On Monday 1 February, the European Commission adopted a first regulation - or Joint Project 1 (CP1) - making the deployment of functionalities developed under the SESAR programme designed to modernise current air traffic management (ATM) systems mandatory.
These functionalities, forming six groups of “ready-to-implement” innovations, concern: - arrival (AMAN) and departure management (DMAN); - airport integration and throughput; -“flexible” airspace management and free route airspace (FRA); - network collaborative management; - SWIM (system wide information management) standards; - initial trajectory information sharing.
For example, the innovations introduced by CP1 are aimed, among other things, at improving the accuracy of the approach path, facilitating the sequencing of air traffic at an earlier stage or the use of runways, the Commission explains.
They should also facilitate the provision of approach and aerodrome control services and establish a collaborative network for planning and decision-making within the European ATM network.
CP1 - which is therefore a tiny and purely technical part of the Single European Sky - also sets a timetable for the implementation of these innovations. Airlines, airports and air navigation service providers will have to comply.
The European Commission ensures that EU funds will be provided to support the implementation of CP1 through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). It also specifies that the SESAR Deployment Manager (SDM) will be responsible for coordinating this implementation. The text will enter into force in about 20 days.
Reduction of emissions
The European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, welcomed the fact that by speeding up the implementation of “innovative technological solutions”, the CP1 makes it possible to ensure “more direct and therefore more fuel-efficient flight paths”.
On the ATM side, however, it is estimated that these measures will not change the situation, or at least will not, on their own, achieve the 10% reduction target for the sector, which the Commission intends to achieve through better flight path management (see EUROPE 12565/1). But 2% or 3% at most.
These results will only be possible once the number of aircraft in circulation, considerably reduced by the pandemic, has returned to normal. In traffic such as the one currently observed, these measures will have no effect, as each flight is operated in the most direct way possible, an ATM worker told EUROPE. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)