Brussels, 30/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is seeking the view of stakeholders and ordinary people about the continuation post-2016 of the joint enterprise SESAR, a research programme on air traffic control in the Single European Sky and opened a public consultation to this end on 25 July 2012, which will run until 17 October 2012 with a view to dermining the potential for extending the partnership. SESAR was initially planned to last until December 2016, to carry out research and innovation in the field of air traffic control.
SESAR is the technological arm of the Single European Sky, which examines how to improve air traffic control in three phases of research. Initially, a definition phase, followed by development (until 2013) and then deployment (until 2020). The Commission is already working on governance for the deployment stage, but is concerned that the SESAR joint enterprise is only planned to last until 2016. In December 2011, the Commission said that the research needed to continue and innovation needed to continue beyond the current development phase and therefore it is urging the public to express its views in the current public consultation exercise. The consultation will examine the role that SESAR should play and how the research should be organised. It will also look at whether the research should focus on other domains of aviation other than air traffic control. (MD/transl.fl)