Weekly review #129 - 15th December

ANSP news

• Polish-Qatari cooperation in the field of air navigation - This comes within the effort of the State of Qatar to strengthen partnerships between Qatar and the Polish Republic, by providing safe and effective air navigation services within the airspace, finding modern solutions for managing international air traffic with pilots and unmanned air systems, and cooperation in the operational, technical, and commercial fields between the two countries.
• UkSATSE introduces Free Route Airspace in the area of responsibility of Odesa Air Traffic Management Centre - The European Route Improvement Plan for Ukraine introduced Free Route Airspace in the area of responsibility of Odesa Air Traffic Management Centre, including the airspace over the high seas within Simferopol Flight Information Region. A 24-hour regional FRA has also been introduced in Ukraine within the areas of responsibility of Lviv, Kyiv and Dnipro ATM centres.
• New Radio Center on Risnjak - Crocontrol - Croatia Control successfully completed its investment in the Sjeverni Jadran VHF/UHF radio center, which will increase the overall capacity of air traffic control’s radio system. This investment amounting to nine million kuna represents the most significant part of the investment in the operating system modernization program. The modernization was initiated for the infrastructure to be able to support the expected increase in air traffic in Croatia in the following years.
• ENAIRE implements operational improvements in the airports of Jerez, Pamplona and A Coruña - At Jerez Airport, ENAIRE placed into service a new arrival procedure based on satellite navigation for runway 02. By implementing this new procedure, ENAIRE is increasing the efficiency of operations, as well as accessibility to the Jerez Airport.

Airports news

• Hong Kong’s new airfield taking shape with re-designation of North Runway - Hong Kong International Airport’s existing North Runway (07L/25R) has been re-designated as the Centre Runway (07C/25C), signifying an important milestone for the expansion of the airport into a Three-runway System. The move, which is in line with ICAO requirements, means that the airport’s new third runway will be known as North Runway (07L/25R) when it opens to traffic in 2022.

Market news

• Papua New Guinea to enhance safety-critical airspace network with FREQUENTIS - Papua New Guinea's National ANSP, NiuSky Pacific Limited, has selected Frequentis for a pilot project to further improve their critical network infrastructure. The technical solution is centered around the vitalsphere™ automatic service level manager NetBroker. NetBroker was specifically developed for the Air Traffic Management environment and was designed and implemented according to the applicable ATM safety standards.
• ANSA and STR partner to provide D-ATIS GRF Compliance in Aruba - STR-SpeechTech Ltd. - STR is proud to announce that in partnership with Air Navigation Services Aruba, STR will be deploying a GRF compliant StarCaster D-ATIS system in Aruba. The StarCaster D-ATIS system is scheduled for delivery and installation at Queen Beatrix International Airport in December 2021.
• Thales completes acquisition of Moog navigation aids business - Thales has acquired the Moog ground-based navigation aids business located in Salt Lake City, Utah, enabling it to provide a more comprehensive navigation aid offering to its customers worldwide.
• LFV sells its share in SDATS to Saab - The ownership structure of Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions AB (SDATS) is scheduled to change as LFV sells its shares to Saab that then will become the one hundred percent owner of SDATS.
• Saab Becomes Full Owner of Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions - Ownership of Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions AB (SDATS) is being taken over in its entirety by Saab. The Swedish Civil Aviation Administration (LFV) has previously owned 41 percent of the company, with Saab owning 59 percent.

Context information

• MovingDot Supports the Dutch Airspace Redesign Program Safety Office – MovingDot - The Program Safety Office is a recently initiated addition to the Dutch Airspace Redesign Program team. In co-operation with adjacent nations, the DARP aims to implement considerable changes in air traffic operations in the Netherlands. With the foreseen changes spanning multiple ATM providers, and the safety issues that arise in doing so, the added value of the DARP Safety Office is evident.

Reports and data

• Fraport Traffic Figures – November 2021: Positive Passenger Trend Continues - Aircraft movements continued to climb by 125.6 percent year-on-year to 28,882 takeoffs and landings in November 2021.

UAV and UTM

• BUBBLES workshop presents validation results of U-space separation management concept - Unmanned airspace - At the end of November 2021 researchers working on the SESAR BUBBLES programme held their second open workshop to discuss the results of the work so far. The main goal of BUBBLES is to formulate and validate a Concept of Operations for providing separation management in very low-level airspace by means of the U-space, defining the basic blocks supporting it and describing how they must be assembled and operated.
• DroneUp acquires AirMap, creates airspace management and drone market ecosystem - Unmanned airspace - Drone flight services company DroneUp has announced its acquisition of AirMap. AirMap UTM services support as many as 100,000 global daily flights and the company’s flight data is expected to help DroneUp build market and regulatory leadership, and further advance safe last-mile drone services. The acquisition comes on the heels of DroneUp’s recent partnership with Walmart to offer drone delivery to consumers from a growing network of drone airports, called DroneUp Hubs.
• Eurocontrol undertakes airspace assessment as part of Israel’s national drone initiative - Unmanned airspace - Eurocontrol worked closely with the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel to undertake an airspace assessment to support the integration of drones into airspace. In addition to drawing on best practices identified during a previous Riga airspace assessment, drone experts from the Eurocontrol Innovation Hub visited to Israel to witness a series of demonstrations as part of INDI, the Israel National Drone Initiative.
• Does the DroneUp/AirMap tie-up mean the end of the independent UTM service supplier market? - Unmanned airspace - The announcement that DroneUp has acquired AirMap is extremely good news for the UAS traffic management sector. It ensures that one of the industry’s key pioneers remains in business but also points the way to a possible future for UTM service suppliers that might actually work - commentary by Philip Butterworth-Hayes
• Belgium DronePort test site installs situational awareness capability to support integration of ATM and UTM - Unmanned airspace - Belgium’s test ground DronePort has joined forces with Belgian drone service company SkeyDrone to support integration of drones with manned aviation through closer cooperation between Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Air Traffic Management.