Brussels, 08/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - In addition to measures taken to deal with the effects of the expected delays in air traffic this summer (see EUROPE 10330), the high-level conference on implementing the Single European Sky programme, which seeks to modernise air traffic management in Europe, brought concrete measures for the implementation of the programme ensuring the follow-up to the political agreement reached in Madrid in 2010. Two other important measures were announced at the conference in Budapest on Friday 4 March: re-assessment of EU-Eurocontrol relations, and formalisation of the EU-United States cooperation in civil aviation research and development.
Eurocontrol. The Budapest Charter, adopted at the conference, proposes recognising Eurocontrol (the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation) as an instrument for the implementation of the single European sky. It is proposed that it will evaluate the performances of the air traffic management system in Europe and the network manager (this decision was approved by the single sky committee in February). In addition, the two organisations said they intended to give consideration to a possible high-level cooperation agreement. This would mean that, as well as each of the EU member states, all the members of Eurocontrol (including Turkey and Ukraine) would be able to join the single sky programme. The Charter also sets out a raft of technical measures to better coordinate all aspects of air traffic management, to put in place a “gate-to-gate” approach that integrates all the various flight stages from airport to airport, to centralise operational functions at European level, and to ensure that new technologies are rolled out when needed.
EU/United States. In this context, the signing of a cooperation protocol between the United States and the EU ensures a major advance, which will mean that the air traffic management systems developed by the US, NEXTGEN, and the EU, SESAR, are compatible. The agreement was signed on the margins of the conference. (A.By./transl.rt)