffic growth. Maastricht Centre where operational That, in itself, already represents a criteria rather than national airspace giant leap in the direction of the Single Current research work points towards divisions form the basis of air traffic European Sky. ■ a more flexible and dynamic manage- management principles. ment of the airspace, using an operational concept, which will exploit high- Becoming a certificated air navigation end modern ATC technology. The idea service provider by the end of 2006 will is that the future ATC methodology authorise the Maastricht Centre to should adapt and evolve in line with operate in the Single European Sky the progress in technological support, environment. The fact, however, that gradually moving away from a forty- the political difficulties related to the year old legacy system. This ambi- consolidation of the respective four tious goal will involve increasing lev- national airspaces were successfully

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 13 CEATS

Focus A regional ATM solution

The CEATS UAC in PRAGUE Strategy, Planning Vienna will be more and Development Unit Czech Republic than a new centre Slovakia in the area, it is also VIENNA CEATS Centre Hungary an opportunity paving Austria BUDAPEST the way for an Research, Development and Simulation Centre integrated ATM

Slovenia system for the Italy Croatia whole region. FORLI- RIMINI Bosnia and Training Herzegovina Centre cost-efficiency improvements" and requesting "the EURO- CONTROL Agency together with the ANSPs of the CEATS region, to develop mechanisms allowing coordination and monitoring of the devel- The Central European opments of ATM services with a view to enabling integration Air Traffic Services of the vertical and horizontal (CEATS) Programme cal concepts providing cost- segments of ATM". efficient solutions for the The Central European Air Traffic Services (CEATS) CEATS lower airspace. It is Flexibility as a project is a far-reaching solution to the sustained already stated in the CEATS high-level principle growth of air traffic over central Europe. Launched Strategic Plan that "One in 1997, it will create a single, unified, air traffic Overall Target Architecture This cooperation has identi- control system to manage the upper airspace over will be defined and imple- fied a number of high-level the CEATS Member States. mented, while safeguarding guiding principles for the local investments. […] Also, CEATS Overall Target more opportunities for com- By Yvan Fischer, Architecture. The first is that mon developments and Head of CEATS this Overall Architecture must A collaborative approach common procurements will Programme provide the necessary flexibil- arise". Management ity to accommodate the diver- Office (CMO), and The implementation of the ATM 2000+ sity of national systems. The Strategy and of the future interoperabil- EUROCONTROL and the transition path will allow ity standards will result in a need for CEATS ANSPs have there- States to evolve at their own improving the ATC centres in the fore decided to develop the pace in accordance with their region. These improvements must be CEATS Overall Target needs. The key success fac- planned using a step-by-step Architecture, identifying a tor is that States must be able approach, as a continuous process long-term objective for the to choose their level of inte- involving both national systems and the future CEATS CNS/ATM sys- gration over time. A technical CEATS UAC. tem, including the CEATS transition will therefore be UAC and the national sys- defined in order to plan tech- Nicolas Gautier, In parallel to the implementation of the tems. The recent Ministerial nical improvements from the Expert, CEATS CEATS UAC, the CEATS air navigation Resolution confirms this Strategy start of operations at the service providers (ANSPs) have approach, supporting Planning and CEATS UAC (2009) to the final expressed their willingness to increase "regional integration […] in Development performance of the CEATS regional cooperation and define techni- order to achieve measurable Unit (CSPDU) Programme (2015), which

14 Focus

corresponds to the achievement of the ■ Lastly, the CEATS Overall Target In addition, the CEATS partners have strategic objectives. Architecture takes into account the recognised that an approach favouring existing technical framework and regional integration will provide the fol- Other high-level principles makes the most efficient use of the lowing benefits: existing infrastructure and systems. Four other high-level principles pave It also identifies systems which ■ it will permit an overall reduction in the way for technical cooperation: would be more efficiently imple- the cost of CNS/ATM at CEATS level; mented as a single instance at ■ it will contribute to an improvement ■ The Target Architecture is in line with CEATS level, supporting better cost- in the service provided to users, the progressive improvement of the efficiency within the overall CEATS notably in terms of capacity and overall European ATM system, in CNS/ATM system. safety; particular with the EUROCONTROL ■ in the context of the CEATS ATM 2000+ Strategy, SESAME, and Interoperability and system Agreement and with the support of the Single European Sky (SES) regu- collaborating parties, the CEATS lations and implementing rules. integration as key technical UAC presents a unique opportunity ■ In particular, the CEATS Overall concepts for the CEATS area to achieve fur- Architecture supports the require- ther integration. ments of the SES Interoperability The CEATS approach to interoperability ■ Regional integration relies on the Regulation, the implementing rules benefits from current developments in concept of regional systems, which deriving from it and the emerging the domain of interoperability, notably will be shared between CEATS interoperability standards. the new generation of FDPSs1 (e.g. national systems and the CEATS ■ The CEATS Overall Architecture also iTEC and COFLIGHT). For the initial UAC. supports regional integration, as operation of the CEATS UAC, the inter- long as it is consistent and compati- operability framework is based on the Regional systems ble with the overall planning of the existing OLDI2 standard. Following the CEATS Programme and the imple- overall improvement at European level, Regional systems are sub-systems of mentation of the CEATS UAC. The the CEATS framework will migrate to full CEATS CNS/ATM which are more aim of regional integration is the pro- interoperability on the basis of the appropriately implemented as a single vision of common CNS/ATM servic- emerging interoperability standards instance at CEATS regional level. es and infrastructures for the CEATS and the new generation of flight data Primarily, these systems will be need- area. processing systems. ed for the implementation of the CEATS UAC. However, they can also provide a regional service to the national ACCs. These regional systems satisfy the parallel processes of the implementation of the CEATS UAC and harmonisation and integration

Upper Airspace CEATS UAC provides ATS to the CEATS Upper Airspace within the CEATS area. The redundan- cy requirements and sites involved are identified on a case-by-case basis. Two types of system exist at regional level: Lower Airspace Progressive integration of national ACCs CNS (Communications, Navigation and Surveillance) infrastructure ■ A CEATS Ground/Ground Network 2009 2012 2015 will provide a link between the national communication networks of Initial Operations Full Operations Final Performance 1 - Flight the CEATS States by means of a sin- Data Processing CEATS UAC CEATS UAC CEATS UAC gle common high-bandwidth high- Systems availability digital backbone net- 2 - On-Line Data work. Interchange

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 15 CEATS: a regional ATM solution (cont’d)

Focus ■ The CEATS Air/Ground Infrastruc- ■ The second level of national ACC ■ ATM environmental data, supported ture makes the best use of existing integration offers an information- by the Regional ATM Environmental facilities, complemented by new sharing environment through a Database; radio sites as required. Shared Information Pool. It implies a ■ flight data, supported by the future ■ The CEATS Surveillance Infrastruc- higher degree of ATM systems inter- Flight Data Interoperability Concept; ture provides surveillance coverage operability, based on full interoper- ■ surveillance data, supported by the for both upper and lower airspace ability. The second level of integra- sharing of surveillance information within the CEATS region, making the tion also provides potential solutions and data processing. most efficient use of existing sen- for fall-back or contingency situa- sors. tions. Although the Shared Information Pool is ■ The third level of national ACC inte- primarily designed for CEATS stake- DPS (Data Processing System) gration relies on shared data pro- holders, airport operators and aircraft services cessing systems. These ACCs will operators will contribute to it when ■ A Regional Surveillance Data be remote units in which regional CDM and SWIM6 concepts are imple- Processing System, based on systems will be the main data pro- mented at CEATS level. ARTAS3, provides the required sur- cessing facilities used by controller veillance data to the CEATS users working positions. For this higher Expected benefits ■ The CEATS Regional ATM level of integration, the technical Environmental Database ensures improvements performed at regional The concepts developed in the CEATS that a consistent ATM environment level will benefit all lower-airspace Overall Target Architecture provide a (aeronautical information, meteoro- remote units. At the same time, flexible integrated framework for the logical information, key ATM system national ACCs may, if necessary, CEATS region. It will contribute to the parameters and information, the lat- implement a number of additional cost-efficiency of ATM services est airspace status and ATC con- data processing systems at local through the sharing of data process- straints) is available to all CEATS level. ing functions, thereby minimising users. investments and maintenance costs. It ■ A Regional Flight Data Processing Shared Information Pool will also improve the consistency of System ensures that integrated units information between CEATS stake- share consistent flight data informa- The Shared Information Pool will allow holders. This will improve the level of tion. the various participating stakeholders safety in the region. Lastly, the inte- ■ A Regional Air/Ground Data Proces- to share information, thereby improving grated framework provides an oppor- sing System manages CPDLC4 and data consistency within the CEATS tunity for concrete and powerful con- DAP5 services for the CEATS inte- region. It will provide services in order tingency-planning solutions for the grated area. to manage the following data: CEATS area.

The extent to which each State uses

these regional systems varies over time Upper and in accordance with the national Airspace CEATS UAC DPS Service Provision plans of the partners.

External Systems Three levels of integration Military Three levels of national ACC integration Units DPS Regional Systems CNS Regional DPS Service Provision offer flexibility in terms of both time and Systems scope for various integration strategies: AD Units CNS Services 3 - ATM Surveillance Lower Shared Tracker and Server ■ The first level of national ACC inte- Airspace Processing System OLDI Shared Data gration corresponds to the minimum Integrated Level 1 Integrated Level 2 Integrated Level 3 4 - Controller-Pilot level of integration. These ACCs Data Link (Current Standard Unit) (Interoperable Unit) (Remote Unit) Communication exchange information with other Typical User National ACC Typical User National ACC Typical User National ACC 5 - Downlink Aircraft CEATS units using existing stan- Transitional phase Compliant SES IOP Compliant SES IOP Parameter Optional Target Local Data processing Low Cost dards such as OLDI. This situation Adapted to local needs Adapted to local needs 6 - System-Wide corresponds to that of existing adja- Information Management cent units.

16 Focus The CEATS Overall Target Architecture and regional concepts will require significant changes in the way systems are operated. This will involve addressing new institutional and legal challenges which are not completely covered by the current CEATS Agreement. At the same time, this regional approach provides a number of concrete perspectives for future developments in relation to the Single European Sky and functional airspace blocks.

INSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS

The issue The CEATS Agreement states that the CEATS UAC should be a unit of the EUROCONTROL Agency, as is the Maastricht UAC today. by public international law or by the a European Company ("Societas national law of a Contracting Party, or Europaea") was analysed and dis- As early as 2001, the Resolution of the acquire majority shareholdings in such carded, at least as an initial step. first Ministerial Conference on CEATS undertakings.” It gives the Organisa- requested the EUROCONTROL tion the legal framework to create pri- Lastly, national law was further Agency to "develop proposals within vate law entities if it is felt that this analysed. The first question was easi- the framework of the CEATS would be a more appropriate way of ly answered: given that the CEATS Agreement and the revised EURO- discharging its responsibilities. UAC was located near Vienna, CONTROL Convention for the partici- Austrian law appeared to be the obvi- pation of the national air navigation It should be noted that although the ous choice, and no legal impediments service providers of the CEATS States revised Convention is not yet in force under the national laws of Austria were in the operation of ATS in the upper the legal situation allows the early identified with respect to the require- airspace of the CEATS region". Further implementation of the provisions of ments of CEATS. The second question developments relating to the separa- Article 2.5. was the corporate form of the under- tion of service provision and regulato- taking. Again, a number of possibili- ry functions and the development of Under the terms of Article 2.5, the ties were investigated and the best the Single European Sky tend to favour undertaking may be governed by inter- option appeared to be a limited liabili- the corporatisation of service provi- national law or by the law of one of the ty company (GmbH). sion. Member States. Both options were studied and a first conclusion was that The above conclusions were present- The studies the international-law option did not ed to the CEATS States and air navi- present noticeable advantages. The gation service providers. There was a The Legal Service and the CEATS national-law option, on the other hand, majority in support of the CEATS Project Team have put their creativity did not appear to create any specific GmbH as the institutional model. to good use and investigated several problems. Lastly, the acquisition of a possibilities. The first avenue was to majority shareholding was investigated The role and expectations of the air look at the possibilities offered by but deemed irrelevant in the context. navigation service providers were also Article 2.5 of the revised EURO- discussed. The message was to CONTROL Convention stating: “In Another option investigated was the become shareholders of the GmbH, order to facilitate the execution of its creation of a European Economic accepting that EUROCONTROL would tasks, the Organisation may, by deci- Interest Group. Again, no real advan- retain the majority of the shares. With sion of the General Assembly, create tage could be identified; on the con- this model the ANSPs will be able to undertakings governed by specific trary, there were several legal impedi- play an active role in the governance of articles of association governed either ments. In the same way, the creation of the company.

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 17 Focus The Vienna Ministerial Resolution of 1 Organisation, the CEATS Agreement tion in the implementation and its June 2005 supports further work in this and the shareholders. gradual assumption of certain tasks; area, requesting that the Agency sub- this transition will last until the start of mit proposals for the creation of the The shareholders would only decide operations. CEATS GmbH to the relevant decision- on the major orientations of the CEATS making bodies under the CEATS GmbH, and not on the day-to-day All this should happen taking care of Agreement and the EUROCONTROL operations. The management of the the social impact on the individuals Convention by 1 June 2006. The under- GmbH will have a level of autonomy involved. taking will be established in 2007. The and flexibility necessary to conduct air navigation service providers are to the business of the company, within The resolution signed at the Ministerial participate in the shareholding and the frame set by the stakeholders and Conference in Vienna has also created governance of the CEATS GmbH. It is under scrutiny of the Supervisory the possibility of establishing what is also stated in the Resolution that an Board. called the “CEATS Social Forum”. This amending protocol will become neces- platform will include representatives sary in order to make slight modifica- The way ahead from the States, air navigation service tions to the CEATS Agreement, but that providers, and European and national the early implementation of this amend- Setting up the CEATS GmbH is a chal- federations of trade unions and inter- ing protocol must be compatible with lenging task. It is a new experience for national professional associations, the above target dates. us in the Agency and for the with the aim of exchanging informa- Organisation, but it is also a new expe- tion, communicating and consulting What does the CEATS GmbH rience for the air navigation service on common social issues resulting mean for the Organisation? providers. Extensive work remains to from the implementation of the CEATS be done in major areas: defining the UAC. First of all, it is a pioneering relations between the Organisation approach – the first time the and the GmbH, writing the Articles of There are only a few of us working on Organisation will perform its tasks Association, preparing the employ- the matter, but we like challenges. We through an entity other than the ment conditions, writing a business will do our utmost to make it happen, Agency. In fact, there will be no plan and so on, all of it in a very short believing that partnership with the Agency involvement once implemen- time, since the first proposals must be service providers will ultimately be the tation is complete. This constitutes a presented to the CEATS Working institutional model providing the best major change which is still to be Arrangements Task Force at the end of value to the airspace users. ■ approved by the EUROCONTROL 2005. Another challenging topic to be Commission – indeed, the proposal addressed is the transition from the for approval will include not only the current situation, in which the principle but also the detail of the Agency’s CEATS Programme Articles of Association and the deci- Directorate is leading the implementa- sion-making structures between the tion, to the CEATS GmbH's participa-

The building of the CEATS Research, Development and Simulation Centre (CRDS) in Budapest, Hungary

18 EUROCONTROL to launch a new lines

air-ground communications Date safety action plan

EUROCONTROL, together with stakeholders from across the aviation industry has agreed on the outlines of a new air-ground safety action plan to address the safety issues in this field.

At a workshop held on 30 September 2005 at EUROCONTROL’s premises in Brussels, some 200 participants from a wide range of organisations and countries showed strong and unanimous support and agreed on the key issues that the plan must address. These The EUROCONTROL safety experts: from left, Erik Merckx, Head of the Safety Enhancement include call-sign confusion, undetected Business Division, George Paulson, Director of ATM Programmes, and Tzvetomir Blajev. simultaneous transmissions, radio interference, use of standard phraseology Tzvetomir Blajev, Safety Expert at Initiative which was launched in 2004 and prolonged loss of communication. EUROCONTROL. “At the same time, and addresses a range of communi- EUROCONTROL will now intensify its by improving air-ground communica- cations issues contributing to haz- work on causal factors for these issues, tions, we will help to improve the pro- ardous scenarios including runway and to establish remedial measures. ductivity of air traffic management – incursions and level bust. It is expect- a win-win situation where we can ed that the action plan will be ready by “Air-ground communications issues address both safety and efficiency at early 2006, and implementation will are among the key safety risk areas in the same time.” start immediately. ■ air traffic management and for this rea- son we need to redouble our efforts The workshop is part of the ongoing to address them urgently,” said Air-Ground Communications Safety

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 19 Restructuring European airspace

Focus Functional airspace blocks

Regional cooperation in the field of air traffic management (ATM) has long been considered a crucial component in moving towards a more efficient provision of air navigation services.

As early as the 1960s, studies performed by a EURO- CONTROL Technical Working Group highlighted the importance and the potential of regional cooperation. The Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) is a visible result of those early efforts to enhance regional cooperation and harmonise and integrate ATM in Europe. However, although the Working Group proposed a reorganisation of the airspace of the EUROCONTROL Member States with a view to additional Regional cooperation national frontiers, thereby promoting has ever since fea- regional cooperation in ATM. initiatives similar to the tured high on the establishment of MUAC, agenda for EURO- The main facilitator for regional coop- nothing has so far CONTROL and its eration in the SES Regulation is the materialised. various programmes/ mandatory requirement for the estab- projects. Therefore, it lishment of functional airspace By Anders is not surprising that blocks. With the intention of enabling Hallgren, the Single European air traffic control to operate efficient- Airspace, Sky (SES) Regulation ly, the SES Regulation calls upon Flow picked up on the States to reconfigure upper airspace Management issue, now providing into functional airspace blocks. This and Navigation the regulatory frame- has become an important factor to (DAS/AFN) work required to be considered in any discussions enable the restructuring of airspace regarding regional cooperation in on the basis of traffic flows instead of ATM.

20 Focus

But what is a functional airspace block? the same time widely recognised that such a way as to be totally free from the There is no easy answer to this ques- functional airspace blocks are much constraints of national borders, and tion, although the Regulation itself more than an airspace design issue. that it still needs to prove that it satisfies gives some indications by defining The establishment of functional air- the seven criteria of the Airspace what actually makes a particular block space blocks, like any regional cooper- Regulation. However, it was recognised of airspace functional. From this defini- ation in ATM, is a complex process, during the work on the mandate that the tion (see Framework Regulation, containing a variety of issues that need establishment of functional airspace Article 2), it is apparent that future to be solved. States have to address blocks is a step-by-step process, so implementation of functional airspace issues of an economic/financial as well the current progress in the develop- blocks will need to fulfil three overriding as institutional/legal nature. Coopera- ment of CEATS can be seen as one of attributes which are central to the function with military authorities and adher- the steps towards an optimum function- tionality of an airspace block, namely: ence to an established social dialogue al airspace block. need to be considered. ■ design on the basis of operational As an example, CEATS provides with its requirements; Technical compatibility is another set-up an immediate opportunity to ■ more integrated management of the important aspect. It is well known that benefit from increased technical com- airspace; and controller-controller coordination is eas- patibility. Although the Regulation itself ■ delineations free from the con- ier and more effective inside an ATC does not require any immediate consol- straints of national borders. unit than between ATC units. Any idation of service provision, it is obvious establishment of a functional airspace that a consolidation of service provision In addition, the Airspace Regulation block must have as its objective the may prove to be the most beneficial states that the functional airspace creation of a technical framework that alternative in meeting the criteria of the block should take account of traffic will ensure the same degree of techni- SES Regulation, thus enabling a partic- flows, and meet a set of seven criteria, cal interoperability between all sectors ular block of airspace to be called func- including criteria such as optimum use of a functional airspace block, whether of airspace and overall added value. they are situated within one centre or not. Over and above this, the SES Regulation gives no indication of what Airspace design also needs to may constitute a functional airspace become more flexible. Currently, FIR1 block. Furthermore, during the stake- boundaries and national borders are holder consultation undertaken in sup- creating artificial constraints on the port of the development of a response flexibility of sector and route design. to a mandate issued by the European Of course, we will still have bound- Commission to EUROCONTROL (ask- aries between functional airspace ing for support for States in their prepa- blocks. However, in the reconfigura- rations for the establishment of function process there is a window of tional airspace blocks), it was agreed opportunity to make sure that these that there is no single blueprint for what boundaries are flexible, and more a functional airspace block may be. It importantly, that they are situated in would be considered a functional air- areas of low interaction, so that the tional. Through this technical compati- 1 - Flight Information space block, providing it fulfils the boundaries do not become artificial bility together with the already estab- Region attributes of the definition and is able to constraints on an efficient flow of traf- lished forum for an integrated manage- 2 - Central meet the seven criteria of the Airspace fic. ment of airspace through the CEATS European Air Traffic Services Regulation. Airspace Planning and Implementation Looking at the previous description of Group (CAPIG), CEATS constitutes an The issue of reconfiguring airspace into what could constitute a functional air- impressive first step towards an opti- functional airspace blocks is space block, it can safely be conclud- mally designed functional airspace addressed in the airspace part of the ed that ongoing initiatives with regard block, and together with the experience SES Regulation, and it is clear from the to regional cooperation in ATM, such as gathered during operations at MUAC, it definition that the design of airspace is CEATS2, can be seen as steps towards provides a wealth of best practices for a key issue in the development of func- functional airspace blocks. It can be European States to take into account tional airspace blocks. However, it is at argued that CEATS is not delineated in when entering into discussions on the

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 21 Focus establishment of a functional airspace European projects and programmes long-term project. The EUROCON- block. provide constant improvements to TROL final report on the European support the service providers in keep- Commission mandate to support the As stressed by the Functional Airspace ing up with an ever-increasing establishment of functional airspace Blocks (FAB) mandate final report, mil- demand. But these improvements can blocks highlights key issues in the itary involvement in the participation of only alleviate the situation to a certain various areas of interest. The report States in the FAB project should be extent. Meeting the expected does not provide the answers, but it ensured from the outset in order to increase in demand needs a radical highlights and analyses the major key 3 - Five of the eight cope with the differing aspects of civil new and fresh look at the ATM infra- issues associated with the develop- States are NATO members. Croatia and military use of airspace. In this structure and ATS provision. Regional ment of functional airspace blocks, is a PfP country participating in the respect, and in line with the general cooperation and the establishment of and thereby provides a sound basis Membership Action Statement of EU Member States, functional airspace blocks are a key for States in their deliberations. Plan for fully- fledged NATO CEATS represents a good example of component in this task. The coming membership. The Republic of willingness to enhance civil/military into force of the SES Regulations, and It has taken some time, but with initia- Austria is a PfP and military/military cooperation, in particular the reference to the tives like CEATS under way, support- country, while maintaining its despite the complexity of the varying mandatory requirement to establish ed by the SES Regulations, we can neutrality. 3 Based on the Dayton statuses of the CEATS Member States. functional airspace blocks, will no expect an acceleration in the initia- Peace Agreement, Bosnia & Based on the close involvement of the doubt be complementary to the devel- tives associated with regional devel- Herzegovina has military community in the CEATS opment of regional ATM cooperation opments. The report from the EURO- a spatial relationship with NATO. Programme, military representatives projects such as CEATS. The CONTROL Technical Working Group, Regulation was developed to support issued some 40 years ago, strongly these initiatives and it provides the recommended that “the organisation regulatory framework required for and rearrangement of UIRs5 so as to their execution. produce an international air traffic control system should be exclusively Needless to say, a great deal more based on the technical requirements work needs to be done, in particular of military and civil aviation and that by the States themselves, as they are acceptance of the resulting solution responsible for the establishment of should not be obstructed by national functional airspace blocks. Any major frontiers questions”. EUROCONTROL airspace change is complex and time- assumed its role in the harmonisation consuming, and, in the context of a and integration of ATM in the 1960s. functional airspace block, when Today it reaffirms its commitment and account is taken of all the other responsibility by providing the sup- aspects associated with regional port and expertise necessary and cooperation, such as economic and required by the States in their efforts institutional issues, it is clear that the to reconfigure European airspace into 4 - Resolution are playing a pro-active role in CEATS reconfiguring of European airspace functional airspace blocks with the signed by 5 States at the Ministerial airspace planning and implementation into optimally designed functional air- ultimate aim of a more coherent and Conference held activities, looking for cross-border space blocks must be viewed as a uniform pan-European ATM system. ■ in Vienna on 1 June 2005 solutions better matched to future mili-

5 - Upper tary airspace requirements. At the Information Regions same time, efforts are being concentrated on the development of a military advanced concept that will meet the request of the Member States “….to develop proposals within the framework of the CEATS Agreement and the revised Convention for the advanced level of integration of civil and military ATM at CEATS UAC….”4

The traffic demand forecast shows a steady increase in traffic. A myriad of

22 EUROCONTROL is News recognised for excellence! On Friday 30 September, the EUROCONTROL Agency was declared to be a ‘worthy recipient’ of the 'Recognised for Excellence’ accolade by a team of four assessors from the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). The assessors had spent a week at the various locations of the Agency to assess the degree of deployment of its excellence approaches. This achievement represents a major milestone in EUROCONTROL’s Journey to Excellence.

Regardless of sector, size, structure or maturity, organisations need to establish an appropriate management framework if they are to be successful. Like many leading organisations and companies in Europe, EUROCONTROL decided to equip itself with the proper tools to face the challenges of the 21st century. By becoming a member of the European Foundation for Quality Management in 1997 and adopting its Excellence Policy in 2001, the Agency aligned itself with best management practice in Europe. Its Journey to Excellence will take the Agency The Agency Directors, the assessors and the “Recognised for Excellence” task force toast on through active and continuous a successful outcome improvement from this first milestone, ‘Recognised for Excellence’, towards The Recognised for recognised that EUROCONTROL oper- the European Quality Award (EQA). Excellence site visit ates in a very challenging and complex The four EFQM assessors spent the environment and remarked on the fact Recognised for Excellence is an inter- week of 26 September visiting the that its commitment to continuous nationally acknowledged level of excel- Agency and assessing improvement is led lence. It is designed for organisations the degree of deploy- effectively. Finally they that are well managed and well ment of its approaches rated the Agency’s advanced on their way to organisation- as described in stakeholder consulta- al excellence. It is based on the full the Recognised for tion processes and its EFQM Excellence Model. The EFQM Excellence submission willingness to embrace Excellence Model was introduced at document. This visit took and manage change as the beginning of 1992 as the framework them to the various excellent. for assessing organisations for the EUROCONTROL sites European Quality Award. It is now the and they interviewed, in The EUROCONTROL most widely used organisational frame- focus groups and indi- Agency is the first pan- work in Europe and it has become the vidually, more than 150 European public sector basis for the majority of national and EUROCONTROL staff. organisation to receive regional Quality Awards. It offers appli- One of the striking this prestigious recog- cants the benefits of a structured points the assessors nition approach to identify organisational noted was the high level strengths and areas for improvement. of pride the interviewees displayed in Read more about the full EFQM feed- Organisations confirmed as Reco- the Agency and in their work. They were back report and the official handing- gnised for Excellence are considered also impressed with the very high level over of the R4E certificate by Mr. Chris to be one step away from the European of expertise, innovation, motivation and Lebeer, the CEO of the EFQM in the next Quality Award Finalist level. professionalism they encountered. They issue of Skyway. ■

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 23 ICAO’s perspective on regional cooperation

Forum Cooperation key

such amendments. EUROCONTROL to participates in the network of the safer aviation European Air Navigation Planning Group (EANPG) as mentioned above The European and North Cooperation between and of its Programme Coordinating Atlantic Office of ICAO EUROCONTROL and ICAO Group (COG), and EUROCONTROL is authorised to submit amendment Stakeholder The International Civil Aviation To carry out this function between 53 proposals. The Paris Office of ICAO Organization (ICAO), which now has States individually would be an over- cooperates with EUROCONTROL in 189 Member States, operates a num- whelming task for the Paris Office, and the preparation of such proposals as ber of Regional Offices with therefore we fully support the formation well as in the follow-up actions there- the primary tasks of assisting of sub-regional organisations and on. the States in planning and groupings of States that would coordi- ■ It happens quite often that experi- implementation and of man- nate and agree on their ideas and pro- ences already gained or material aging the Regional Air posals before bringing them to the already developed by EURO- Navigation Plans (ANP). To appropriate PIRG for further processing CONTROL would satisfy the needs accommodate the coordina- within the ICAO machinery. EURO- and requirements of other parts of tion and cooperation between CONTROL is such an organisation, and the EUR Region or of neighbouring By Karsten Theil, the States in their planning we have an excellent cooperation in all Regions. To avoid 're-inventing the ICAO Regional and implementation efforts, a areas of air navigation services. wheel' and to prevent implementa- Director – Planning and Implementation tion of un-harmonised systems, we Europe and Regional Group (PIRG) was This cooperation normally takes place would in such cases call for the North Atlantic established in each Region. in three different ways: assistance from EUROCONTROL The ICAO Regional Office in and the 'copyright' of EURO- Paris serves two Regions, ■ In some areas, the EUROCONTROL CONTROL systems. An example of namely the European (EUR) Region Member States have decided to this cooperation was the implemen- and its European Air Navigation establish common regulations that tation of reduced vertical separation Planning Group (EANPG) and the are detailed to a much higher level minimum (RVSM) over the Caucasus North Atlantic (NAT) Region and its than the ICAO provisions. This is the States and in parts of Rostov Flight North Atlantic Systems Planning case with the EUROCONTROL Information Region (FIR) over the Group (NAT SPG). We are accredited Safety Regulatory Requirements Black Sea on 17 March 2005, in to 53 ICAO Member States, including (ESARRs) and with the draft imple- which EUROCONTROL played an all EUROCONTROL Member States. menting rules that EUROCONTROL instrumental role. is developing on behalf of the Although the overall goal of ICAO is European Commission in follow-up Safety before anything else global planning and implementation to the Single European Sky of harmonised and transparent air Regulations of the European Union. EUROCONTROL and ICAO share the navigation systems, it is at the same The Paris Office of ICAO follows goal of the promotion of aviation safety, time recognised that regional, sub- such activities closely through par- and it is our common target to have no regional or in specific cases even ticipation in the appropriate EURO- accidents at all. Both parties realised a national conditions warrant special CONTROL working parties and long time ago that through investigation provisions that would be applicable to groups and through coordination of and learning from accidents that a specific area only. It is the role and directly with the EUROCONTROL have happened we shall never meet responsibility of the Regional Offices technical expertise involved. that target, and therefore much more to ensure that such special provisions ■ Some of the programmes carried out pro-active roles have been adopted. are implemented only when absolute- by EUROCONTROL require amend- EUROCONTROL has not only devel- ly necessary and within the framework ment of ICAO provisions, such as the oped the Eurocontrol Safety Regulatory of the global provisions that are con- European Air Navigation Plan Requirements (ESARRs) for its own tained in the ICAO Convention and its (EANP) or the European Regional Member States but has made valuable Annexes and associated Standards Supplementary Procedures (SUPPS) contributions to the development of and Recommended Practices and would therefore have to follow ICAO global programmes such as the (SARPs). the established ICAO procedures for Runway Safety Tool Kit.

24 Forum

In the Autumn of 2004, the Assembly of grammes or safety management sys- ash that is pushed high up in the ICAO took important decisions with tems have already been introduced in atmosphere, where it spreads on the regard to the promotion of aviation some annexes. ICAO is taking the safe- upper winds and has far-reaching safety when it was recommended to ty management concept one step fur- effects. This was experienced when the expand the Universal Safety Oversight ther by introducing a proposal to have Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland erupted Audit Programme to cover all safety- a single Safety Management System on 1 November 2004 – the ash plume related ICAO provisions and to estab- approach covering aircraft, air traffic rapidly reached flight level 400, and the Stakeholder lish the Unified Strategy to Rectify services and aerodrome operations. To upper part of the plume entered a jet Safety Related Deficiencies. The that end, a proposal to amend the exist- stream, which transported the ash Resolution A35-7 recognizes the chal- ing safety management and safety pro- cloud as far as the Black Sea and lenges faced by States in the imple- gramme related provisions contained in Turkey in a few days. In the last stage of mentation of their safety oversight sys- Annexes 6, 11 and 14 will be reviewed the eruption, the ash cloud covered tems, and endorses the concept of a by the Air Navigation Commission dur- large parts of the European Region’s unified strategy to resolve safety-relating its next session and then circulated airspace, resulting in considerable re- ed deficiencies based on the principles to States for comments. ICAO is also routings, delays and cancellations of of increased transparency, coopera- flights. tion, assistance and partnerships, where appropriate. The experience gained from this eruption indicated In keeping with the strategic objectives ■ that effective early warning systems of the Organization, the unified strategy to predict eruptions exist; comprises two main elements. It aims, ■ that certain procedures concerning firstly, to provide assistance to States, the prediction of the ash cloud or groups of States, in resolving identi- movement and the distribution of fied safety-related deficiencies. information did not work as planned; Secondly, it aims to ensure increased and transparency and sharing of safety ■ that ATM contingency procedures information for use by States when per- were in place for the North Atlantic forming their safety oversight functions. Region only. A key element of the unified strategy is developing a Safety Management fostering partnerships among States, System manual which will provide guid- From the Paris Office of ICAO, we have the industry, regional safety oversight ance to regulators, operators and serv- brought the global issues identified to organizations, financial institutions and ice providers for the implementation of the attention of the International other international organizations. In this Safety Management Systems. Airways Volcano Watch Operations respect, ICAO played a leading role at Group, the entity that is responsible for the recent Global Summit on Regional Contingency procedures the procedures for prediction of ash Aviation Safety Oversight on 1-3 cloud movement and distribution of February 2005, Washington D.C. The Should we really have procedures for information. At the same time, we have summit was sponsored by the George all contingencies? – The answer to that established a special task force to Washington University Consortium and question is yes and no. – Yes because develop ATM volcanic ash contin- the Federal Aviation Administration some contingencies are relatively pre- gency procedures for the European (FAA). The unified strategy, as reflected dictable, and no because it is impossi- Region. The task force is composed of in Resolution A35-7, is considered to ble to imagine and plan for all kinds of experts nominated by Iceland, Italy, be a high priority for the Organization. contingencies. Norway, the Russian Federation and Cooperation of Contracting States is IATA, and EUROCONTROL has essential towards the success of the One of the relatively predictable events accepted to lead the work and to con- programme. that will eventually affect the air traffic in tribute with experience from the the European Region is a volcanic Central Flow Management Unit Safety is paramount in each and every eruption. On the surface of the Earth, (CFMU). Thus, this is just another sector of civil aviation activities covered the geographical area affected by a example of EUROCONTROL's partici- by ICAO. Provisions requiring the volcanic eruption is normally not very pation in activities that covers a lot establishment of either safety pro- big, but a volcanic eruption produces more than the EUROCONTROL area. ■

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 25 IATA’s perspective on regional cooperation

Forum Addressing European airspace fragmentation

In 2004, Member States of the European Union adopted the Single European Sky initiative. Stakeholder The creation of Function Airspace Blocks (FABs) was seen as the major enabler for addressing problems of European’s fragmented airspace. Regional cooperation was advanced in a new By Cees Gresnigt, institutional context which pro- IATA Director Safety, moted transparency, innovation Operations and Infrastructure – and the restructuring necessary Europe, to sustain a vibrant, successful North Atlantic and and competitive European avia- North America tion industry.

IATA and its member airlines consider it essential that the European Commission’s Single European Sky Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs) concept deliver a more rational and efficient organisation of Europe’s fragmented airspace. The success of the FAB concept will be judged by the ability of service providers and regulators to agree on a set of basic principles and commitments required for the creation of an ATM network which is safe, cost effective, efficient and meets the demands of longer term traffic growth. All FABs must meet the inherent dynamics of traffic flows and future growth, while ensuring optimum integration of the main hubs. The current FAB developments should only be considered as a first step towards an integrated management of Europe’s airspace and the rationalisation of the associated infrastructure. The objective must be to achieve no more than six FABs in the longer term, covering both upper and lower airspace across Europe. The degree of success of the FABs will be determined by the measurable improvements in overall performance.

IATA, together with its member airlines, spective of whether a ing dramatic changes to have long been of the opinion that the bottom-up or top-down compete in a low-cost creation of FABs has to be coordinated approach is pursued. In environment. from a top level by an independent enti- performing its function, ty in order to cover essential objectives the Task Force reviewed However, many obstacles related to the safety, cost effectiveness all existing FAB propos- remain as airline losses and efficiency of the European ATM als and developments across Europe. 2001-2004 exceed US$36 billion and network as a whole. The following outlines the findings of the cost of fuel continues to put enor- the Task Force and the expectations of mous pressure on the industry. This is The creation of FABs is, at present, FABs from the airline community. despite an overall labour productivity being addressed by States and their improvement of 34% and 2% to 3% 1 - Ireland and the 1 UK; Nordic States, ANSPs, in a combination of bottom-up Urgent need to deliver annual non-fuel unit cost reductions France and or top-down2 approaches. Although The success of the Single Aviation since 2001. This year non-fuel unit costs Switzerland, Spain and Portugal, progressive developments are being Market has resulted in many new will drop by 4.5%. Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and considered, there is growing concern entrants to the sector. There is intense Luxembourg. that each FAB is being driven by differ- competition in all segments of the Airlines expect governments and 2 - EUROCONTROL’s ing principles and commitments. industry. Fares have fallen significant- ANSPs to play their roles by realising Central European Air Traffic Services ly, attracting even higher demand and efficiency gains, responding effectively (CEATS) Upper Area Control Centre. An IATA Task Force was assigned to stimulating further economic growth. to the needs of a changing industry and develop a firm position on the expecta- Passengers now demand cheaper air enhancing European competitiveness 3 - PRR no 4 April 2001 tions from the creation of FABs, irre- travel and the whole industry is mak- in the context of the Lisbon agenda.

26 Forum

The way forward The extent to which each FAB proposal contributes towards the success of the Airlines require the Single European Single European Sky will be judged Stakeholder Sky to deliver enhanced safety, cost against measurable airspace user effectiveness and efficiency, whilst objectives. The IATA Task Force will ensuring an optimum level of capacity communicate these objectives so all to meet demand. The transfer of certain stakeholders understand airline expec- competencies by the EU Member tations and work progressively towards States to the European Commission the redesign and long overdue de-frag- must result in a radical improvement in mentation of Europe’s air traffic man- ATM performance throughout Europe. agement system.

The assessment for the reconfiguration A European level body should be of Europe’s airspace into FABs, based assigned to oversee progress towards on the major traffic flows, determines these expectations. Further Community- that no more than 6 FABs may be led developments will be required to required and that current proposals support this modernisation and include must seek further development to further institutional enablers such as the migrate towards this enhanced level of consolidation of national supervisory integration and rationalisation. Any FAB authorities and the extension of the role implementation proposal should com- of EASA to ATM. These developments ply, as a minimum, with the listed basic will ensure the uniform application of principles and commitments that are safety, economic, airspace and compe- EUROCONTROL’s Performance Review outlined below. tition rules. ■ Commission (PRC) has compared the performance of the European ATM system against that of the USA. The results IATA’s principles and commitments for FABs are dramatic, particularly given the degree of improvement needs that are Principles Commitment now acknowledged in the USA3. Transparent enhancement of safety levels ANSPs move towards a single management Although, these two markets account for throughout the network and operate under a single operational most of the world’s traffic, the differences concept and safety case illustrate both the scale and scope of Airspace redesign based on traffic flows Common safety, economic, airspace and Europe’s fragmentation. with the optimum integration of major hubs competition rules ensuring a level playing field Integration of both upper and lower Despite repeated calls for efficiency airspace, with no artificial boundaries Common infrastructure planning leading to improvements from the airlines, the actu- a rationalisation of ATC facilities Dynamic and flexible management of al costs of service provision have airspace both within and between FABs Common ATCO training and measurable increased by 3.1% between 2001 and productivity and flexibility improvements Assurance of enhanced intra and inter FAB 2003. In 2003 alone, the service provi- interoperability to optimise network Efficiencies in support costs through sion costs amounted to almost €7 billion, performance common systems and working practices a substantial proportion of the global bill Clear Business Case driven approach with Cost effectiveness improvements achieved for international traffic. The differences in full User consultation and shared by all stakeholders Air Traffic Controller productivity can be Implementation via phased transition while Community funds made available to up to 10 times from best to worst while utilising existing investments support any accelerated implementation horizontal flight inefficiencies are esti- Transition to a single unit rate reflecting Constructive dialogue with social partners mated to cost airlines an additional the efficiency gains achieved throughout the transition €1 billion per annum.

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 27 IFATCA’s perspective on regional cooperation

Forum At the heart of the global ATM system

Stakeholder IFATCA is the worldwide Federation of air traffic controllers with more than fifty thousand members representing 138 countries. Among its goals are the promotion of safety, efficiency and regularity in international air navigation, and the protection and safeguarding of the interests of the air traffic control profession.

The air traffic management methods, air traffic services, and aircraft capabilities will have to evolve further in order to support this continued growth.

To accommodate growth, one has to invest in hardware and resources, both financial and human. Let us leave aside technical and hardware solutions, there are plenty of those around, although implementation has not lived up to the initial promises.

For now, let us consider human IFATCA is an inde- We all know that Air Traffic Control (ATC) resources, particularly at shop floor pendent, non-politi- is a global issue. In today’s world, poli- level, as it will be the people who will be cal, non-industrial tics and economics, the word “global” part of the solution to provide the addi- professional federa- has taken on a very potent meaning. It tional capacity required in the next 10- tion representing, for has become synonymous with some 15 years. By people we mean air traffic over 40 years, more economic successes but also some controllers. than 50,000 Air Traffic excesses. Until recently ATC was wide- Controllers in over ly viewed as a State issue, but harmon- Over the past few years, international By Nicolas 130 countries world- isation programmes such as CNS/ATM, air traffic has increased considerably. Y. Lyrakides, wide. Our goals ATM 2000+ and the EU Single Sky It is estimated that in Europe there are IFATCA Executive include the promotion Initiative are slowly but surely taking approximately 8.5 million flights per Vice-President of safety and regulari- issues away from individual States and year. This figure is expected to double Europe ty in international air placing them in the “global” arena. every 15 years. Both ICAO at interna- navigation, and the tional level and EUROCONTROL and protection and safeguarding of the In order to sustain the predicted traffic the EU at European level, as well as interests of the Air Traffic Control pro- growth, whether Continental or other international bodies, encourage fession. In this respect, we cooperate Oceanic, we need to make sure that a regional cooperation on ATM matters closely with international and national sustainable airspace system is avail- and consider such activities as an aviation authorities and institutions con- able at national, regional and global important element in improving and cerned with air navigation. levels. developing the global ATM system.

28 Forum

A first attempt to identify al developments of the ATM. IFATCA’s provisional policy on FABs is: the major existing (including dormant) regional ATM The overall objectives of any “The creation of Functional Blocks of cooperation initiatives and regional cooperation should be Airspace should achieve the expected support programs world- to enhance coordination operational benefits. It should also wide, includes: between the participating comprise a clear and full evaluation states with a view to increasing the col- and definition of all the legal implica- Stakeholder ■ Maastricht UAC lective performance of air traffic systems tions in service provision by multina- ■ ASECNA, in their respective FIRs, while satisfying tional ATCOs employed in countries ■ Roberts FIR the users’ needs at lowest possible cost with different legislations. Legal liabili- ■ COSECNA and enhancing the safety of air naviga- ty and jurisdiction must be clearly ■ CEATS tion. The actions taken to achieve this defined. The efficient creation and ■ ACE objective should take into account the management of a FAB does not nec- ■ CARDS./ASATC strategies and programmes of ICAO, essarily require the physical concen- ■ NordicUAC: EUROCONTROL and other organisa- tration of all ANS functions within a sin- ■ BALTINT tions as well as the particular concerns gle multinational centre. ■ Trans-Caucasus Project and requirements of the participating ■ RADA Group states. Through stable evolutionary process- ■ Justiniano es, the pros and cons of creating com- ■ EMAC In order to achieve the above overall mon ACCs should be compared to a ■ AEFMP, etc. objectives, coordination should be continuation of the ongoing harmo- developed in the following areas: nization of existing ACCs, especially IFATCA, in principle, welcomes and with regard to the social implications. supports the establishment of such ■ Air Traffic Control and ATFM All details of any plan to create an FAB mechanisms of regional coordination ■ Training have to be fully transparent to all. around the world, which will enable all ■ Collection of Air Navigation Charges parties to cooperate and coordinate ■ Navigation including satellite navi- In conclusion, IFATCA believes that, between themselves as well as within gation whatever form of regional cooperation international aviation organisations, the ■ Route network development is chosen, it has to be properly airspace users and other institutions, ■ Consultation with the users / staff assessed by the decision makers on all matters relating to ATM, under ■ Safety management and regulation before the go-ahead is given. Issues certain conditions. such as sovereignty, civil-military coor- Looking at the concept of FABs under dination, the financial viability of ATM Change is inevitable and essential in the current SES regulation, it has to be provision, legal liability and compati- ATM as is the case in all other industries. made clear that the efficient creation bility with the ICAO convention and The perspective of regional cooperation and management of a Functional Block annexes has to be assessed in a for- establishments presents a window of of Airspace (FAB) does not necessarily ward-looking way. It has to be estab- opportunity for improvements in han- require the physical concentration of all lished that they are sustainable to dling air traffic and airspace, generating ANS functions within a single multina- cope with the predicted growth of traf- improved efficiencies for all airspace tional organisation. Contrary to wide- fic. All the above, without jeopardizing users, as long as the competence, qual- spread belief, the economies of scale of safety and costing a lot of money to ifications, expertise and skills of all large ATC centres appear to be margin- the users. The social dimension of stakeholders, their motivation and com- al. A study conducted by EURO- such regional cooperation is prone to mitment is a major enabler and driver for CONTROL in respect of a planned bi- hardship and has to be looked at very the necessary changes in Regional ATM national centre expected to be set up by carefully. cooperation. This must allow an effective France and Switzerland has demonstrat- transition towards a possible concept of ed that the major benefits from multina- Current studies available on the possi- Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs), at tional structures derive much less from ble impact of possible FABs in the SES least under the SES regulation. IFATCA economies of scale than from opera- show that none of the above elements is a major stakeholder in the ATM system tional savings the airspace users gain in can currently be assessed with the and is committed to the inclusion of the terms of significant reduction of delays level of clarity which could alleviate the controllers’ viewpoint in all future region- and increase in capacity. doubts of our membership in Europe. ■

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 29 Dynamic Italy

view Interview with

Inter Massimo Garbini

tional and low-cost airlines and the full Director Airport range of other aircraft operators. Italian research and development activities Operations Department, continue to seek out and apply solu- ENAV S.p.A. tions to today’s operational problems. Capacity In 2004 Massimo Garbini because they exceed 200,000 IFR assumed responsibility for movements per year. In general, airport-related delays decreased in 2004, because of the airport operations in Italy As with all airports in the world, Italian involvement of local stakeholders, on behalf of ENAV. airports are facing increasing growth in including airport operator companies, in traffic, with limited possibilities of the planning process. For most Italian There are a total of 38 airports (interna- increasing capacity and achieving airports an agreed capacity baseline tional, national and military airports their primary goal, which is to maintain has been created, as well as a medium- open to civil aircraft operations) under or improve safety. Local initiatives are term capacity enhancement plan. his leadership, including Rome combined with European solutions Capacity studies are underway in Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa and Linate, such as collaborative decision-making Rome, Milan, Venice, Bologna, Naples, Catania, Palermo, Cagliari, Bergamo, and runway safety to get the best out Turin, Olbia and Bergamo to ensure a Turin, Bologna, Venice, Naples and of every airport. Stakeholder involve- minimum of delays for future operations. Florence. ment is ensured by working together in partnership whenever possible with Airport Collaborative Annual movements at the 38 ENAV air- ENAC (the Italian aviation regulator), a ports total around 1,700,000, including wide variety of aerodrome operators Decision-Making (CDM) commercial, scheduled and general (both Italian and non-Italian), local sup- Airport CDM is being tested at Milan aviation traffic as well as “round robin” pliers to aerodromes such as the emer- Malpensa. Initial results have already and “local movements” (i.e. low pass, gency services, a wide variety of tradi- identified improvements in stand and touch and go, ATZ overflights). gate allocation, resource management and slot adherence, leading to a The two major Italian airports are Rome ENAV S.p.A. reduction in costs, delays and passen- Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa ger complaints relating to displayed flight information.

ENAV is now developing local CDM procedures to enable implementation.

Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS)

Surface Movement Radar has now been implemented at seven airports. A-SMGCS is being tested at Milan Malpensa and Bologna where the relevant ATC procedures, based upon existing ICAO procedures, are being developed.

30 view

nication recommendations are implemented by ENAV through the endorse-

ment of Doc 4444 in cooperation with Inter ENAC. ENAV continuously assesses the correct use of standard ICAO phraseologies and the correct use of read-back procedures during operations. A significant improvement in the radio-telephony error rate has been achieved at little or no cost.

Awareness campaigns

Hot Spot maps, brochures and posters have been published, normally within Pre-Flight Bulletins (PIBs) in order to place emphasis on such important All work is being carried out in line with together with ENAC, airport operators aeronautical information. A reduction in the EUROCONTROL A-SMGCS Pro- and airlines. the number of runway incursions is gramme, including the development of noticeable at airports following this type generic safety and human factor cases The LRSTs have been set up in accor- of awareness campaign. that can be used in support of all local dance with the EAPPRI Terms of implementations. Reference. To facilitate the application Safety management systems of EAPPRI from the air navigation serv- A new system, RSAMS – Runway Safety ice provider perspective, ENAV’s Airport A voluntary reporting system was Area Monitoring System – to prevent Operations Department translated the established by ENAV, internally, at runway incursions has been installed by Action Plan into Italian, making its own the end of 2003. Pursuant to the ENAC ENAV at a number of Italian airports. document, incorporating all the recom- Regulation for Airports, the airport mendations addressed to ATC. Four of operator will implement a local safety Runway safety these have been made effective imme- management system from 24 diately as “standards”, viz.: November 2005. Italian representatives are members of ■ the Steering Committee and Working the use of full call sign for aircraft Conclusion Group for Runway Safety. They partici- and vehicles that are involved in run- pate actively to ensure that runway way crossings operations; The cooperation that Massimo Garbini safety remains high on the safety agen- ■ the issuance of en-route clearance is building to create safe and economi- da in Italy and across the ECAC1 area. before starting taxiing; cally viable airport operations in Italy To implement the European Action ■ instructions not to cross a red stop draws from the experience and wisdom Plan for the Prevention of Runway bar; of all the stakeholders. Progress is Incursions, as part of the EURO- ■ clearance procedure to cross active being made as a result of the time and CONTROL Strategic Safety Action Plan, runways and non-active runways. energy invested by these people in all the essential operational and regula- implementing new ways of working, tory partners are working together. The establishment of these recommen- whilst respecting the need to continue dations in Italian as “standards” to comply with ICAO provisions to The European Action Plan for enables Mr Garbini to assess how ensure that a globally harmonised sys- the Prevention of Runway many airports are compliant with the tem will be available to all airport users. Incursions (EAPPRI) National Plan, and where intervention is In this way pilots will be able to give needed from an ENAV perspective. direct feedback through the Local Concerning the activities carried out Runway Safety Teams to the air naviga- during 2003 and 2004 to improve run- Communications tion service providers and airport oper- way safety, Local RWY Safety Teams ators about what it is really like to use (LRSTs) have been established at the All recommendations are taken seri- Italian airports, giving everybody a 1 - European Civil Aviation Italian airports open to civilian traffic ously in Italy. In particular, the commu- chance to take positive action. ■ Conference

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 31 view Multilateration Re takes off in Europe Multilateration – a system that can track aircraft and ground vehicles at airports, provided they are equipped with RF-emitting transponders – has been winning its European spurs by monitoring surface movements at the continent’s busiest airports. But now air navigation service providers see that this technique could also be an important surveillance tool for ATC in the terminal area and en-route as a substitute for secondary surveillance radar (SSR). The EUROCONTROL Agency has recognised this development and actively supports its stakeholders with the introduction of Multilateration techniques.

By Dr Werner Langhans, Chairman of the EUROCONTROL Multilateration Task Force, and Head of Technology Development, Austro Control GmbH

Multilateration has been winning support in Europe and other leading regions of the aviation world with its ability to enhance control of aircraft and vehicle movements on the ground at airports. Improving on the coverage traditionally provided by surface movement radar and providing the possibility to identify aircraft unambiguously is a pressing need. The Multilateration systems are based on a well known measurement tech- Given the continent’s inexorable growth nique, the so called Time Difference of in air traffic, European aviation authori- Arrival (TDOA). The reader can think of ties regard such improvement as this as “inverted GPS”. Instead of having essential in maximising airport through- moving satellites transmitting their time put and efficiency, maintaining opera- stamp signals and the receiver calculat- tions in low visibility and ensuring safe- ing its own position from these signals, ty – not least by preventing runway Multilateration triangulates on a moving incursions. But certain forward-looking transmitter – like the aircraft SSR air navigation service providers transponder – by detection and time (ANSPs) are going one step further. stamping of the transponder squitter or Austria, the Czech Republic and reply signals at well known, fixed receiv- Germany, for instance, are showing that er stations. A set of equations at a cen- the technique can be extended beyond tral processing site derives the accurate airport boundaries into the third spatial position of the aircraft transponder. This dimension and can be applied to air calculation is performed more than once traffic control within the terminal area per second, a measurement update rate and en-route. As a result, Wide Area a conventional SSR never can achieve. Multilateration (WAM) has already The principle of the TDOA technique is One of the nine Remote Unit Antennas of the taken off. shown in Figure 1. Innsbruck Wide Area Multilateration System

32 c*(TOA2-TOA3)

Remote Unit 2 (Rx)

TOA view Remote Unit 3 (Rx) c = 2 X3 = c TOA X 3 Re c*(TOA1-TOA2) For Multilateration purposes, the time c*(TOA1-TOA3) synchronisation precision of the

1 received signals is of great importance. There are several synchronisation TOAn Time of Arrival at Remote Unit n = c TOA methods being used by the different 1 X c Speed of light Xn Calculated distance from TDOA algorithm manufacturers, all having their advan- Rx Receiver tages and drawbacks. The technique Remote Unit 1 (Rx) used in the TMA of Innsbruck Airport, Austria, is depicted in Figure 2. The main advantage of this transponder Figure1: The principle of the Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) technique used in passive based synchronisation is its independ- Multilateration Systems requires the exact information of all Remote Unit (RU) Receiver ence from GPS signals. positions at the central processing system. The arrival time of the Reply/Squitter signal from the aircraft is measured at each receiver and a system of equations is solved to calculate the intersection point of the hyperbolas between each pair of RUs [c*(TOAx-TOAy)=constant]. The accuracy of this type of system is The solution is the point were the aircraft transponder is located. To derive a two-dimensional determined by the geometric dilution of position three RUs are needed, to compute a three-dimensional solution four RUs are needed. precision and the ground station receiver front end electronics. At airports, accuracies of 3-7m and in Wide Area Multilateration (WAM), 10-50m

Remote Unit 1 easily can be achieved. Local Mode Clock A/ Rep C/S Squitterly or Another benefit of the Multilateration surveillance technique is its independ- Baseband Digitisation and Receiver TDOA ence from the airborne navigation and 1090 MHz Measurement +opt. Preprocessing Digita the use of the existing airborne

Squitter l Central Processing L equipage without the need of any retro- ink 64kb System fit. Analogous to SSR Mode-S radar, Remote Unit 2 Local cat. 20 Asterix Multilateration enables all kind of basic, Clock Plot/Track Squitter Correlation, data elementary and enhanced surveillance b TDOA and nk 64k Tracking capabilities as foreseen in the EURO- tal Li Baseband Digitisation and Digi Receiver TDOA CONTROL Mode-S Programme. Squitter 1090 MHz Measurement +opt. Preprocessing Furthermore, Multilateration equipment Reference b Transponder 4k 6 does not only support the Mode-S ink L Programme’s applications, also the Remote Unit n igital Reference D Local Clock ground element of the ADS-B1 Clock Programme’s applications are automat- ically provided by the Multilateration Baseband Digitisation and Receiver TDOA system hardware. And, thinking innova- 1090 MHz Measurement +opt. Preprocessing tively again, Multilateration offers to be the complementary surveillance technique for ADS-B to overcome its air- Figure 2: Transponder synchronised Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) is used in the Innsbruck borne navigation dependability issues surveillance system. The SSR transponder reply/squitter-messages transmitted from the aircraft in high complexity European core air- are digitised, time stamped and pre-processed in the remote unit receivers (RU). Via narrow space. band digital data links each RU is connected to the central processing system (CPS), where the position of the aircraft is calculated. The output of the CPS is a standardised ASTERIX Data for- Last but not least, Multilateration also mat which contains plot or track information of all aircraft in the coverage area, together with accuracy information. Each RU has its own system-clock. To synchronise the time stamping of promises to be a cost-effective solution the individual RUs, the squitter signals of a well known Reference Transmitter (RT) are used to in comparison to SSR, being under calculate the necessary timing offsets. detailed investigation in Europe. Austro Controls WAM System in Innsbruck with Note: For areas where no interrogation signal triggers a Mode A/C only transponder, the 1 - Automatic nine remote stations and a fully redun- Dependent Innsbruck WAM system uses integrated omni-directional interrogator signals at 1030MHz which Surveillance - can also transmit all the Mode-S uplink messages. dant central processing system, for Broadcast

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 33 view

@6000ft MSL Austro Control has been using a WAM system for ATC purposes fully operational in the TMA and en-route airspace surrounding Innsbruck since November 2004 with great success. The Innsbruck surveillance system exhibits an update rate of 1.5 updates per second in a coverage area shown in Figure 3. The prob- ability of detection is better than 99.4% when counting gaps larger than 4s and the position accuracy was measured to be 13m mean error and 22m rms error. All of these WAM performance parameters are much better than any SSR radar Figure 3: Horizontal and vertical coverage area of the Innsbruck WAM System at 6000 and 9000ft station could deliver. MSL. The coloured dots represent the number of remote units visible at 6000ft MSL. Green, blue and pink colours have three or more sensors in their visibility, thus the central processing station can calculate at least a 2D-position. The simulation was run on a GIS system To build on this experience and to with a 50m grid size terrain model. explore the behaviour of Multilateration in super wide areas of more than 400km x 700km, Skyguide, DFS and instance, only cost approximately studies into the error behaviour, the Austro Control have started a feasibility €1.5 million for the planning, invest- standardisation, the surveillance data project, called CEWAM (Central ment, implementation and testing with processing issues and some specific European WAM), based on coverage actual operating cost less than items determined by the Task Force. from Zurich via Nürnberg, Salzburg to €150,000. A comparable solution built Innsbruck. This project that will last for on standard SSR would have cost EUROCONTROL, together with some the next 24 months will analyse the about €13 million, taking into account innovative stakeholders, has embarked safety, technical engineering aspects the difficulties for logistics and cover- on the exploration of the benefits of this as well as the commercial aspects of age requirements of the Inn valley mak- surveillance technique. It is engaged in WAM-intercell-coupling. ing two radar stations necessary. In the standardisation at protocol level addition, such an investment would (ASTERIX), ICAO level and in It can be concluded that the use of have faced enormous environmental EUROCAE2, it considers Multilateration Multilateration systems at airports and political difficulties and technical diffi- in the operational concepts, the strate- for surveillance for en-route purposes is culties caused by multipathing and gy and the architecture work. considerably gaining momentum in reflections from steep mountain faces. Europe. EUROCONTROL invites all On a sensor level, the Multilateration stakeholders interested in the coordinat- In the course of last year, EURO- has matured a lot in the last decade. ed international introduction of CONTROL gave considerable impetus The integrated EUROCONTROL surveil- Multilateration techniques to actively to the wide spread introduction of lance data processing product (ARTAS) contribute to the Multilateration Task Multilateration in Europe by the creation and the associated data analysis tools Force activities and to bring forward of the Multilateration Task Force. This are still somewhat behind this develop- ideas, concerns and proposals to this task force coordinates the standardisa- ment. It is of utmost importance for the forum. ■ tion and the necessary fact-finding airspace users, that they can make activities within Europe and ICAO. It operational use of such ground based brings together the interested stake- technology as early as possible, and Further reading: 2 - European Organisation for holders and acts as a platform for infor- thus the full surveillance chain needs www.eurocontrol.int/surveillance Civil Aviation mation exchange. The Surveillance the capability to accommodate data For further questions, please contact the Equipment Manufacturers Domain has already initiated detailed from this sensor technique. author:[email protected]

34 Investigation into loss view of communications Re

Loss of communication between controllers and pilots is a key issue for aviation safety. This article reports on the main causes currently identified, what EUROCONTROL and its stakeholders are doing to investigate how to resolve the problem and what the next steps might be. ‘PLOC’ and ‘COMLOSS’ are nowadays used interchangeably to define those A BRIEF HISTORY air-ground communications One communication loss problem was incidents whose duration affects known as the “sleeping receiver”. the normal ATC processes

Radios went silent, only to be reactivat- ed when the pilot pressed his transmit Definition key. Initially, back in Two acronyms can be used when describing loss of communications. The military prefer 1998, these events “COMLOSS”, standing for communications loss, while the civil sector tends to prefer “PLOC” were flagged, inves- for prolonged loss of communications. tigated and reported by just a few airlines, Loss of communications between aircraft and air traffic control (ATC) may actually occur for such as British a variety of reasons, some technical, others relating to the human-machine interface. The Airways (BA) and length of the loss of communications can vary considerably. However, it is those that impact KLM. It is unclear day-to-day ATC functions that have drawn the most attention and have instigated studies whether this kind of By Patrick aimed at resolving the problem. event started prior Delhaise, to, or in parallel with, Current the introduction of Systems 8.33 kHz radios. Manager the descent and approach phase. BA unacceptable since it represents a (DAS/CSM), However, some then started its own internal investiga- security risk. The UK SRG invited and events had already tion into the subject. It could not, how- EUROCONTROL through its Safety been observed by ever, identify any common explanation Regulatory Unit and Communications then, but without or isolate any specific technical failure. Division (COM) to support the wider drawing too much investigations and expand them to attention. The num- In May 2002, BA, NATS and the UK- European level. More recently, a com- ber of reported Safety Regulatory Group (SRG) organ- plementary Safety Improvement events increased ised a forum to bring communication Initiative was launched by the EURO- and in the UK the loss events to the wider attention of var- CONTROL Safety Team. This majority of incidents ious European aviation safety stake- addressed operations-related safety Massimiliano reported occurred Esposito, holders, including the EUROCONTROL issues like call-sign confusion, blocked over the London Telecoms Agency. From 11 September 2001, transmissions, radio interference, stan- Terminal Area either Engineer silence from any aircraft lasting more dard phraseology and prolonged loss in the stack or during (DAS/CSM) than a few minutes became clearly of communications.

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 35 view EUROCONTROL CONTRIBUTION reporting; 191 events in 2002, 121 in Unfortunately some 68% of the report- 2003, 307 in 2004, and already 355 for ed events still do not contain enough Re Common PLOC database 2005 (position on 1 September 2005). detail to be explained and categorised. and reporting Recurrent profiles emerging from the Identification of recurrent report database include: Since 2002, the EUROCONTROL incident profiles Communications Domain has taken ■ Airborne radio failure (with identified over the investigative task from UK Based on the reported symptoms and repair action required). SRG. Their database of incidents was with the support of IATA for interrogat- ■ Human factors related profiles – e.g. transferred to the EUROCONTROL ing airlines shortly after each PLOC, human errors where the pilot tuned Agency and extended to enable the about 32% of the reported PLOC (for to an incorrect frequency, inadver- logging of any prolonged loss of com- the years 2004 and 2005) can be allo- tently changed radio selector or set munications events reported by civil or cated to one of the identified PLOC pro- the radio volume too low. On the military controllers and by aircrews. The files (see pie chart). ATC side, there are incorrect fre- reporting forms have been standard- quencies assigned by ATC or errors ised and enhanced in conjunction with in voice readback/hearback; ATC stakeholders’ suggestions. The pur- forgetting to call and hand over air- pose of the database is to quantify 5% craft, etc. Call-sign confusions or PLOC phenomenon across 5% overload of pilots or controllers are Europe and to scrutinise the 8% of course other possible operational reports in search for common 17% factors contributing to the human elements in order to pro- 7% errors described here. gressively identify new pro- 3% ■ Communications technical causes, files of communications 3% e.g. PLOC Type A (the sleeping loss incidents. 4% receiver) and multicarrier/squelch 22% related issues. Information in the database includes: More technical or operational profiles 34% could be identified in the future through ■ Flight details, e.g. airline, call- improved reporting and refined analysis. sign, flight number and route ■ Aircraft details, e.g. type and regis- Airborne radio failure tration number Frequency tuned incorrectly ■ Incident details, e.g. time and date of incident, location, phase of flight, Inadvertently changed radio selector speed and altitude of aircraft when The importance of each profile in this Radio volume too low or off PLOC occurred database is of course influenced by the Suspected MultiCarrier - related issue ■ ATC information, e.g. frequency, profiles of a few major contributors. As Suspected PLOC Type A ATC sector, whether air-to-air relay COMLOSS awareness and reporting (silent channel; if relay attempted, no success) was attempted and successfully re- are expanding, the relative importance ATC forgot to hand over, or Wrong Freq assigned by ATC, or Readback/Hearback error established communication. of each PLOC profile is expected to Radio selection error by aircrew ■ Information about the loss of com- evolve. (e.g.: still on previous sector) munications, e.g. duration, possible observed silence on the channel, remedial actions. Communication loss is affecting ■ Details of the aircraft equipment in use during the PLOC, e.g. headset, all aviation segments: VHF transceiver and audio manage- The phenomenon is not restricted to a few airlines or radio types. ment unit. In the thousand reported events that have affected air traffic control since 1999, more than 300 airlines, The database contains over 1,050 events recorded since 1999. Most of 12 radio types, 180 sectors and them are concentrated in the last years 90 channel frequencies are represented. due to the initial lack of awareness and

36 A typical example of PLOC Type A

A pilot reported: “During our usual arrival preparation, we realised that our VHF1 radio, which was assigned to the Paris control frequency, had been silent for several minutes. When we managed by a brief radio check to establish contact with London FIR, we were told that several calls had been left unanswered; air-air view relay attempted by ATC hadn’t work either. Then we were transferred to the (NATO/EUROCONTROL ATM Security appropriate sector frequency and the flight continued normally. Coordinating Group). Re

During that period, the flight was on its assigned route and level, but we got The diagram below depicts the current a call from a French Mirage fighter closing our left wing on 121.5MHz. We flow of PLOC incidents reports involving explained to him that we were back in contact with London and that every- EUROCONTROL thing was OK with our radio, and then we continued our flight and approach in the usual manner.” To ensure that PLOC resolution is made more efficient, all the stakeholders According to the current procedures, when a certain time of communication involved need to share commonly loss has elapsed, the military units are alerted. Every time the fighters are updated information and their actions. scrambled, other air traffic is affected and has to be moved aside; the cost To this end, the NEASCOG group is cur- of a fighter launch is about € 6,000 each time. rently working to establish a definition of loss-of-communications common to both civil and military control centres, based on operational aspects. Remedies found for ant with the MOPS require- two technical PLOC profiles ment. NATO PLOC Type A: A PLOC might be experi- NATS Thanks to BA’s sustained efforts over enced by this type of radio the years in keeping their aircrews when flying in multi-carrier ATC IATA aware and accurately reporting events, equisignal areas (same signal (e.g. SCOACC) EUROCONTROL a Service Bulletin for retrofitting their strength originating from dif- DAS/CSM Events VHF1 receivers has finally been deliv- ferent offset ground transmit- Investigation & Airlines Data Gathering Likely Explanations ered to BA by the radio manufacturer ters). Work is currently in (e.g. BA, FlyBe,...) & Analysis concerned. progress to include a test for multi-carrier operation sensi- Others ... Since January 2005, BA has recorded tivity in the relevant airborne Technical Issues & Analysis a clear decrease in the number of transceiver standards in PLOC type A occurrences, as the order to prevent aircraft Service Bulletin deployment has pro- radios with limited squelch gressed throughout the fleet. performance being installed. Awareness of avionics manufactures of Furthermore, EUROCONTROL has It is now anticipated that the PLOC type this issue is considered essential. suggested sharing its reporting forms A will progressively be cleared from the Recently, multi-carrier operation in 8.33 and procedures with IATA and NATO. It whole BA fleet and the few other affect- kHz channel spacing was proven to be will also share the existing PLOC data- ed airlines; it has now become a ques- feasible and standardisation activities base, and especially work to identify tion of time. have been initiated. causes and develop more remedies for all PLOC profiles, whether the causes Multi-carrier related PLOCs Raising awareness are technical, operational or both. Recent laboratory and flight trials confirmed that the squelch operation Since its involvement, EUROCONTROL Once that has been established, of some receivers may be disturbed in has steadily worked towards increasing the EUROCONTROL Communications a multi-carrier environment. According PLOC awareness among airlines, the Domain will exploit its expertise, to the current MOPS (Minimum avionic and aircraft industry as well as focusing more on technical profiles of 1 - Very High Frequency Operational Performance Specifica- within civil and military ATC organisa- PLOC and their resolution across 2 - International tion), receiver sensitivity in multi-carrier tions. Europe. For its part, the Agency Safety Federation of Air operation must not be worse than Team will continue to manage the Air- Traffic Controllers’ Association –85 dBm. Progress reports are presented in work- Ground Communication Safety 3 - International shops and working groups such as Initiative, aiming to deliver an industri- Federation of Airline One type of analogue radio retrofitted EATM SISG (Safety Improvement Sub- al Action Plan in 2006 jointly with Pilots Association for 8.33 kHz operations was identified Group), CMIC (Civil Military Interface IFATCA2, IFALPA3, ERA4 and the Flight 4 - European Regional Airlines during these trials as not being compli- Standing Committee), and NEASCOG Safety Foundation. ■ Organisation

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 37 visits & port Meeting our stakeholders Re agreements

On 7 October, the Director General welcomed Mrs Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, the Croatian Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration.

On 29 September 2005, the Director General welcomed Mr Janez Potocnik, the European Commissioner for Science and Research. Discussions were held on the institutional arrangements between the European Community and EUROCONTROL, air traffic management research, including security, and current research and development initiatives by the European Commission and EUROCONTROL.

On the same day, the Director General welcomed Mr Savides, Chairman of Cyprus Airways, and Mr Kervelis, Councillor at the Cyprus Permanent Representation to the EU.

An overview of EUROCONTROL, a briefing on the Central Route Charges Office and the Central Flow Management Unit were all part of the programme.

On 6 September 2005, the Director General welcomed Mr Renaat Landuyt, Minister for Mobility of Belgium. The Minister and his delegation were briefed on EUROCONTROL institutional developments, emphasising the ratification of the revised Convention, European ATM performance, EUROCONTROL strategies and development at the Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre. The programme was concluded with a visit of the CFMU operations rooms.

On 13-14 July 2005, the Director of the General Secretariat, Dr Gerhard Stadler, met with Mr Gorodcovs, Director General of Civil Aviation of Latvia to discuss support for implementation of the Single European Sky and his country’s membership of EUROCONTROL.

38 port

Forthcoming Events Re

■ 30 October – 2 November 2005 50th ATCA Annual Conference & Exposition, Dallas

■ 16-17 November 2005 CFMU User Forum, Brussels

■ 24-25 November 2005 Dynamic Management of the European Airspace Network (DMEAN) Workshop, Luxembourg

■ 5-7 December 2005 2nd ACI Global Airport Operations Summit, Budapest

■ 14-16 February 2006 ATC Maastricht 2006

...... The Winter 2005 issue of Skyway will focus on: The Central Flow Management Unit

EUROCONTROL Website: www.eurocontrol.int

Skyway 38 - Autumn 2005 © European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) ©October Europe a2005n Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) April 2003 This document is published by EUROCONTROL in the interests of exchange of information. ThisIt may document be copied is published in whole orby inEUROCONTROL part, providing in that the theinterests copyright of exchange notice and of disclaimerinformation. are included. It Themay information be copied in contained whole or in in this part, document providing may that not the be copyright modified notice and disclaimer are included. Thewithout information prior written contained permission in this documentfrom EUROCONTROL. may not be modified without prior written permission from EUROCONTROL. EUROCONTROL makes no warranty, EUROCONTROLeither implied makesor express, no warranty, for the information contained in this document, eitherneither implied does itor assume express, any for legal the information liability or responsibilitycontained in this for document,the accuracy, neithercompleteness does it assume or usefulness any legal of this liability information. or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of this information. For more information, Focontactr more EUROCONTROLinformation, External and Public Relations, contactGeneral EUROCONTROL Secretariat Directorate External and Public Relations, General96, rue Secretariat de la Fusée, Directorate B-1130 Brussels, Belgium 96,Te rueleph deon ela: Fusée,+32 2 B-1130729 34 20Brussels, Belgium TeFlaexp:hone: +32+32 2 2729 729 90 91 11 98 Faex-:mail: [email protected] 2 729 91 98