Skyway is a quarterly publication of the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, EUROCONTROLVolume 11, Number 45, Summer 2007

ATM PerformanceSetting performance targetsfor European ATM

EUROCONTROL: a performance-driven approach in SESAR

ICAO:focus on the global performance of the air navigation system

Skyway Magazine is a EUROCONTROL publication. Articles appearing in this magazine do not necessarily reflect EUROCONTROL’s official policy.

Publisher: Víctor M. AguadoManaging Editor: Gerhard StadlerEditor: Lucia Pasquinilucia.pasquini@eurocontrol.int Editorial Team: Christos Petrou, Jean-Jacques Sauvage Linguistic Advisers: Language Service (DGS/LSEC)Layout: Frédérique FyonPhotography: Christian SampouxPrinting: EUROCONTROL Logistics and Support Services, Bureau DGS/LOG

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

EUROCONTROL Website: http://www.eurocontrol.int

Independent Platform18 ATM performance and credibility

20 Social partners point the way on functionalairspace blocks – Report by the Social DialogueATM Work Group on the implications of FABs

Stakeholder Forum22 Air traffic management performance:

AEA’s point of view

Review24 Network Operations Plan 2007 edition:

preparing for major changes in 2008

Datelines26 The ICAO Worldwide Symposium on Performance

of the Air Navigation System

30 Inauguration of the new Central Flow ManagementUnit’s Operations Room: a cornerstone for theSingle European Sky

SESAR32 Progress of the Definition Phase

33 Industry News

34 Visits & Agreements

3 Editorial

Focus4 Setting performance targets for

European air traffic management

8 EUROCONTROL: a performance-driven approach in SESAR

11 Enhancing airport efficiency:EUROCONTROL and Munich Airport celebrate Airport CDM success

12 A performance-driven approachto air traffic management

16 The civil-military ATMperformance framework

Contents

3

Chers lecteurs,

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007

EditorialEditorial

Dear readers,

Over the last few years, the overall per-formance of Europe’s air traffic management(ATM) system has improved considerably,thanks to the efforts made both by the aviation community at largeand EUROCONTROL. Notable progress has been achieved in theareas of safety, capacity, efficiency and the environment.

In Europe, there has not been a single fatal accident attributableto ATM in the last five years, and the rate of serious incidents is falling.The safety maturity of European service providers and regulators roseby 27% and 25% respectively in the last two years.

Air traffic flow management delays have been reduced in spite ofan annual 4% increase in traffic.

Route charge unit rates fell by 13% from 2003 to 2006, and unitcosts are forecast to drop by another 15% in the next five years.

In Europe today, environmental measures in air traffic manage-ment have already reduced CO2 emissions by 2 million tonnes (equiv-alent to 1% of the total aviation emissions in Europe) per annum.

However, performance must continue to improve, especially withtraffic set to continue to rise in the short, medium and long term, at anaverage of 4% per annum, and in double figures in the Eastern partof Europe. As further proof traffic increased by 5.3% between Januaryand May 2007.

The aviation community’s focus on performance represents amajor development in the last ten years, resulting from the growingcomplexity of the ATM system. The EUROCONTROL PerformanceReview Commission, created in 1997, has played a crucial role in thisrespect, advising on the setting of performance indicators, proposingperformance targets and working on a performance review ofEurope’s ATM performance. This action has helped raise the per-formance of the air navigation system across the entire European con-tinent.

The global dimension of air transport calls, however, for a glob-ally enhanced air navigation system.

This was the main theme of a worldwide Symposium on thePerformance of the Air Navigation System held by ICAO in March thisyear. The Symposium created awareness amongst all stakeholders ofthe need to build a performance-oriented approach to ATM, enhanc-ing safety, capacity, efficiency, security and the environment, underthe umbrella of ICAO’s Global ATM Plan.

Europe’s ATM system has benefited from a systematic continent-wide performance measurement and review system, and this experi-ence can usefully be developed at global level.

A performance-based approach is currently being used in theSESAR Programme. This will include the delivery of the EuropeanATM Master Plan by March 2008, a roadmap of improvementsdesigned to improve the equation between stakeholder needs andsystem solutions towards the definition and application of new con-cepts and processes.

Víctor M. AguadoDirector General

Au cours des dernières années, la performance globale du systèmeeuropéen de gestion du trafic aérien (ATM) s’est considérablementaméliorée, grâce aux efforts consentis à la fois par la communauté aéro-nautique dans son ensemble et par EUROCONTROL. Des progrès nota-bles ont été accomplis dans les domaines de la sécurité, de la capacité,de l’efficience et du respect de l’environnement.

En Europe, pas un seul des accidents mortels survenus au cours descinq dernières années n’était imputable à l’ATM, et le nombre d’incidentsgraves est en baisse. Le degré de maturité de la sécurité chez lesprestataires de services et les instances de réglementation européens aaugmenté, respectivement, de 27 % et 25 % ces deux dernières années.

Les retards imputables à la gestion des courants de trafic aérien ontété réduits, en dépit d'une augmentation annuelle du trafic de 4 %.

Les taux unitaires des redevances de route ont diminué de 13 %entre 2003 et 2006 et devraient encore baisser de 15 % au cours des cinqprochaines années.

À l’heure actuelle, en Europe, les mesures environnementales prisesdans le cadre de la gestion du trafic aérien ont déjà permis de réduire de2 millions de tonnes les émissions annuelles de CO2 (soit l’équivalent d’1 % des émissions totales produites par l’aviation en Europe).

Avec un trafic qui continuera d’augmenter, à court, moyen et long termes, à un taux moyen de 4 % par an et selon un taux à deux chiffresdans la partie est de l'Europe, il faut toutefois que l’amélioration des per-formances se poursuive. Pour preuve, entre janvier et mai 2007, une crois-sance du trafic de 5,3 % a été enregistrée.

La priorité accordée à la performance par la communauté aéronau-tique, évolution majeure de ces dix dernières années, est une conséquence directe de la complexité croissante du système ATM. La Commission d’examen des performances d’EUROCONTROL, créée en1997, a joué un rôle essentiel à cet égard, en rendant des avis sur la fixa-tion d'indicateurs de performance, en proposant des objectifs de per-formance et en procédant à un examen des performances de l'ATM enEurope. Ce faisant, elle a contribué à l’amélioration des performances dusystème de navigation aérienne dans l’ensemble du continent européen.

La dimension planétaire du transport aérien appelle toutefois uneamélioration du système de navigation aérienne à l'échelle mondiale.

Tel était le fil conducteur du symposium de l’OACI sur les perfor-mances du système de navigation aérienne, tenu en mars de cette année.Il a permis à l’ensemble des partenaires de prendre conscience de lanécessité d’une approche de l’ATM axée sur les performances, propre àrenforcer la sécurité, la capacité, l’efficience, la sûreté et le respect del’environnement, sous l’égide du Plan mondial ATM de l’OACI.

Le système ATM européen a bénéficié d’un système de mesure etd’examen systématiques des performances à l’échelle du continent, etcette expérience peut être utilement reproduite à l’échelle planétaire.

Le programme SESAR met actuellement en œuvre une approchefondée sur les performances. Celle-ci comprend l’élaboration, d'ici mars2008, du Plan-cadre européen pour l’ATM, un ensemble de lignes direc-trices propre à améliorer l'adéquation entre les besoins des partenaires etles solutions apportées par le système, dans l’optique de la définition etde la mise en œuvre de nouveaux concepts et processus.

Víctor M. AguadoDirecteur général

Focus

Introduction

Many readers will be aware of thePerformance Review Commission’s(PRC) role in reviewing the past per-formance of the European ATM sys-tem. This has constituted the bulk of itsannual Performance Review Reports(PRRs).

However, the target-setting element isless well known. The PRC’s terms ofreference also require it “to proposetargets to be set for ATM systemimprovements”. In PRR 2006, which isthe PRC’s latest performance reviewreport, strong emphasis was placed onperformance targets.

Some might consider that adoption ofperformance targets is long overdue.The ECAC Institutional Strategy adopt-ed by Transport Ministers in 1997included an objective to adopt per-formance targets by 1998! Experience,however, has shown that it is a com-plex subject, and that solid founda-tions must be laid before a robusthouse can be built.

The foundations in this case are reli-able data. A lot of reliable data areavailable from the EUROCONTROLCentral Flow Management Unit (traffic,ATFM delays) and Central RouteCharges Office (distance, routecharges), with the distinct advantage

that it is comprehensive and homoge-neous across Europe. Going further,significant progress was madethrough the adoption of economicinformation disclosure requirements in2001, after two years of detailed workby the PRU and the ATM Cost-Effectiveness (ACE) Working Group.However, much more remains to bedone, especially insofar as safety dataare concerned. The forthcomingadoption of SES Implementing Rulesfor Performance Review is expected toreinforce the information flow.

Although, this progress may seemunimpressive at first sight, more tor-toise than hare, it was clear at the firstWorldwide Symposium on ANS per-formance organised by theInternational Civil Aviation Organi-zation in March this year, that Europeis in fact at the forefront of ANS per-formance measurement.

After nearly ten years, the PRC is nowin a position to submit a set of per-formance targets addressing key per-formance areas, namely safety,capacity/ delays, flight efficiency andthe environment, and cost-effective-ness.

PRC recommendations

In its latest recommendations, the PRC invited the EUROCONTROLProvisional Council:

Safetya. to confirm that all national regula-

tors and air navigation serviceproviders providing en-route serv-ices should reach the agreed mini-mum level of safety managementand regulation maturity (70%) byend-2008 and to formally adopt thisas an interim European safety per-formance target …;

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Setting performance targetsfor European air traffic management

by Xavier Fron, Head of thePerformanceReview Unit

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007

b. to request the Director General toundertake a review of EURO-CONTROL’s publication and confi-dentiality policy, to ensure the appro-priate balance between confidentiali-ty and transparency of safety infor-mation;

Capacity/delaysc. to agree that the European perform-

ance target for en-route ATFM delaysremains set at 1 minute per flight foreach summer period (May toOctober inclusive) until 2010;

Flight efficiency, environmental impactd. to adopt as a flight-efficiency target a

reduction in the European averageroute extension per flight of two kilo-metres per annum until 2010;

e. to note that achieving the flight-effi-ciency target would reduce carbondioxide emissions in proportion;

Cost-effectivenessf. to adopt the cost-effectiveness tar-

get of reducing the European aver-age real unit cost by 3% per annumuntil 2010.

Basis for the PRC’s targets

The PRC did not pluck these targets outof thin air. A lot of research, detailedanalysis and consultation went intotheir development.

SafetyLet’s take a look at the safety targetfirst. Safety being the principal objec-tive of ATM, and aviation requiringextremely high levels of safety, onewould expect a high level of maturity inmeasuring safety performance. In fact,even basic safety data are not yet uni-formly available across Europe,although some information exists in anumber of States. In many cases, thefoundations are not yet there, let alonethe house. This is why the target isabout building the foundations, i.e. suf-ficiently mature safety processes at airnavigation service providers and ATMregulators, and these include incident-data collection.

The PRC is aware that the aim of theEuropean Safety Programme (ESP),adopted in 2004, is to get all “StateATM regulators and service providersto a 70% minimum maturity level”. Thisis why the PRC proposed that thisalready agreed objective be formallyadopted as an interim safety target. In

May 2007, the Provisional Council“confirmed that all national regulatorsand air navigation service providersproviding en-route services shouldstrive to reach the agreed minimumlevel of safety management and regula-tion maturity (70%) by end-2008 andadopted its use as an interim Europeansafety performance target”.

The other safety recommendation high-lights the difficulty that the PRCencounters in getting meaningful anduseful safety data for performancereview purposes. As a general princi-ple, the PRC believes that there shouldbe a duty of accountability and trans-parency vis-à-vis airspace users andthe public concerning safety of air nav-igation services. There is a need toensure an appropriate balancebetween maintaining confidentiality ofsafety data and ensuring transparencyof safety information for the generalpublic. Hopefully, the confidentialitypolicy will be relaxed, after the DirectorGeneral has conducted his review.

Capacity and delaysTurning now to ATC capacity anddelays, a European target for en-routeATFM delays was adopted in 2001 onthe PRC's recommendation. The plan-ning objective was to progressivelyreduce delay to the optimum(1 min/flight) by 2006. When it was set,this target was considered to be verychallenging. However, experience hasshown that the adoption of a target hasfocused efforts towards increasedcapacity, which, combined with a tem-

5

Focus

porary reduction in traffic in 2001-2002,led to remarkable improvements inATFM delays, even faster than original-ly anticipated.

The current target is generally accept-ed and widely considered as a satis-factory performance level. The PRCtherefore proposed that the currentEuropean target of 1 minute per flightbe maintained for the coming years,which was agreed by the ProvisionalCouncil.

Actual and target en-route delays areshown together with traffic growth in thefigure 1.

Flight efficiency and its environmental impactFlight efficiency has recently beenidentified as a major ATM performanceissue. The financial impact of horizontalroute extensions is in the order of

€2 billion per annum, to which sub-opti-mal vertical profiles and terminal areaprocedures would have to be added.Moreover, flight inefficiencies havedirect environmental implications,which are increasingly a major concernin today’s society.

The first step was to assemble accuratedata and develop a relevant perform-ance framework with specific flight-effi-ciency indicators. The current averageroute extension is measured at 48.6 kmper flight, which corresponds to 441million kilometresper annum overand above theshortest distancebetween terminalareas.

The second step was to identify a target that is both realistic and chal-lenging, taking into account trade-offswith capacity, and respecting requiredlevels of safety. The target proposed bythe PRC, a reduction in the averageroute extension per flight by 2 km perannum, was adopted by the ProvisionalCouncil. It is consistent with EURO-CONTROL’s plans (ARN V5, V6, AAS).

The current and target values for routeextension are shown below and in figure 2.

The adoption of a European flight-effi-ciency target is a major step forward,with consequent financial and environ-mental benefits.

Cost-effectivenessPRR 2006 shows that the cost-effec-tiveness of European ATM has beenimproving since 2003. A break in theunit cost trend is clearly visible (see figure 3).

Nevertheless, cost-effectiveness re-mains a major ATM performance issue.In 2006, en-route and terminal air navi-gation service costs amounted tosome €7,800 million. High-level com-parisons indicate that there is room forsignificant improvements in cost-effectiveness, which could beachieved by increasing productivity,reducing fragmentation and supportcosts, and effectively managingemployment costs.

6

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Setting performance targetsfor European air traffic management

Routeextension (km)

Year

2005

2006

per flight

49.2 km

48.6 km

Total

435 mkm

441 mkm

Route extension Estimated cost

€ 2,130 m

€ 2,230 m

Route extension (km)

Flight efficiency has recentlybeen identified as a major ATM

performance issue

6 6 000

5 000

4 000

3 000

2 000

1 000

0

5

4

3

2

1

0

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

En-route ATFM delay per flight (May-Oct.)

Target: 1.0 min/flight

Actual: 1.4 min/flight

En-routetarget En-route

optimumMin

utes

per

flig

ht

Flights in summ

er (’000)

Airport ATFM delay per flight (May-Oct.)

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

2.9 4.1 5.5 3.6 3.1 1.8 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.4

0.8 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.9 0.8

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Direct en-route

-2 km per flight

Rout

e ex

tens

ion

(km

/flig

ht)

TMA Interface

Proposed target

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

0.9 250

220

190

160

130

100

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.41997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Cost per km

PRCproposed target

Average 1997-2003

Euro

200

5/km

Total costs (1997=index 100)

Traffic (1997=index 100)

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006P 2007P 2008P 2009P 2010P

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007

It is therefore important to progressivelyimprove cost-effectiveness. It is verygood news that States/ANSPs’ cumulat-ed projections show such improvement,nearly meeting the PRC’s notional targetfor 2008 (-14% with respect to 2003).The cumulative savings from 2003 to2008 would then amount to more than €2 billion.

This indicates that a European cost-effectiveness target of reducing the realunit cost by 3% per annum is both rea-sonable and achievable. Moreover, thistarget is in line with the strategic designobjectives of the ATM industry until2010, as stated in SESAR Deliverable 2on performance targets (a 3% yearlyreduction of real unit costs until 2010,followed by a 5% yearly reduction until2020).

For these reasons, the PRC proposedthe formal adoption of a European cost-effectiveness target of reducing theEuropean average real unit cost by 3%per annum until 2010. A firm decision iscurrently pending.

What happens next?

The adoption of European performancetargets is a significant step forward.Although not legally binding, Europeantargets effectively contribute to focusingminds and improving ATM performanceas shown by recent experience.

The PRC will continue to perform its dutywith a view to producing increasinglyimproved performance reviews and tar-get-setting. It will also seek to persuade,encourage and explain the basis for itsrecommendations to policy- and deci-sion-makers at all levels concerned. ■■

For further information, please consult thePRC’s website athttp://www.eurocontrol.int/prc.

7

Figure 1: Summer (May-October)

Figure 2: Route extension

Figure 3: En-route unit cost

Focus

Genesis

Unsurprisingly, the performance-driven approach directly emanatesfrom the vision of the group whichdrafted the EUROCONTROL revisedConvention and established thePerformance Review Commissionsome ten years ago, and which foundan echo in initiatives taken by theEuropean Commission (EC) such asthe Vision 2020 for EuropeanAeronautics. Performance orientationwas a novel approach in air trafficmanagement (ATM), designed toimprove the equation between stake-holder needs and system solutions,

requiring the definition and applica-tion of new concepts and processes.

Not only has it helped to formulatestrategic documents for EuropeanATM, but the performance-drivenapproach has also progressivelytranslated into concrete actions forshort/medium-term planning, in partic-ular the European Convergence andImplementation Plan (ECIP) and theCapacity Enhancement Function(CEF). Various stakeholders have sup-ported the idea since its inception andhave directly contributed to improvingthe level of performance of theEuropean ATM system, as well as

facilitated the dissemination of theapproach beyond Europe.

It has therefore been from the outset aquite natural feature of the approachtaken in SESAR.

What does performance-driven mean?

In essence it represents a fundamen-tal change compared to the tradition-al technology-driven approach,which has led to adding technologiesone by one as they become avail-able. The purpose is now to prepareand take decisions on the basis of

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EUROCONTROL: a performance-driven approach in SESAR

Skyway readers are regularlykept abreast of the progressmade by SESAR. This article highlights themain aspects of the performance-driven planning approach which is at the heart of the SESAR Definition Phase,building on and significantly expanding actions of a similar nature taken so far.

by Bo Redeborn,Director AirTrafficManagementStrategies

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007

the identified and foreseen needs ofsociety, air transport and airspaceusers, and of the expected outcomeof the proposed changes to ATMservices. Both the needs and the out-come are expressed in terms of per-formance, and can therefore beincluded in a comprehensive busi-ness case.

Main actions

The ATM2000+ Strategy pioneered in2000 a strategic planning approach,setting performance goals, though notspecifically quantified, as the means todefine the strategic direction ofchange.

The EUROCONTROL ProvisionalCouncil agreed in 2001 on a capacitytarget for the medium term of 1 minuteaverage en-route ATFM delay per flightin the summer period, and it hasrecently added targets for flight effi-ciency and safety.

The ECIP has been designed to providefor a coherent approach that ensures acontinued performance-driven develop-ment at network and local level. TheECIP Implementation Objectives refer tochange steps in the strategic road map,and describe the performance improve-ments expected from their achieve-ment. The ECIP objectives are in turnused in the Local CIPs to establish thenational plans and propagate commonactions. This process is continuouslyimproved and adapted in order torespond to new challenges. The role ofthe ECIP process in fostering progressand harmonisation within a set of Stateshas been recognised in ICAO and is thesubject of a recommendation from the11th ICAO Air Navigation Conferencethat it should be used as a model forother regions.

Since 2001 a specific function, theCapacity Enhancement Function, hasbeen created within the EURO-CONTROL Agency in order to deter-mine more precisely the capacityrequirements of the different AreaControl Centres in the next three to fiveyears and the effects of the plans.Discrepancies are analysed in order todetermine and, where possible, imple-ment additional measures to providemore capacity. The capacity analysishas been extended to cost-effective-ness.

In the research area, the recommenda-tions of Vision 2020 and its quantifiedtargets for aeronautics have been usedby the Advisory Council forAeronautical Research in Europe(ACARE) to establish a StrategicResearch Agenda. These same refer-ences have provided the overall politi-cal design goals for SESAR.

These different initiatives have con-verged towards the notion of aEuropean ATM Master Plan, an essen-tial instrument for an ambitious pro-gramme: SESAR.

Key performance areas

In SESAR, the participation of the air-space users in the Definition Phase hasbeen instrumental in going one stepfurther in the definition of the perform-ance planning approach. The DefinitionPhase work on this subject is not yetcompleted, but it has already providedresults on at least three aspects:

■ performance targets;■ the elaboration of predictive influ-

ence diagrams to discuss theexpected performance from newconcepts;

■ the recognition of a notion of per-formance partnership.

An initial set of indicators targets hasbeen proposed with the second maindeliverable (D2) of the Definition Phase,most of which have been quantified.They are based on the expectations ofsociety and airspace users. The SESARwork started from the 11 key perform-ance areas (KPAs) being discussed inICAO and made a specific effort toidentify specific indicators and targets.They are illustrated in Figure 1.

9

Societal andpoliticaleffects

Business leveleffects on usersand operators

No direct interestto airspace user

customers

Operationalperformance

Cost-effectiveness+

Capacity+

Efficiency+

Flexibility+

Predictability

Societaloutcome

Safety+

Security+

Environmentalsustainability

Performanceenablers

Access and equity+

Participation+

Interoperability

Figure 1: Key performance areas

Focus

The KPAs have become the referencepoint for discussing the merits of thefuture concept of operations for SESARand technical solutions.

While the assessment of the actual per-formance of a new system wouldrequire substantial validation andextensive simulations or pre-opera-tional trials, it is essential to be able toformulate initial assessments at anearly stage of development, based ondocumented rationale articulated byexperts and supported by availabledata and results from R&D. This is thepurpose of the performance influencediagrams which are being defined inSESAR and which support the discus-sion and assessment of the conceptof operations. This will allow a firsttraceable assessment of the effects ofthe new features on performance.

Performance management

The European ATM Master Plan willconsolidate the different perspectivesinto a comprehensive chain of informa-tion, from requirements to solutions,providing the rationale to ensure com-mitment to the implementation of pro-posed changes.

The recommendations coming from theSESAR work also stress the notion ofperformance partnership. Althoughhow it would work remains to bedescribed in more detail, it rightlystresses that the planning and real-timedecisions of the main stakeholders (air-craft operators, airport operators andair navigation service providers) areclosely interdependent and that overalland individual performance in the ATMnetwork is the result of the actions andbehaviour of all, since all address andhave effects on a common object: theflight trajectory.

This immediately points to the need forinformation to be shared so that everystakeholder fully understands the situa-tion and can either make moreinformed and better decisions or offeralternatives. This is the principle of col-laborative decision-making, and anindication that partnership is needed.

Conversely partnership needs to bebuilt on mechanisms that allow thisvirtuous circle to function. In particu-lar, the means of measuring the effec-tiveness of the system is to measureits actual performance and compare itto the set targets.

Performance planningprocess

The contribution of European expertshas made it possible to reach a highlevel of consistency within the ICAOand SESAR groups working concur-rently. Three main steps, aligned withICAO, have been identified:

■ capturing and understandingrequirements;

■ analysis of future system perform-ance to determine gaps in the cur-rent systems and plans;

■ adapting the current plans to elimi-nate the gaps or mitigate theireffects.

Performance orientation providestools to make more informed deci-sions in due time, rather than freezingthe choice of a technology at too earlya stage.

It may also be necessary to applytrade-offs where not all requirementscan be simultaneously satisfied. TheSESAR Definition Phase will also sooncontribute to the understanding of thetrade-off mechanisms that would beneeded.

Ultimately, the European ATM MasterPlan will be the product of the per-formance-oriented planning in theSESAR Programme.

Early achievements in the applicationof the approach have been observed.Overall, the benefits of the approachare obvious, but they must be accom-panied by rigour in its application tomake sound judgments, provide effec-tive advice to decision-makers, andprevent the risk of disillusion that couldbe the result of haste and misuse.

EUROCONTROL in the process

The exact role and contribution ofEUROCONTROL will be adapted tothe evolving situation and the particu-lar requirements of SESAR.Nevertheless, it is expected that theAgency will continue to play an activerole consistent with its overall missionof ATM planning at the European net-work level by facilitating, coordinatingand supporting the efforts of stake-holders in achieving higher levels ofATM performance.

The way ahead

The SESAR Definition Phase is pro-ceeding with its main deliverables,applying the approach previouslydescribed. The work will then continuein the SESAR Joint Undertaking toensure that the actions and work canbe related to the agreed framework andtargets. In parallel, the short-termimplementation actions needed tobring performance gains before newdevelopments can deliver will be givena new impetus, being better justified inperformance terms, better fitting in theoverall transition path and being bettersupported and therefore progressedmore steadily by stakeholders. ■■

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EUROCONTROL: a performance-driven approach in SESAR

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007

At 0800 UTC, departure planning infor-mation (DPI) messages started to beprocessed in the CFMU operationalsystem for flights departing fromMunich Airport.

The DPI messages are used to providethe CFMU with highly accurate off-block-time and take-off-time predic-tions based on collaborative proce-dures established by the airport opera-tor, aircraft operator and ATC. TheCFMU updates its operational flightprofile data and makes them availableto all CFMU users, particularly at down-stream and arrival units.

Extensive operational trials with Munichwere carried out both in October 2006and more recently in May 2007. Theresults demonstrated the added benefitof having this updatedaccurate information sentto the CFMU. For Munich,the benefits are clear. Theaccurate data they are sup-plying allows the CFMU toissue slot times directly linked to

the time the aircraft will be ready todepart, so minimising any delays. Forthe CFMU, the data also allow moreaccurate traffic prediction and thereforemore efficient management of the ATMnetwork.

Although Munich is the first airport tobecome operational with the CFMU, it isexpected that Zurich and Brussels willalso reach this status later this year whileother CDM airports will follow next year.

Airport CDM is seen as the mechanismto increasingly integrate airports intothe air traffic management network,and the exchanging of DPI messagesis essential for this integration to besuccessful.

The EUROCONTROL Airport CDMProgramme is already improving theoperational efficiency of a number ofEuropean airports, delivering benefitssuch as greater predictability andreduced taxi times by 10% on average.The fuel saving at Munich alone is €2.65million per annum (18,700 tonnes ofCO2). This is achieved by encouragingall the main airport partners to shareoperational data in a transparent way,often requiring cultural change, which inturn leads to enhanced deci-sion-making process-esand operationalefficiency coupledwith improved use ofairport resourcesand infra-structure. ■■

Enhancing airport efficiencyEUROCONTROL and Munich Airportcelebrate Airport CDM successOn 7 June 2007, Munich Airport became the first European airport to have fully implementedAirport Collaborative Decision-Making (CDM). This was an important event for all the key playersinvolved in this project, namely the EUROCONTROL Central Flow Management Unit (CFMU), theAirport CDM Project Team and the Airport Operations and Environment Division (AOE) as well asMunich Airport.

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FocusFocus

Focus

The EUROCONTROL Agency has forsome years now been developing andpromoting a performance-basedapproach in ATM. The Agency alsocontributes to the development of guid-ance material at the global ICAO level.A global approach is essential. Aviationis a global business and performanceareas such as safety, security and theenvironment require a globalapproach. At the same time, it is crucial

to ensure a consistent and globallyinteroperable performance-based tran-sition to the Global ATM OperationalConcept.

The Global ATM Operational Conceptdescribes how the global ATM systemshould look, for example in terms ofdesign and operations. One of the mainobjectives of the concept is to respondto performance needs, such as the

need for more capacity and the needfor higher flight efficiency, which hasalso an important environmental bene-fit. The most difficult part of any targetconcept is the transition to that con-cept. This is because it requires manytypes of coordinated changes andgood stakeholder cooperation.Changes often go hand in hand withrequired investments, for examplenew/updated avionics, for which thereshould be ample compensation interms of benefits. This is one of the rea-sons why the transition to theOperational Concept also needs to beperformance-driven.

The ICAO 11th Air NavigationConference held in 2003 endorsed theGlobal Concept, which has since beenthe official reference for the ICAORegions for their performance-basedATM evolution plans. The ICAO GlobalConcept is also the reference forEurope and in particular for the SESARProgramme. However, this referencerequires further Region-specific detailsin order to be of use for regional transi-tion programmes such as SESAR. TheSESAR Operational Concept adds thatlevel of detail and was developed aspart of the third milestone deliverable.

But how do we move from today’s ATMsystem to an ATM system compliantwith the Concept? In other words, howdoes performance-based transitionwork?

12

Focus

A performance-drivenapproach to air traffic management

For many years industries have been adopting performance-driven approaches in the management of their business. They have had to do so in order to avoid going out of business. This does not strictly apply to air traffic management(ATM). However, managing the performance of ATM is of crucial importance for the business of stakeholders makinguse of ATM, and not least for the benefit of the millions of passengers using air transport.

by Henk Hof, Strategy andPerformance Manager

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007

It all starts with a good understanding ofthe performance of the ATM system.This understanding includes knowledgeof the past and current performance butalso of the principles of how to measure,analyse and report on performance.Ideally one should be able to answerquestions such as "what is the currentsafety level?" and "what is the currentcapacity?" before planning transition tothe target concept. Understanding alsoincludes knowing how to set achievableperformance targets and how to selectthe best improvements in order to meetthese targets.

Performance-based transition is thestrategic part of performance manage-ment. It generally has a planning hori-zon of 20 years. Such a long planninghorizon is necessary because of thelong lead and implementation timesrequired for new performance improve-ments. For example, the development

and validation of new standards andalso agreement on new regulation takemany years. The short- and medium-term part of performance managementis focused on optimising the perform-ance of the existing system and thedeployment planning of existing per-formance improvements.

The EUROCONTROL Agency has con-tributed to the Performance BasedTransition Guidelines published byICAO. This document explains step bystep how to develop (for the first time) orupdate a performance-driven roadmapof operational improvements (perfor-mance improvements). The figurebelow illustrates the main steps.

This approach consists of three mainsteps and results in a new or updatedroadmap of improvement steps(changes) towards the future ATM sys-tem.

The objective of the first step is toagree and set the performance targets.Performance-based transition planningis a collaborative effort, which relies onproactive stakeholder participation andinvolvement. However, because of thesometimes different performancerequirements, it is not always possibleto achieve a result which is satisfactoryto everyone.

Setting performance targets starts witha good appreciation of the ATM com-munity expectations. These are high-level and not quantified statementssuch as “aviation should be safer” or“ATM should be cost-effective”. It is dif-ficult to plan a system on such a basis.It is therefore necessary to get intomore detail. This is provided by the per-formance objectives. An example of anenvironmental performance objective is“Noise emissions and their impacts areminimised as far as possible for each

13

What are the currentroadmaps and plans?

What are the Global ATMOperational Concept and

associated systemrequirements?

What are the availableoptions for operational

improvement?

What selection and sequenceof operational improvements

address current andanticipated performance gaps?

What are the resultingupdates to current

roadmaps and plans?

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

What is the current and planned ATM

performance?

What are theperformanceobjectives?

How do we measureperformance?

What are theperformance targets

What is the current levelof traffic and the expected

evolution in traffic?

What are the current and anticipated performance

gaps and their reasons?

6

9 10 11 12

7 8

2 3 5

4

What are theATM communityexpectations?

1

Performance-driven roadmap

Focus

flight.” There is still no quantitative infor-mation which is required for transitionplanning, but it zooms in on a specificarea.

Targets are by definition quantitative,timed and should be realistic, i.e.achievable. Before setting targets, it isnecessary to understand and definehow the achievement should be meas-ured. This may sound obvious andsimple, but it is the often overlooked“engine room” which is required forperformance management. Thisengine room consists of processesand systems for information and datacapture, statistical analysis andreporting. It provides the necessaryunderstanding of the past and currentperformance of the ATM system.Without such a basis, performancemanagement becomes a façaderather than the very useful tool which itshould be.

A target can for example be a noiselevel around an airport that should notbe exceeded, or a reduction in routecharges by a certain year, or a reduc-tion in safety incidents by a certainyear.

The second main step in the perform-ance-based approach is to identify anyperformance gaps. This requires agood understanding of the performanceof the ATM system and how that per-formance is expected to evolve on thebasis of the current improvement plans.The figure below illustrates an exampleof a performance gap (the expectedperformance exceeds the set targetwhich could for example be a maximumnoise level).

The timing of the performance gapdefines when a new improvementneeds to be available and needs todeliver performance benefit. It is evenmore important to understand what theimprovement should be.

The analysis of the performance gapand identification of the reasons for it isthe bridge to the next and third mainstep in the performance-based transi-tion approach. Not only should the rea-sons be understood, this understand-ing should also be shared amongstakeholders.

The third step is about finding the rightsolution and updating the roadmap.The starting point is the OperationalConcept, since the improvements needto be on the path towards the concept.The ICAO Global ATM Concept is usedas the global reference but is too gen-eral for regional and local transitionplanning. Consequently, regional tran-sition programmes, such as SESAR,have developed a more detailedOperational Concept. This Conceptrepresents the target for the foresee-able future.

14

Focus

A performance-drivenapproach to air traffic management

Performancemeasurement

Time (years)

Target

Expectedperformance

Performancegap

Performance gap

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007

The changes to the ATM system deliver-ing performance improvements arecalled the operational improvements.They are at the same time the transitionsteps towards the target operationalconcept. Examples of operationalimprovements are the reduction in verti-cal separation (RVSM) and the introduc-tion of continuous descent approaches(flight efficiency/environment).

In many cases, bringing about an oper-ational improvement requires new sys-tems to be implemented or existing onesto be updated, regulations, standardsand procedures to be developed/vali-dated, and training to be developed andgiven. These are called enablers. Byidentifying and analysing the enablersand assessing how long it takes to intro-duce them, an assessment can bemade of when the operational improve-ment can be implemented. It is also nec-essary to make an assessment of thecost of the improvement and to assesswhether the estimated costs are justifiedgiven the anticipated benefit.

Proof needs to be provided that theimprovement is a response to the per-formance gap (identified in step 2) andthat it provides the expected perform-ance. This proof is usually provided byvalidation/research activities. However,increasingly for long-term improve-ments, there will be uncertainties forexample as regards the performancebenefits of the improvement. This isnormal. Identifying the critical areas ofuncertainty is important and should beused to steer and focus research (theobjective of research is to reduceuncertainties).

There are 11 key performance areas(KPAs). The key ones are safety, capac-ity, cost-effectiveness, security and theenvironment. For each of these KPAs,performance objectives and targets

have to be set and improvements haveto be identified and developed to meetthe targets. The roadmap should includea complete set of operational improve-ments satisfying the requirement set inall selected key performance areas.

This sounds complex. On the other handit is important to make a start and tokeep things simple, for example byusing a limited set of objectives and tar-gets (those for which there is perform-ance information available) and to learn.In fact, performance-based transition isa continuous learning process.

Reaching agreement on operationalimprovements and the roadmap is chal-lenging, because different stakeholdergroups value performance in differentways. Transparency, good communica-tion and stakeholder participation aswell as good performance understand-ing are key to bringing parties togetherbehind the same strategic plan.

Developing or updating the strategicroadmap is an intensive task requiringbroad and frequent involvement ofstakeholders and therefore cannot becarried out on a regular basis.Moreover, stability is required, sincethe roadmap is used to steer and driveresearch and development work butalso activities such as standardisation,legislation, etc.

The typical period between roadmapupdates is about five years. However,this does not mean that in betweenupdates there is no need to maintain theinformation. On the contrary, maintain-ing the information (such as that derivedfrom performance review, validation,etc) is important in order to build on theprevious roadmap.

The Performance-Based TransitionGuideline document has been devel-oped with substantial Agency input andis based on the experience the Agencyhas gained over the years, for examplewith the development of the StrategicPerformance Framework. The sameexperience is currently being used inthe SESAR Programme which will deliv-er the European ATM Master Plan byMarch 2008. This will include aroadmap of improvements from today’sEuropean ATM system to a EuropeanATM system compliant with the SESARconcept. ■■

15

Transparency, goodcommunication and

stakeholder participationas well as good perform-ance understanding arekey to bringing parties

together behind the samestrategic plan.

Focus

It has however become increasinglyclear that the military ATM performanceframework needs to be much broaderand cover all the key performanceareas (KPAs) and indicators (KPIs)identified in current ATM develop-ments, more specifically the SingleEuropean Sky (SES), Single EuropeanSky ATM Research (SESAR) and theDynamic Management of EuropeanAirspace Network (DMEAN).

Furthermore, it is not only military per-formance but civil-military interfaceperformance that should be furtherdeveloped.

The recently created EUROCONTROLCivil-Military ATM CoordinationDirectorate has taken as a priority taskthe development of a coherent militaryand civil-military ATM performanceframework, covering all the perform-ance areas in line with the SES, SESARand DMEAN performance framework.

Current status

Performance will be a major driver inATM. Within the scope of current pro-grammes the definition of KPAs and

KPIs is particularly important as theywill tailor the future ATM system.

The figures 1 and 2 illustrate the differ-ent clusters of KPAs and correspon-ding KPIs in the SES and SESAR.

Example of civil-military KPI

In the short and medium term, the per-formance of the FUA implementationwill be one of the main objectives forairspace-related civil-military KPIs.

In the framework of DMEAN, the use ofairspace (Conditional Routes – CDRusage) released by the military hasbeen identified as a key civil-militaryperformance indicator.

This is an important KPI to actuallyassess the performance of FUA, andshould be coupled with the military KPI‘Release of airspace before schedule’.

‘Release of airspace before schedule’will give an indication of the ability ofthe military units to release airspace

which was booked but not used forwhatever reason, e.g. mission cancel-lation due to weather. However, thisinformation per se does not mean toomuch if it is not accompanied by thecorresponding civil-military KPI ‘Use ofairspace released by military’. It is thecombination of this pair that will providethe necessary information for an appro-priate assessment of FUA perform-ance.

In a similar way in other areas such asinteroperability, safety, security, etc.,we can identify pairs of civil-militaryKPIs, which combined together willgive us a valuable indication of civil-mil-itary interface performance.

The vision

EUROCONTROL is a civil-militaryorganisation. The development andimplementation of a coherent set ofcivil-military KPIs will greatly facilitatethe achievement of EUROCONTROL'sstrategic objectives and SESAR devel-opments.

ICAO and EUROCONTROL StrategicObjectives should be seen as the mainbackground for KPA and KPI develop-ment. These objectives include interalia national security, national and inter-national defence requirements, air-space security and ATM security.Notwithstanding the fact that in allthese areas the military play a key role,the main aspect to highlight is thestrong need for robust civil-militarycooperation and coordination to beable to fulfil the strategic objectives.

The EUROCONTROL Agency is fullycommitted to supporting military organ-isations and States to enhance the civil-military interface through the develop-ment of a coherent civil-military ATMperformance framework.

16

Focus

The civil-militaryATM performance framework

by AntonioNogueras,Directorate ofCivil-Military ATMCoordination

A first set of military key performance indicators (MKPIs) wasdeveloped in 2005 in relation to the implementation of theFlexible Use of Airspace (FUA) concept. It was limited to theuse of segregated airspace for training.

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007

Military organisations have shownthemselves to be cooperative andtransparent when providing data tomeasure KPIs. The EUROCONTROLPerformance Review Report 2006 hasdedicated a chapter to the civil-mili-tary use of airspace, where the provi-sion of data by military organisationswas a fundamental step. The EURO-CONTROL Directorate of Civil-MilitaryATM Coordination (DCMAC) isencouraging military organisations tobe fully transparent and open with

regard to provision of performancedata, as the best way to overcomeformer concerns and enhance confi-dence and partnership.

DCMAC in close cooperation with mil-itary organisations and other EURO-CONTROL units will progress a civil-military ATM performance framework.A first draft document has beendeveloped and the consultationprocess in under way. The initialbroad support received so far sug-

gests we should be optimistic regard-ing the way forward for this initiative.

The objective of the document is toenhance civil-military cooperationand coordination through the devel-opment of the civil-military and mili-tary performance framework address-ing all areas and indicators wherecivil-military cooperation can beimproved.

Another initiative in close cooperationwith the EUROCONTROL Perfor-mance Review Unit (PRU) is the pro-vision of an annual report on civil-military ATM performance. This isconsidered to be a fundamental itemof information for ATM managers andplanners, since it will constitute a veryvaluable benchmark for furtherimprovements.

Conclusion

Future ATM will be performance-dri-ven. Successful implementation ofwell-defined civil-military and militaryKPAs/KPIs will significantly facilitateenhanced levels of civil-military coop-eration and therefore support theimplementation of the SES.

The military community is in theprocess of aligning its performanceframework to ongoing pan-EuropeanATM initiatives. Appropriate KPAs,KPIs, performance targets and meas-urements are being defined in linewith developments in SES, SESARand DMEAN and user needs.

Transparency and openness in theprovision of data for performancemeasurement will not only result inreliable KPIs but even more impor-tantly will also enhance mutual confi-dence and trust among all the ATMactors. ■■

17

SESAR: Grouping of KPAsHigh VisibilityEffects are societal

and of a political natureMedium Visibility

Effects on business level,users and operators

Low VisibilityNot of direct interest

to airspace user customers

Cost-effectiveness+

Capacity+

Efficiency+

Flexibility+

Predictability

Safety+

Security+

Environmentalsustainability

Access and equity+

Participation+

Interoperability

Societaloutcome Operational

performance Performanceenablers

SES: Grouping of KPAs

Safety

OverallEfficiency

Cost-effectiveness Quality of service

(efficiency, predictability and

flexibility) Capacity

Access and equity Environment

Participation by theATM community

ATM security

Other KPAs

Figure 1: KPAs and KPIs within SES

Figure 2: KPAs and KPIs within SESAR

Passengers, the ultimate consumers ofthe ATM product, have a right to infor-mation about the service they are get-ting, and a right to be assured that itsquality is measurable against definedsafety parameters they can trust. Theindependent Performance ReviewCommission (PRC) has been providingthis kind of information annually sinceits first report on calendar year 1998,but although it is valued within theindustry for identifying benchmarksand raising standards, its work –despite being freely available onEUROCONTROL’s website – has notdemystified ATM for the general public.Providing transparency may be one ofthe PRC’s tasks, but public relations isnot. It just provides the performancefigures and lets them do the talking.

Keith Williams is the outgoing Chairmanof the PRC. He is a veteran of 43 yearsin the ATC business. He started hiscareer as an air traffic controller and

has chaired the PRC for the last fouryears. But first, a little historical contextabout the PRC: in 1997 the EuropeanCivil Aviation Conference (ECAC)States decided that an independentperformance review system should beset up to report on ATM performanceacross the whole ECAC area. Its pur-pose was – and remains – "to ensurethe effective management of theEuropean ATM system through astrong, transparent, and independentperformance review and target-settingsystem".

In 1999, one year after it was set up, thePRC produced its first report aboutEuropean ATM performance in the pre-vious calendar year. It covered threekey performance areas (KPA): safety,delays and cost-effectiveness. In Maythis year, the PRC published its 10threport, covering ATM performanceacross Europe in 2006 (PRR 2006), witha new key performance area (KPA)called “flight efficiency”. Put simply,this involves a comparison of how faran aircraft flies and how long its journeytakes compared to the minimum dis-tance and time between the point of ori-gin and destination. One vignette of rel-evant information from the report: thePRR 2006 reports that the averageintra-European flight travels 5.9% fur-ther than the distance between terminalareas. This indicates a potential areafor improving the industry’s environ-mental effectiveness, points outWilliams.

Backing up the 12 members of the PRCare the ten permanent employees ofthe Performance Review Unit (PRU).The PRU gathers data and, in additionto the annual PRRs, helps the PRC pro-duce specialist reports like the annualbenchmarking reports on air navigationservice providers’ cost-effectiveness,and on other subjects like the effect of

the Single European Sky (SES) initiativeon ATM performance.

So after ten PRC reports, why is ATM inEurope still little understood outside theindustry? The reports are there – inplain language – on the web. The datahas been publicly available for nineyears.

Sheer system complexity, rather thanlack of transparency, appears to be thereason. Despite years of work byEUROCONTROL and ECAC, anddespite the Single European Sky initia-tive, European ATM is not an entity. It isa gradually converging cooperative ofnational organisations which may beoperating in a far more harmonisedway than they used to not long ago, but it is still a long way from itsdeclared, fully integrated destination.Revealingly, one of the recent PRCreports is entitled: “Report on theimpact of fragmentation in EuropeanATM/CNS” (communication, navigationand surveillance).

Consequently the total system is lessefficient than it could be, and nationalstandards still vary considerably, asPRR 2006 confirms. Williams points outthat there are still 24 national aviationauthorities (NAAs) and 19 air naviga-tion service providers (ANSPs) per-forming below the KPA minimum target

18

ATM performanceand credibility

From the passenger point of view,the most impenetrable component of

air travel is air traffic control.Aeroplanes and airports are tangible:

people experience them directly and understand what they aredesigned to do, but air traffic

management (ATM) is invisible, complex and mysterious.

by DavidLearmount, Operations andSafety Editor, Flight International

IndependentPlatformIndependent Platform

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007 19

levels for safety management and reg-ulatory maturity, and the deadline forachieving the set objectives is the endof 2008. Fortunately for most Europeantravellers, Williams emphasises, theANSPs that have reached the expectedstandards are those that handle themajority of Europe’s passenger traffic:about 75% of it, in fact.

Efficiency and cost-effectiveness maynot be perfect, Williams admits, but it isgetting measurably better. He alsopoints out that it is difficult to prove thePRC’s work has been the motivatingcause for improvement, but EuropeanATM cost-effectiveness measured ineuros per kilometre flown began toimprove in 2003 having previouslybeen almost level for more than fifteenyears. Since then it has not only contin-ued to improve annually, but the pro-jections forecast further efficiencygains nearly meeting the target rate of3% a year. He adds: “We do believethat we are having a fair amount ofinfluence.”

Williams explains some of the changes:“Many of the ANSPs are seriously inter-ested in benchmarking. That’s a verypowerful thing. I have seen a change inmy four years at the PRC. I think whatwe are seeing is that many of theANSPs now have chief executives thathave come from outside industries –

plus those like me that have come upfrom the grass roots – who understandwhat running a business is about. Theyunderstand the importance of a rela-tionship with their customers.” Hepoints out that the airlines, through theiruser associations, are able to use theinformation provided by the PRC. “Thatis good,” he remarks. He also express-es confidence that the EuropeanCommission will use PRC data to applypressure on national agencies toensure targets are met.

On safety concerns – given that thesystem is not starting from a state thatcould remotely have been describedas dangerous – Williams remarks:“Some progress has been made, butnot enough.” He explains: “One of thethings that surprised me when I tookthis job four years ago was a lack inmany of the ANSPs of safety manage-ment system (SMS) processes. ManyStates just didn’t have an incidentreporting process at all. A fair amountof progress has been made, but it’s stillan area that concerns me.” He pointsout that it is not a problem that alwaysoriginates with individual ANSPs ortheir managements, explaining: “Thereare still some States that have legisla-tion which actually discourages air traf-fic controllers from filling in incidentreports. This just does not make anysense at all.”

The report on 2006 says: “Incidentreporting has improved considerablysince 2001, which gives better visibilityon ATM safety issues and more oppor-tunity to prevent accidents. However,incident reporting is inadequate in anumber of States.” But contrast thatwith an extract from the PRR 1998: inthat year, 14 States said they had areporting system, one declared it didnot, and ten gave no response to thePRC’s enquiry. In the same report, thePRC observed: “Reviews of EuropeanATM performance in terms of safety arepresently severely constrained by theunavailability of data, the absence ofharmonised definitions for categories ofincidents beyond those defined byICAO, and the inconsistencies in theapplication of those definitions that areavailable. Levels of reporting also differwidely, preventing the ECAC-wideaggregation of figures, and the entireprocess is made more complex by con-fidentiality issues.”

The improvement is evident, even ifthere is still a long way to go.Meanwhile Williams is adamant aboutthe PRC’s independence. “We don’t gorepresenting States. We take with usthe experience of our life in ATM andinterpret the data provided by our tenfull-time colleagues in the PRU.” Okay,but do people in the business put pres-sure on you? “Inevitably organisationsput pressure on you, but I think wehave maintained our independence. Iam pretty confident of that. To be fair toVictor Aguado [the Director General ofEUROCONTROL] he will express apoint of view, but he has never tried totell me what to say. I respect him forthat.” ■■

IndependentPlatform

In September 2004 CANSO and theEuropean Transport WorkersFederation (ETF) hosted a joint confer-ence on Functional Airspace Blocks(FABs). This conference broughttogether 150 participants representingair navigation service providers, thetrade unions and professional organi-sations. Since then, FABs havebecome the keystone of the SingleEuropean Sky (SES) initiative. Theysometimes seem to be the only elementof the initiative. The EuropeanCommission and the airlines, however,complain of a lack of progress. Yet oneglance at the Joint Report on FABspublished by the social partners willperhaps tell you why progress hasbeen slower than some may haveexpected.

Air traffic management is a sector ofaviation in which employers andemployees are committed to the suc-cess of the SES and in which social dia-logue has a powerful influence on anystructural changes that the industry willundergo. Following on from the suc-cessful Palermo Conference in 2004,the social partners carried out a jointstudy to explore the issues of FABs.That study was presented to theEuropean Commission and Parliamentin February 2007.

One size does not fit all

The study concluded that one FABmodel does not fit all the circumstances

that exist across Europe. This fits in withthe initial work done by a number ofStates, trade unions and serviceproviders. So far, no one has come upwith a definitive blueprint for an FAB.What does an FAB mean? FABs are ofcourse much more than airspacedesign projects. The creation of FABswill clearly involve complex processes,requiring a phased and step-by-stepapproach, with associated outputsidentified, and added-value to beassessed and confirmed throughout.

The joint study also identified that allstakeholders had to be included in theprocess. It is vital that airlines, the mili-tary and States are involved. Early con-sultation between the social partnersand involvement in the decision-makingprocess is central to the development ofFABs. The "bottom-up approach"implies that service providers have theright and obligation of initiative with theappropriate involvement of staff andusers (civil and military) from the begin-ning of the process. Air navigation serv-ice providers and their respectiveemployee representatives should agreeconsultative arrangements that providefor involvement at such a stage thatinfluence over the decision-makingprocess is ensured.

If States are taking the initiative, then itis equally important that they developproper consultation arrangements. It isunacceptable for Member States simplyto come along and tell the serviceproviders and their employees that theyare launching an FAB. If FABs are tobring the additional capacity that isrequired, then staff and all other stake-holders must actively support theprocess.

The report recognised that FABs couldlead to changes in conditions ofemployment. Where the implementa-tion of an FAB could in principle lead toa significant change in the roles and/orlocations of workers in more than onecountry, the social partners will consid-er how to handle the resulting socialimpact. If major change is going toimpact on staff, then the appropriatenegotiating machinery has to be put inplace to deal with these changes. Thisincludes the creation of cross-bordernegotiating forums involving all unions.

The joint report has identified five dif-ferent phases of development: initia-tion, feasibility, planning, decision andimplementation. Each of these phasesrequires a different approach to con-sultation. In many cases, this willinvolve various partners and thereforedifferent consultation arrangements.Each of these phases will take time. Itis vitally important that all the stake-holders buy into the change if we areto develop capacity.

The report also recognised that there isno legal requirement in the Single Skyregulations for FABs to address con-solidation of service provision.

Furthermore, it is widely recognisedthat an FAB does not require the con-centration of all air navigation servicesfunctions at one site. Several area con-trol centres (ACCs) of several serviceproviders can contribute to one FAB. Ifstaff are to continue to support theSES, then we need some acceptancethat they simply cannot be treated ascommodities that can be shippedaround Europe at the whim of anemployer.

20

Independent Platform

Social partners point the wayon functional airspace blocksReport by the Social Dialogue ATM Work Group on the implications of FABs

by Laurence King,Deputy President of the Joint AirTraffic Management Working Group(JATMWG) of the European TransportWorkers Federation (ETF)

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007

FABs are much more than airspacedesign concepts and may encompassenhanced cross-border cooperationwhich would have to deal with a num-ber of issues, safety and performancemanagement, air traffic flow capacitymanagement (ATFCM), flexible use ofairspace (FUA) and functional integra-tion to name but a few. In creatingFABs, we must have plans in place onthese issues:

■ civil/military cooperation and jointplanning;

■ common planning and design crite-ria for airspace and sectorisation;

■ human resources management andtraining;

■ legal liability.

Social dialogue will bethe key to success

Social dialogue will be the key to suc-cess. The service providers areaddressing FAB implementation withtheir staff representatives. The chal-lenge is to encourage a cost-consciousculture and to optimise resources. Airnavigation service providers know besthow to find the most appropriate way tolead their staff through change and tokeep them motivated in order to copewith traffic growth.

The social partners also accepted thataccelerated implementation can beobtained with public funding andincentives. The ATM social partnerscertainly agree that public funding canbe necessary to accelerate implemen-tation. Also, the idea of incentives couldbe considered in order to positivelyinfluence cooperation, but we in thetrade unions remain unconvinced that

incentives are the best measure forservice providers.

The complexity of the transition processand related costs is generally underestimated

The ATM social partners feel that airlinerepresentatives and political decision-makers do not fully appreciate the com-plexity and timeframe of FAB projects,for example in terms of the internationalagreements and sovereignty/liabilityissues that are necessary for the imple-mentation of FABs.

Forced consolidation models for FABimplementation are not supported by theATM social partners. The "top-downapproach" of 4-5 FABs for Europe basedon theoretical studies is not supportedby the ATM social partners. We believethat resistance to this type of approachshould not be underestimated.

The idea of a single service providerfor Europe, as suggested in some dis-cussions, is not supported either.Analysis of such a solution providesno serious evidence that it wouldenhance safety and/or cost-effective-ness. In addition, there is no legalrequirement in the Single Sky regula-tions demanding consolidation ofservice provision.

Performance measurements are sup-ported by the ATM social partners oncost-effectiveness and safety. TheATM social partners support the workof the PRC/PRU on the measurementof cost-effectiveness. The ATM socialpartners will also support performance

measurement on safety data, oncethat process and methodology havebeen agreed.

Improvements in safetyare a must

FABs will also need to see a newapproach to a "just culture" in theEuropean Single Sky. Ensuring safetyhas to be our top priority and improv-ing reporting systems is key to improv-ing safety as traffic grows. The reportidentified four main barriers to creat-ing a better reporting culture in ATM.Firstly, national laws in some MemberStates prohibit adequate legal protec-tion for occurrence reporting.Secondly, there is no EU requirementon Member States to set up voluntaryreporting systems which protect thereporter. Thirdly, there is a lack ofunderstanding of what we mean by ajust culture on the part of judicialauthorities and the wider public.Finally, there is a lack of trust betweenstaff and management at some serv-ice providers. All of these barriersmust be overcome if we are to bringabout the improvement in safety that isrequired.

This report is not a blueprint for FABs.What it does do is examine some ofthe problems associated with the cre-ation of FABs and also come up withsome solutions. It is the best attemptso far at establishing the key process-es for developing successful FABs. Itsmain conclusion, however, is that it isonly through dialogue and consulta-tion, particularly with staff, that FABscan successfully be created. This is aconclusion which should not beignored by Europe's rule-makers. ■■

21

Laurence King is an air traffic controller based at the Manchester Area ControlCentre in the UK. He also spent 12 years at the Scottish and Oceanic Area Control Centre inPrestwick. He has been active as a lay trade union representative in the UK and participatedin particular in the debates on the privatisation of air traffic control. He is currently theDeputy President of the Joint Air Traffic Management Working Group (JATMWG) of theEuropean Transport Workers Federation (ETF), and will succeed Jean-Pierre Etienne asPresident during the summer. He co-chaired the Sub-Group Gonsultation on FABs between thesocial partners.

StakeholderForum

The total economic cost to airspaceusers (including charges, delays andflight inefficiencies) in 2005 wasaround €9.4 billion per annum, but thiscould be reduced by €3.4 billion if thesystem operated more efficiently.

As stated by the EUROCONTROLPerformance Review Commission(PRC) in its last report (PRR 2006)cost-effectiveness of the EuropeanATM system is a major performanceissue: there is evidence that cost-effectiveness could be greatlyimproved by increasing productivity,

reducing fragmentation and supportcosts, and effectively managingemployment costs.

The direct costs of inefficiencies as aresult of low productivity and high support costs were approx. €2 billionin 2005, and en-route inefficienciesresult in an estimated additional costof €1.4 billion per year. These ineffi-ciencies also have a direct negativeimpact on the environment1, given theincreased level of emissions pro-duced. (according to PRR 2006, 4.7million tons of CO2 per annum).

For European operators it is essentialto rebalance the aviation value chainby improving the efficiency of the ATM

infrastructure, and this is also animportant pillar of the industry's emis-sions containment policy. AEA is thevoice of 31 European airlines. In 2004,AEA published an action plan to pur-sue such objectives; one of the mostimportant elements of this action planis improving the efficiency of theEuropean ATM system.

Days of change

This need for change is not onlyrecognised by the airspace users –the European institutions too areactively tackling the need for a structural reform. The EuropeanCommission is developing a new ATMregulatory framework through theSingle European Sky (SES) legislationand SESAR development, which havecreated the momentum for a majorchange in the current ATM systemtowards achieving a Single EuropeanATM system from an operational andtechnological point of view.

SESAR was launched to develop thetechnical/operational complement toSingle European Sky and constitutes anew approach to reforming the ATMinfrastructure in Europe, derivingmany performance and operationalbenefits. However, SESAR alone is notsufficient; airlines cannot wait until2020 to realise the full benefits of aSingle European Sky. In addition, thetransitional costs of moving to the new,more beneficial end-system areexpected to be very high. This couldjeopardise the implementation ofSESAR, and therefore, there will be aneed for substantial EU public fundingfor it. In this context, airlines, as cus-tomers of the system, should pay onlyfor services received, and should notbe prefinancing investments and tech-nology development.

22

Stakeholder Forum

Air traffic management performance:AEA’s point of view

The inefficiencies of the current European air traffic management (ATM) system are well documented in thePerformance Review Commission reports: low productivity,cost-inefficiencies and fragmented services are the causes of the performance shortfall of the European system.

1- On the subjectof aviation's envi-ronmental perfor-mance, readersare invited to visit www.enviro.aero, a global cross-industry initiativeproviding infor-mation on thesteps taken by thecommercial avia-tion industry tolimit its impact onthe environment.

by Vincent De Vroey, General Manager, Technical and Operations, Association of European Airlines (AEA)

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007

AEA's vision

The airlines want a single Europeansky, with less fragmentation, more flex-ibility and overall efficiency. It shouldconsist of a minimum number ofFunctional Airspace Blocks (FABs)based not on national borders but ontraffic flow requirements, capacity andcost-efficiency, each managed by oneauthority. FABs need to be developedaccording to operational needs butalso take account of safety, airspacecapacity, cost-reduction objectives andenvironmental improvements throughincreased flight efficiency. Achie-vement of this objective requires politi-cal commitment and monitoring at thehighest level.

Changing the governance of air trafficmanagement in Europe is essential toremoving the current inefficiencies andshould ensure maximum control by theairlines, as the clients of ATM services.It is AEA’s opinion that the provision ofair navigation services should be theobject of strong economic regulation atEuropean level and that non-core ancil-lary ATM services should be hived offfrom the core air traffic control serviceand be subject to full competition, sothat the end-users can choose theirprovider.

EUROCONTROL has gained a lot ofknow-how and expertise over theyears, and is a very valuable resourcethat should continue to deliver expert-ise to the EU, through the SESAR JointUndertaking (JU) and the Single Sky

Committee. The EUROCONTROLAgency should also ensure that itbecomes more cost-efficient as its owncontribution to the cost-efficiency of theEuropean ATM system.

In conclusion

The current European ATM system ishighly inefficient, costing the airspaceusers around €3.4 billion per year.Therefore a major restructuring of thesystem must be undertaken in order torebalance the whole aviation valuechain. SES and SESAR are the maindrivers for this change, but the benefitswill materialise in the long term and thecosts of the implementation are expect-ed to be very high.

For this reason, some quick-winsshould be pursued in the short term,such as the hiving off of the ancillaryservices, economic regulation of airnavigation service provision, and a fun-damental reform of the ATM gover-nance structures. All these initiativesshould support the successful (fullyoperational) implementation of theFABs. ■■

23

News

The Danish air navigation servicesprovider Naviair is soon to implementits new ATM system.

Denmark will have anew ATM systemincluding a newcontrol tower atCopenhagen airportby the end of 2007.This development isthe result of theimplementation ofthe modernisationprogramme knownas CASIMO, con-sisting of more than50 different integrat-ed projects.

In view of the certification of the Danish airnavigation service provider Naviair by theNational Supervisory Authority this year, thesafety case for CASIMO will be based on thelatest guidance material produced by EURO-CONTROL.

In this context, EUROCONTROL and Naviairhave recently concluded an agreementwhereby the EUROCONTROL Agency willsupport the development of the safety caseand take part in the related quality assurance.This project is managed by the StakeholderImplementation Services Division and will becarried out by experts (Mr Patrick Mana andMr Jean-Michel de Rede) from the Safety,Security and Human Factors Division.

The future developments of the CASIMO ATMsystem will take place within the frame of the“COOPANS cooperation” between the north-ern European air navigation service providersLFV Group, IAA and Naviair, and the supplierof the main ATC system Thales ATM. ■■

The CASIMOProgramme

Review

This is an improvement initiated withinthe Dynamic Management of theEuropean Airspace Network Pro-gramme, known as DMEAN. It coverstechnical integration issues as well asenhanced processes for improvedinformation-sharing between all part-ners.

Born under the DMEANumbrella

The concept of the NOP, proposed inthe DMEAN Master Plan, is a responseto ATM long-standing issues, such as

In advance of each AIRAC date,updates are published as news itemsdisplayed on the NOP website home-page for:

■ special events■ significant military exercises■ short-term airspace improvement

synopsis of the Route NetworkDevelopment Sub-Group;

■ area control centre updates.

Some sections have received extendedcontributions, such as the military exer-cises.

The General ATFM measures and toolssection has been updated, and nowfeatures new web-training packages,ASM/ATFCM trials evolutions and oper-ational improvements.

Preparing for the 2008 NOP portal

CFMU has initiated three concurrentsub-projects to prepare for a majorchange for the 2008 NOP summer edi-tion: the implementation of a networkoperations portal accessible to thewhole ATFM community.

Extended collaboration with the NOP contributorsThe intention is to strengthen andimprove the cooperation arrangementscurrently in place with NOP contributors.Flow Management Positions (FMPs) and

24

Review

the fragmentation ofinformation, the

lack of a clear anduser-friendly dis-

play of the air-space and air

traffic flow and managementsituation, the lack of a common

view on ATM partners decisions, andthe poor use of short-notice updates,leading to a lack of reactivity and flex-ibility.

Against this background, the NOPrepresents a consolidated set ofairspace, flow and capacity plans,including the outcome of demandand capacity balancing inadvance of the day of opera-tions, and reflects the updated

pan-European network situation. Itis progressively refined from thestrategic phase up to the real-timeoperations.

2007 edition: web enhancements andregular updates

The NOP 2007 edition now benefitsfrom a web edition with improved navi-gation by topic and search facility, andthe possibility of retrieving area controlcentres via a map. Furthermore, allupdates are posted immediately on thehomepage of the NOP website. Thedocument style has also beenimproved for better readability.

On 13 April 2007, the EUROCONTROL Central FlowManagement Unit issued the third release of the Network

Operations Plan (NOP) document, representing the consolidated view of all ATM partners’ plans across

Europe for the following season.

Network Operations Plan 2007 edition: preparing for major changes in 2008

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007

air navigation service providers’ ATCFMmanagers will be provided with the initialinput elements of the NOP (previousATFCM reports, ATM Network CapacityPlan, STATFOR forecasts, etc.) at anearly stage in the planning process. Allupdates to these documents will also beprovided as soon as they are available.A shared space for downloading previ-ous information and uploading draftcontributions will also be provided.

The role of the FMP regional meetingsas a critical input and validation of theNOP content will be strengthened, aswill the role of the Meeting of Directorsof Operations preceding publication. Asimilar process will gradually be devel-oped for the airport and military exer-cise domains with the appropriate part-ners.

NOP portal mock-up for stakeholder consultationThe NOP portal will be the main vehicleof ATM operations planning, comple-menting the current operational sys-tems. It is therefore essential that allstakeholders' needs be taken intoaccount in its development.

The Operational Coordination Sub-Group, in charge of operations anddevelopment (ODSG), has nominated a

group of experts to participate in thisconsultation process which is to takeplace in summer and autumn 2007. TheCFMU will provide a mock-up of thefuture portal layout, to assist the collec-tion of requirements.

For the NOP portal first edition (spring2008), the components will mostly beextracted from the current CFMU oper-ations website, the CIA application andthe NOP document.

Portal integration with the CFMU systemsThe objective is to close the gapbetween the network operations plan-ning and the tactical operationsthrough technical integration. The tech-nical project supporting the develop-ment of the NOP portal is quite complexowing to the multiplicity of the compo-nents to be integrated. In addition tothe implementation of a new portalinfrastructure (so called “portal accesslayer”) and the integration of existingcontents, the CFMU access manage-ment will also be reviewed, and gradu-ally the back-end applications will beadapted in order to provide compo-nents for timely integration into theNOP.

More ambitions for the future

With the summer 2008 edition of theNOP portal, the CFMU will provide amajor contribution to the DMEAN short-term objectives. This will optimise thedaily efficiency of all the ATFCM play-ers involved in planning and monitoringactivities, by improving the ergonomicsof the ATFCM communication. It willalso provide timely access to livinginformation across the whole ATFCMcycle.

In the years to come, through incre-mental evolutions, the portal is expect-ed to provide tangible support for theimplementation of the future collabora-tion workflows which will be designedto address future ATFCM challenges.In that sense, it can be considered asone of the essential building blocks thatwill pave the way for the future SESARimplementation. ■■

www.cfmu.eurocontrol.int/cfmu/nop

25

The summer 2008 edition of the NOP portalwill optimise the daily efficiency of all the ATFCM playersinvolved in planning and monitoring activities.

Datelines

The Worldwide Symposium onPerformance of the Air NavigationSystem (SPANS) attracted more than250 regulators, air navigation servicesproviders, airport operators, airspaceusers and other interested parties fora focused discussion on the perform-ance of the world’s air navigation sys-tem.

The meeting was an opportunity forthe world aviation community toupdate itself on the migration from atechnology-driven to a performance-based air navigation system. It also

set the stage for further discussions onthe overall topic of air navigation at the36th Session of the ICAO Assembly,from 18 to 28 September in Montreal.

Mr Roberto Kobeh González,President of the Council of ICAO, setthe tone for the five-day event by sug-gesting in his opening remarks thatthe emphasis now placed on perform-ance was a direct result of the growingreality of privatised air navigation serv-ices and the ensuing pressure forgreater accountability. He empha-sised that the aviation community

should respond accordinglywhen designing, planning,implementing and operatingthe global air navigation sys-tem.

“The answer lies in the GlobalAir Traffic Management

Operational Concept endorsed by theEleventh Air Navigation Conference(AN-Conf/11) of 2003. For the first timeand under the auspices of ICAO,stakeholders of the world aviationcommunity jointly formulated at theConference a vision for an integratedand globally harmonised air trafficmanagement (ATM) system, with aplanning horizon up to and beyond theyear 2025,” said Mr Kobeh González.

He added that “an interoperable glob-al ATM system would apply to all usersduring all phases of flight and meet

agreed levels of safety (…), providefor optimum economic operations, beenvironmentally sustainable and meetnational security requirements. Inshort, the Operational Concept out-lines a total system performanceframework to achieve defined require-ments.”

Along those lines, the Symposium wasconsidered to be one of the most sub-stantive air navigation gatherings inmany years.

The need to meet the expectations ofthe ATM community when designing,implementing and operating the ATMsystem, was strongly endorsed. Theseexpectations included safety, efficien-cy, access and equity, capacity, glob-al interoperability, cost-effectiveness,security and protection of the environ-ment.

26

Datelines

The ICAO Worldwide Symposium on Performance of the Air Navigation System

An epoch-making Symposium on Performance was held at ICAO’s Headquarters inMontreal from 26 to 30 March 2007. Its key objective was “to create awareness amonggovernment policy makers and regulators, air navigation service providers, airport operators and airspace users of the need to create a performance network for the purpose of enhancing safety and efficiency in the air navigation system”.

Roberto Kobeh González, President of the Council of ICAO:Ensuring the viability of the air navigationsystem of the future.

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007

SPANS was an event that wasdesigned to differ in structure andintent from traditional ICAO meetings inthat it was not asked to produce con-clusions and recommendations.Rather, it was thought of as a naturalfollow-up to the benchmarking resultsof AN-Conf/11, while taking intoaccount significant and more recentdevelopments such as the revision tothe Global Air Navigation Plan accept-ed by the Council of ICAO in November2006.

Originally entitled Global Air NavigationPlan for CNS/ATM Systems, the revisedPlan is based on the recommendationsof AN-Conf/11 and two related industryroadmaps created following theConference. In essence, it is part of anintegrated set of tools and guidancematerial, which includes the GlobalATM Operational Concept, ATM

Performance was addressed from sever-al perspectives: safety, economic andmanagement, operational/infrastructureand technical.

The European input, through work donein ICAO Panels, briefings and presenta-tions, stood out from the rest. Prior coor-dination and preparation done at a well-attended meeting on 5 February 2007,organised jointly by EUROCONTROLand the European Commission, strength-ened this contribution, avoided duplica-tion and ensured consistency.

The topics of the Symposium coveredimportant aspects of work programmesof the EUROCONTROL Agency, notablythose relating to European Air TrafficManagement, the Performance ReviewCommission and the Safety RegulationCommission. Besides this, the Agency –in close collaboration with stakeholders –also made contributions on ICAO work-ing arrangements, such as the ATMRequirements and Performance Panel(ATMRPP) and the Air NavigationServices Economics Panel (ANSEP).

Recognising the importance of thisevent, EUROCONTROL dedicated

considerable resources to it – deliveringone keynote speech, giving five techni-cal presentations and providing theSymposium with two moderators. KeithWilliams, Chair of the PerformanceReview Commission, made his presen-tation, which had been fully coordinatedwith the Agency.

Víctor Aguado, Director General ofEUROCONTROL, pointed out in hisopening keynote speech that theEuropean air traffic management systemhas benefited from a systematic conti-nent-wide performance measurementand review system. He noted that suchan experience could usefully be devel-oped on a global level. Performancemanagement, he observed, has meantevolving from a national level to a moreregional level. While the system used inEurope was designed to deal with thatcontinent’s own complex circum-stances, some of its features could wellbe of interest to other parts of the world.By exchanging information on theirexperiences, all regions could have theopportunity to raise their performancelevels, he concluded.

Bo Redeborn, EUROCONTROL’sDirector of ATM Strategies, gave a com-

27

26-30 March 2007MontrealCanada

EUROCONTROL’s input

From left:Roberto KobehGonzález, President of theCouncil of ICAOand Víctor M. Aguado, Director General of EUROCONTROL

Datelines

Systems Requirements andPerformance-Based TransitionGuidelines that will guide the imple-mentation of CNS/ATM systems andusher in the global ATM system envi-sioned in the operational concept.

ICAO has integrated this work into itsnew Business Plan, which stresses theimplementation of harmonised air traf-fic management systems and perform-ance-based efficiency improvements,as well as increased functional inte-gration between ICAO Headquartersand Regional Offices. Through innova-tive methods, the Global Plan will facil-itate the planning and implementationof important operational developmentsthat have taken place in recent years,particularly with regard to aircraftcapabilities. It will also ensure thatopportunities that have emerged astechnologies have matured, asresearch and trials have been suc-cessfully concluded, and as proce-dures and specifications have beenfinalised, are fully exploited.

Associated guidance and interactiveplanning tools for States, regionalplanning groups and air navigationservices providers will be used toestablish performance objectives andimplementation time lines. The GlobalPlan will thus become the baseline formeasurable achievements as theglobal ATM system continues toevolve from systems-based to per-formance-based. States and regionswill be able to select initiatives tailoredto their particular needs in order tomeet agreed performance objectives.

Against this backdrop, SPANS partici-pants were able to enhance theirknowledge and comprehension oftechnical, organisational, economicand safety issues related to the imple-mentation of a performance-based air

navigation system. High-level presen-tations by numerous experts from civilaviation administrations, the industryand the ICAO Secretariat provided abroad range of views on key perform-ance implications, such as capacity,cost-effectiveness, efficiency, environ-mental impact, flexibility, global inter-operability, access and equity, partici-pation, predictability, safety and secu-rity.

Several objectives relating to the per-formance of the world’s air navigationsystem were identified during theSymposium, with a special focus onthe leadership of ICAO in the imple-mentation process. There was recog-nition of the essential role of theOrganisation in advancing work in theoperational, technical, safety and eco-nomic areas, as well as securing glob-al interoperability between major airnavigation initiatives.

Another dimension of the role of ICAOwill be to develop and promote mini-mum performance reporting require-ments for air navigation serviceproviders, develop a methodology for

measuring performance expectations,and develop guidance material onfacilitating collaborative decision-mak-ing. This will also entail acceleratingwork on performance-based naviga-tion (PBN). PBN provides for moredirect and precise flight paths,increased safety, reduced fuel burn,more efficient traffic flows andreduced ATC communications. In thisrespect, ICAO has cooperated withEUROCONTROL and the FederalAviation Administration in the UnitedStates on joint PBN familiarisationseminars to be conducted in all partsof the world.

Looking ahead, SPANS charted a wayforward for the aviation communityand, more specifically, the symposiumparticipants. This includes the imple-mentation of area navigation (RNAV)and required navigation performance(RNP) in accordance with the PBNconcept, integration of the ICAOGlobal Air Navigation Plan in perform-ance-based transition planning, coop-eration on establishing performanceindicators, use of ICAO-defined keyperformance areas for performance

28

Datelines

The ICAO Worldwide Symposiumon Performance of the Air Navigation System

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007

The participants were invited to:■ implement RNAV (area navigation)

and RNP (required navigation performance) in accordance with thePBN concepts;

■ use the Global Air Navigation Plan inperformance-based transition plan-ning;

■ collaborate on establishing perform-ance indicators;

■ measure and report on performance– this was specifically aimed atANSPs;

■ use ICAO KPAs for performancemanagement;

■ implement Safety programmes andestablish acceptable levels of safety– this was aimed at States;

■ use the global Aviation Safety Plan tomeet safety performance objectives.

ICAO indicated that economic aspectswould be further addressed at an ICAOConference on the Economics ofAirports and Air Navigation Services tobe held in the third quarter of 2008; itwould be preceded by a Symposium.

It is anticipated that the ICAO secretari-at will use the outcome of theSymposium to provide important mes-sages on ANS performance and itsfuture work programme at the 36thICAO Assembly, which will take placein Montreal on 18-28 September 2007.

In summary, EUROCONTROL’s coordi-nation and input at the ICAOPerformance Symposium was greatlyappreciated and our expertise andwork in progress universally recog-nised. In particular the prior coordina-tion meeting, organised jointly byEUROCONTROL and the EuropeanCommission, served to strengthenEurope’s input. The result was thatEurope’s overall credibility was height-ened and the region’s standing in civilaviation was enhanced. ■■

prehensive presentation on the plan-ning, implementation and monitoring ofthe ATM system’s performance: theEuropean experience and develop-ments in SESAR (the Single EuropeanSky ATM Research Programme).

Henk Hof, Manager of Strategy andPerformance, explained the essentialkey steps of performance-based transi-tion, and highlighted the elements ofoperational improvements and imple-mentation.Lex Hendriks, Deputy Director of ATMStrategies, gave two comprehensivepresentations on the work done on performance-based navigation (PBN),and underlined the need to acceleratePBN implementation on a global basis.

Finally, Peter Stastny, Head of the SafetyRegulation Unit, stressed in his presen-tation that above all safety should beensured in future developments.

In the closing session, the ICAOSecretariat summarised the Sympo-sium outcome as follows:ICAO should:■ advance the performance work in the

operational, technical, safety andeconomic areas;

■ secure global interoperability not onlybetween the two major air navigationinitiatives (SESAR and NexGen) inEurope and the United States butalso with all other regions;

■ develop and promote minimumreporting requirements for air naviga-tion service providers on perform-ance;

■ develop guidance to facilitate collab-orative decision-making;

■ develop a methodology to measurethe eleven key performance areas(KPAs);

■ accelerate PBN implementation;■ progress these issues with the rele-

vant ICAO governing bodies.

29

management, and application of theICAO Global Aviation Safety Plan(GASP) as a basis for meeting safetyperformance objectives.

More specifically, the need wasstressed for air navigation serviceproviders to measure and report onperformance, in accordance with safe-ty programmes and acceptable levelsof safety established by States. Fortheir part, service providers, aircraftoperators, aerodromes and mainte-nance organisations must put in placesafety management systems.

The President of the Council summedup the challenge facing the world avi-ation community in terms of the will-ingness and ability of all stakeholdersto work together.

“Ultimately, the successful implemen-tation of a global air navigation systemdepends on cooperation among allmembers of the civil aviation commu-nity and involves greater integration ofICAO Regional Offices and Head-quarters. ICAO is committed to meet-ing the operational expectations of allstakeholders. Together we have a for-midable task ahead of us: to ensurethe viability of the air navigation sys-tem of the future and its continuedcontribution to global economic devel-opment in a safe, secure and efficientmanner.”

Presentations made during SPANS areaccessible via the ICAO website: www.icao.int/icao/en/anb/meetings/perf2007 ■■

EUROCONTROL’s input

Datelines

The CFMU first became operational in1995, essentially allocating take-offslots to flights across the whole ofEurope, and imposing restrictionswhen traffic exceeded safe limits.However, over recent years it hasevolved and today the CFMU has akey role to play in bringing about agenuine Single European Sky.

Working closely with its stakeholders,the CFMU is responsible for optimis-ing the capacity available for air traf-fic control across Europe in order tobalance the demand for flights fromairlines. Where demand exceeds

capacity, the CFMU reroutes flightsor calculates ground delays in orderto ensure that air traffic controllersnever have more aircraft than theycan safely handle, and to minimiseairborne holdings. By dynamicallymonitoring and responding tochanges in capacity, the CFMU hashelped to ensure that now, some tenyears on, approximately an addition-al 10,000 flights can be handled inEuropean airspace each day.Without the CFMU, estimates sug-gest that delays would more thantriple with a cost to airlines of €1.5billion a year.

Thanks to the availability of its InitialFlight Plan System (IFPS), the CFMUprovides a Europe-wide alerting serv-ice in case an aircraft or airline whichhas been banned for safety reasonstries to enter European airspace.

The CFMU also provides environmentalbenefits. Better capacity managementand flight routeing have reduced fuelconsumption by 300,000 tonnes annu-ally. This comes on top of the 310,000tonnes of fuel saved annually throughReduced Vertical Separation Minimaand the 120,000 tonnes of fuel savedevery year thanks to the increasedapplication of the Flexible Use ofAirspace concept between civil andmilitary users. In total some 2,300,000tonnes of CO2 emissions are thusavoided annually.

“The CFMU provides safety, capacity,security and environmental benefitswhile at the same time being a publicservice,” said Víctor M. Aguado,Director General of EUROCONTROL.“Its central position and flexibilityenables Europe to handle majorplanned and unplanned events whileensuring that our delays due to air traf-fic management remain low and safetyremains high. With this extensive rangeof benefits, the CFMU is an operationalcornerstone of the Single Sky inEurope.” ■■

30

Datelines

Inauguration of the new Central FlowManagement Unit’s Operations Room: a cornerstone for the Single European SkyThe new Operations Room of the EUROCONTROL Central Flow Management Unit(CFMU) was inaugurated on 3 July 2007 at a ceremony in Brussels by Mr Víctor M. Aguado, Director General of EUROCONTROL, Mr Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Transport and Mr Fernando Palao, Secretary of State for Transport of Spain.

Unveiling of the commemorative plaque

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007 31

1- Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of theEuropean Commission, Commissioner forTransport

2- Fernando Palao, Secretary of State forTransport of Spain, representing thePresidency of the EUROCONTROL PermanentCommission

3- Charles-Louis d'Arenberg, Chairman of the Board of Belgocontrol

4- Fernando Conte, Chairman of theAssociation of European Airlines

5- Jean-Yves Valin, Director of Strategyand Quality, representing Pierre Graff,President and CEO of Aéroports de Paris

1 2

3 4

5

ATMTarget

Concept

ATMDeploymentSequence

ATMMaster

Plan

WorkProgramme

for2008-2013

ATMPerformance

Targets

D4 D5 D6

Oct 07Jan 08 March 08

July 06

AirTransport

Framework

The currentsituation

D1

We are here

Dec 06

D2

July 07

D3

The second deliverable, D2 “AirTransport Framework – The Perfor-mance Target”, was accepted byEUROCONTROL and a StakeholderForum took place in Geneva in January2007 with around 230 attendees repre-senting the air transport community.After a plenary session during whichthe SESAR Consortium presented themajor conclusions and recommenda-tions of D2, the floor was opened tostakeholders to discuss and challengethe content. The forum generallyagreed that D2 represents the founda-tion of the future Concept ofOperations.

D2 recommends designing a perform-ance-based European ATM systembuilt in partnership with clear targetsand delivering to the airspace users thebest outcome for their flights within theconstraint of the available infrastruc-ture, based on a shared set of valuesand priorities.

D2 has built on the 11 ICAO KeyPerformance Areas and developedrespective targets which are beingused to drive the design of the Conceptof Operations (Deliverable 3) and

which will be instrumental in measuringachievements.

D3 is the development of the Conceptof Operations, the ATM architectureand the supporting technologies. It iscurrently progressing and will be deliv-ered to EUROCONTROL in July 2007.The preliminary versions of theConcept are centred on a collaborativeinvolvement of the major stakeholdersin the definition and management oftrajectories, on networking of informa-tion where aircraft are nodes of the net-work and supporting an efficient collab-orative decision-making process, on abalancing of demand and capacitybased on airspace users priorities, andon the utilisation of appropriate tech-nologies, modes of operations to meetthe targets.

The results of D3 will be the subject ofa Stakeholder Forum to be held inSeptember.

SESAR DevelopmentPhase – JointUndertaking

The SESAR Joint Undertaking (S-JU)regulation was adopted by theEuropean Council at the end ofFebruary 2007 and a TransportCouncil Meeting on 8 June made theS-JU operational. On 8 February anad hoc session of the EURO-CONTROL Provisional Councilagreed to the principle of theOrganisation's becoming a foundingmember of the S-JU, and invited theAgency to begin negotiations for adetailed Founding MemberAgreement that will spell out in detailEUROCONTROL’s contributions tothe SESAR Joint Undertaking. Themeeting also confirmed that theAgency will make a total contributionof €700 million over the duration ofthe S-JU.

32

SESAR Progress of the Definition PhaseSkyway once again opens its columns to a regular report on the progress being madein the SESAR Definition Phase – the feasibility study aimed at creating a commonlyagreed ATM Master Plan for 2020. This study provides the elements needed for theensuing SESAR Development Phase.

SESARSESAR

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007 33

Industry NewsIndustry News

YiannisParaschis elected to leadEurope’s airports

Brussels, 14 June 2007– Dr Yiannis Paraschis, CEO ofAthens International Airport,was unanimously electedPresident of the EuropeanRegion of the Airports CouncilInternational (ACI EUROPE) atthe 17th ACI EUROPE AnnualAssembly held in Zurich

today. After the two terms served by Prof.Manfred Schölch (Executive Vice President ofFraport), Dr Paraschis will take over on 16 Junefor one year until June 2008. (source ACIEUROPE press release)

Opening ceremony fornew Heathrow tower

Geneva, 18 June 2007 – The Board of Directors ofskyguide has chosen Daniel Weder, 50, as the newChairman of the air navigation service provider. DanielWeder is currently Managing Director at SwissInternational Air Lines and is responsible for AirportServices & Operation Steering. He will begin his newposition at the headquarters in Geneva on 1 October2007. The interim CEO, Francis Schubert, will take up anew position as deputy CEO at the same time. (Source: skyguide)

11 June 2007 – Mr Jean-Claude Tintin, Chief Executive Officer of Belgocontrol, today received from theDirector-General of the Belgian Civil Aviation Authority, Mr Jules Kneepkens, the official document confirmingthe European certification by the Belgian Supervisory Authority of all of the company’s activities. The certifica-tion is issued within the framework of the future Single European Sky and is destined to improve the efficiencyand safety of air traffic. (Source: Belgocontrol press release)

13 June 2007 – Heathrow’s latest landmark reaches another milestone today– the £50m airport’s new air traffic control tower is officially opened.

Controllers have already been operating there for the past seven weeks after successfully completing the switch-over from the old building to the new, 87-metre-high centre at 2a.m. on Saturday 21 April. (Source: NATS press release)

obtainsEuropean certification

Daniel Weder appointedas new CEO of skyguide

Visits &AgreementsOn 29 March, the Director General, Victor M. Aguado, wel-comed the Board of Directors of Avinor, the airnavigation service provider of Norway. The Boardwas briefed on the main activities of EUROCONTROL, includ-ing the Agency's relations with the European Community,development of ATM programmes and strategies, including

SESAR, and was given a tour of the CFMUoperations room.

On 8 May, EUROCONTROL officials wel-comed a delegation from Avinor,Norway. Discussions were held on

SESAR, airports, regulatory issues and the environment. Thevisit was concluded with a tour of the CFMU operations room.

On 23 May, the Director of the General Secretariat, GerhardStadler, welcomed a large delegation of ChiefExecutive Officers from various industries inBelgium. Presentations included an overview of EUROCON-TROL, the Central Route Charges Office and a virtual tour ofthe CFMU.

On 12 June, the Director General received the Superviso-ry and Executive Boards of the Dutch air navi-gation service provider LVNL. They were given anoverview of EUROCONTROL and was presented with the findings on LVNL performance, based on the ATM cost-effectiveness (ACE) 2005 Benchmarking Report, and given atour of the CFMU operations room.

Visits & Agreements

34

On the same day, a delegation from the Civil AviationBureau of Japan visited EUROCONTROL to be briefed onthe main activities of the Agency, including SESAR and theCentral Route Charges Office, concluding with a visit to theCFMU operations room. On 13 June, the delegation visited theMaastricht Upper Area Control Centre.

On 15 June, the Director of the General Secretariat receivedthe Dutch Ambassador for InternationalRelations, Mr Ron Muyzert. Bilateral discussions wereheld on host State matters and ongoing legal issues. The visitwas concluded with an explanation of the CFMU operationsgiven by John Byrom, Head of the CFMU Operations Division(right).

On 22 June, the Director General received Mr Budhi M.Suyitno, Director General for Air Transportationof the Republic of Indonesia.

Skyway 45 - Summer 2007 35

14-16 September 2007ICAO/McGill University Worldwide ConferenceMontreal, Canada

19-20 September 2007CFMU User ForumEUROCONTROL Brussels' Headquarters, Belgium

26-28 October 2007IFATCA European Regional MeetingPrague, Czech Republic

28-31 October 200752nd Annual Conference and ExpositionMarriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington DC

11-13 March 2008ATC Global 2008Rai International Exhibition and Congress Centre,Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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EUROCONTROL website:www.eurocontrol.int

The Autumn 2007 issue of Skyway will focus on

EUROCONTROL’sachievements inthe last decade

© European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL)April 2003

This document is published by EUROCONTROL in the interests of exchange of information.It may be copied in whole or in part, providing that the copyright notice and disclaimer are included.The information contained in this document may not be modifiedwithout prior written permission from EUROCONTROL.

EUROCONTROL makes no warranty,either implied or express, for the information contained in this document,neither does it assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy,completeness or usefulness of this information.

For more information,contact EUROCONTROL External and Public Relations,General Secretariat Directorate96, rue de la Fusée, B-1130 Brussels, BelgiumTelephone: +32 2 729 90 11Fax: +32 2 729 91 98

© European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) July 2007

This document is published by EUROCONTROL in the interests of exchanging information.It may be copied in whole or in part, providing that the copyright notice and disclaimer are included. The information contained in this document may not be modified without prior written permission from EUROCONTROL.

EUROCONTROL makes no warranty, either implied or express, for the information contained in this document, neither does it assume any legal liability or responsibilityfor the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of this information.

For more information, contact EUROCONTROL External and Public Relations,General Secretariat Directorate96, rue de la Fusée, B-1130 Brussels, BelgiumTelephone: +32 2 729 34 20Fax: +32 2 729 91 98e-mail: epr@eurocontrol.int