EMMA KELLY / PERTH
Airservices Australia is introducing aeronautical data licensing and a new charging system in an effort to ensure accuracy in aeronautical information system (AIS) products and that integrity is maintained.
From 1 September, commercial redistributors of aeronautical data provided by the Australian air traffic services provider will require a licence to reproduce and redistribute the data. The new charges will be developed with providers over a six- month licence fee-free period after 1 September. The move will also reduce Airservices' costs associated with data provision and create greater competition in data provision.
Airservices had been concerned that, without licensing, commercial redistributors who sell the data to airlines and other customers, for air navigation purposes for example, are not subject to appropriate controls to maintain data accuracy. The licensing process will include quality control and auditing.
Improving AIS quality and standardisation is becoming more of an international issue. Eurocontrol recently introduced its European AIS Database (EAD), an online service that anyone can access and to which states can supply their data for central dissemination (Flight International, 17-23 June).
Commercial AIS products and suppliers do not have to be specifically licensed, but the EAD system applies quality control and standardisation to the data it makes available, whatever its origin.
Source: Flight International
