Brussels, 15/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - In a press conference held during the Paris Airshow, Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission and Víctor M. Aguado, Director General of Eurocontrol, announced the imminent launch of the Definition Phase for SESAME, the modernisation programme for European air traffic control infrastructure, which is one of the key elements in the development of the Single European Sky. This first step is phase which will run until 2007 and will define and validate the way the Air Traffic Management system operates in Europe. It will produce the ATM (Air Traffic Management) Master Plan for Europe that will ill organise the introduction of new technologies such as data liaison satellite and communications navigation. Jacques Barrot declared, “We need new technologies and procedures to accommodate air traffic growth and to increase safety. It is also a major industrial initiative which will boost growth and create new high added-value jobs in Europe”
Mr Aguado explained that the success of the definition and implementation stage depended on the synergy between Eurocontrol and the European Commission but that it also required “a collective effort” from the full range of stakeholders. The ATA (Air Traffic Control Alliance) has announced that it wants to be involved in this initial phase by contributing its expertise and skills with the aim of making the single European sky a reality.The definition stage relies on contributions by Eurocontrol and an industry consortium to define and validate the way the Air Traffic Management system will operate in Europe. Its € 60 million cost is jointly funded by the European Commission and Eurocontrol. The following stage will start in 2007 in three steps up until 2020, resulting in a safe and efficient high-performance air transport system with minimum environmental impact.
SESAME: (http: //europa.eu.int/comm/transport/air/single_sky/sesame/index_en.htm) Eurocontrol: http: //http://www.eurocontrol.int/sesame/public/subsite_homepage/homepage.html