Europe's air traffic management (ATM) surveillance system plans will take longer to implement than expected before they deliver increased capacity, safety and flexibility, said international delegates attending the 29-30 April SurTech seminar in London.
UK National Air Traffic Services (NATS) operations requirements manager Mike Taylor blames delays on the system's multinational heritage, ATM and political priorities, and airline reluctance to invest in onboard equipment.
In contrast, Australia is to abandon the secondary surveillance radar (SSR) systems on its east coast in favour of a total automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast (ADS-B)-based single-source en route surveillance system, and will cover its central and western regions through its network of remote VHF groundstations, which relay ADS-B data, according to Airservices Australia's technology development head Greg Dunstone.
Taylor sums up the European dilemma: when states and airlines are faced with a decision to equip, he says, "they commit as late as possible...as little as possible...and always look for options to change if circumstances change".
Australia has a clean sheet on which to plan, and uncongested airspace, and ADS-B delivers surveillance where there was none, Taylor points out. Europe, however, "has inherited expectations and perceptions" that have to be satisfied.
Taylor's reference to "options for change" relate to Eurocontrol's stated intention of using ADS-B extensively to gain major ATM advances and to first establish Mode S ground-based enhanced surveillance systems, while the existing problems of ADS-B's insufficient integrity in congested airspace are overcom
Source: Flight International
