EU Air Navigation Service Providers to modernise air traffic management system

The leaders of Europe’s leading Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) have renewed their commitment to work together to help modernise Europe’s air traffic management system – and expanded their agreement to draw in other European ANSP groupings.

The Memorandum of Cooperation signed in 2011 by members of the original A6 Alliance – which united the ANSPs of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and the Noracon consortium (Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden) – has been revised to enable even greater cooperation to help deliver the Single European Sky ATM Research programme (SESAR).

The MoC now also includes as members the COOPANS Alliance (Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Ireland and Sweden) and the B4 consortium (Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia). PANSA, of Poland, has in the meantime also become a full member of the A6 Alliance.

SESAR is the technology strand of the European Commission’s Single European Sky programme and is coordinating the development and deployment of new tools and concepts that will help improve the way Europe’s airspace is managed, making it safer, cheaper and more environmentally friendly. It will also help to increase capacity, paving the way for forecast traffic growth.

The revised agreement reflects changes to the external environment, as SESAR Phase 1 nears its conclusion, SESAR 2020 launches and shifts focus towards the operational deployment of technologies. Different groupings will participate in the A6 Alliance for different elements of the SESAR programme and the A6 Alliance is part of the Supervisory Board for the SESAR Deployment Manager.

Ignacio González, Air Navigation Director of ENAIRE and Chair of the A6 Alliance Steering Board, said: “SESAR is a crucial programme that will significantly improve the way we manage Europe’s airspace, making it better for passengers and citizens and modernising our ATM system to underpin the requirements of the European economy.

“The A6 Alliance is uniquely placed to help make sure this happens in the most effective way and I am delighted that more ANSPs are joining this cooperation. This revised agreement demonstrates the commitment of a strong coalition of Europe’s ANSPs to work together to ensure SESAR deliver real benefits to our customers and their passengers.”

The MoC sets out the arrangements under which Members will cooperate in areas such as identifying and adopting best practice across Members, agreeing common methods of operation, benchmarking performance and optimising resources.