ACKNOWLEDGING that financing the transition costs is the biggest hurdle to introducing satellite-based communication, navigation, surveillance and air-traffic management (CNS/ATM), the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) plans a conference on the subject in Rio de Janeiro on 11-15 May, 1998.
ICAO president Dr Assad Kotaite announced the conference at the International Air Transport Association's Global Navcom '97 symposium in Cancun, Mexico, on 10-12 June. The ICAO conference will brief nations and economic and financial institutions on the costs and benefits of CNS/ATM. He says: "We must sensitise global investors to the potential rewards of funding such systems" and create conditions for a "proper and timely" return on their investment.
ICAO is preparing transition-cost estimates for the conference, along with cost-benefit models and guidelines for use of US and Russian navigation-satellite systems. "For the successful implementation of CNS/ATM systems, we must put in place an appropriate legal and institutional framework which will protect both the users and providers of the systems," acknowledges Kotaite.
Source: Flight International
