Initiative targets efficiency and civil/military issues
Eurocontrol has launched a major air traffic management (ATM) initiative aimed at providing more airspace capacity as it struggles to resolve continuing problems over military airspace requirements in increasingly busy European airspace.
The agency says that 27 August was its busiest day ever, with 29,395 movements recorded in the 41-state Eurocontrol ATM area. Traffic has increased by an average of 5% this year and while delays are down 12% over the same period in 2003, Eurocontrol says it needs to improve the performance and efficiency of the ATM system if it is to meet projected growth in airspace en-route capacity requirements of 10-15% over the next five years.
A new five-year programme, the Dynamic Management of the European Airspace Network (Dmean), is to be launched by the end of the year. This will provide "an integrated ATM scenario which is flexible, dynamic and optimised to meet the civil and military airspace user requirements on the day of operations". Dmean brings together existing Eurocontrol initiatives in airspace design, civil-military co- ordination and flexible use of airspace (FUA), along with elements of central flow management operations.
Senior Eurocontrol sources reveal, however, that the FUA programme, which is designed to get around the problem of segregated civil-military airspace, is still hampered because 20% of the Eurocontrol ATM area has yet to achieve civil-military co-ordination. "Some states have achieved 100% FUA, some nil. It is pointless one state opening its borders for civil use when the next state is closed for military activities," says one.
Eurocontrol also says the problem is compounded by the introduction of new military aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighter, which is leading to a "demand from the military for airspace sufficient to meet their operational requirements, but which can be segregated from other traffic when required for flight safety".
The push to achieve flexible use of airspace is to be given legal clout with the European Union's Single European Sky regulations, which come into effect at the end of 2005 at national level. FUA is planned initially in upper airspace above 28,500ft (8,700m) and eventually throughout all European airspace.
JULIAN MOXON / BRUSSELS
Source: Flight International
