First up this week, ENAIRE's Board of Directors have awarded a turnkey contract to supply 91 new control positions with cutting-edge iFOCUCS technology, for its control centres in Madrid, Seville and Palma for 32,149,194 euros. This project is part of ENAIRE's Strategic Plan, the 2025 Flight Plan, and includes another phase that will provide an additional 132 positions, and an estimated 43 million euros, for the control centres in Barcelona, Valencia, the Canary Islands and Madrid.
Next, the FAA has awarded more than $31 million in grants to expand cargo infrastructure at nine airports across the United States. According to the FAA, each project will help expedite the movement of goods throughout the country. “Every day, we rely on goods transported through our nation’s airports,” said US Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg. “This announcement will make improvements at airports across our country so they can handle cargo more efficiently and help strengthen America’s supply chains.”
In other news, ENAV has acquired a new customer. They've signed a contract with Maldives Airport Company. The contract is worth approximately $500,000 and is foreseen to provide for the supply, installation, and operational management of the Aviation Message Management System (AMHS) at Velana International Airport in Malé. It's the main airport of the Maldivian archipelago over which 4.3 million passengers and 64 thousand flights transit annually.
Finally, following the establishment of the integrated training system for all types of air traffic controllers (ATCO) in 2021 by Croatia Control Ltd. (CCL), the first male and female Area ATCOs fully trained in Croatia recently finished their training. Up to 2020, all ATCOs had been trained abroad for the most part of their demanding training.
ANSP news
- ANSPs deliver summer season capacity - CANSO - Johnny Pring, Manager for Policy and Advocacy at CANSO Europe, explains how air navigation service providers addressed the revival of passenger numbers in Europe.
- ENAIRE awards new iFOCUCS control position - ENAIRE's Board of Directors awarded the turnkey contract to supply 91 new control positions with cutting-edge technology, called iFOCUCS, for its control centres in Madrid, Seville and Palma for 32,149,194 euros.
- FAA Activates New GPS-Guided Routes in Alaska to Fly Below Hazardous Weather - The FAA is publishing 54 GPS-guided routes in Alaska, allowing pilots to navigate direct flight paths at lower altitudes to avoid icing conditions. The 30 new and 24 amended Terminal Transition Routes, known as T-routes, are part of the FAA’s Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative.
- The Professional Training Center of “Kazaeronavigatsia” RSE constantly maintains high standards for the training of air traffic controllers - The Professional Training Center of “Kazaeronavigatsia” RSE constantly maintains high standards for the training of air traffic controllers, corresponding to the international level. For this purpose, a new UFA simulator complex was purchased, to be delivered and put into operation by the end of 2022.
- FAA to invest $31 million on key airport cargo projects – Airport World - The FAA has awarded more than $31 million in grants to expand cargo infrastructure at nine airports across the United States. According to the FAA, each project will help expedite the movement of goods throughout the country.
- EUROCONTROL's PRC publishes Performance Insight #5: Open performance data - EUROCONTROL’s Performance Review Commission (PRC) has published its fifth Performance Insight focusing on the benefits of open performance data for ANS performance.
- First Area Air Traffic Controllers Fully Trained in Croatia - Crocontrol - Following the establishment of the integrated training system for all types of air traffic controllers in 2021 by Croatia Control Ltd., first male and female Area ATCOs fully trained in Croatia recently finished their training.
- FAB CE technical experts meet to discuss SWIM deployment - ANSPs shared experiences of implementing SWIM infrastructure and services; identified gaps in deployment programmes and Commission Implementing Regulation compliance; and discussed potential ANSP bilateral dependencies resulting from specific services.
Market news
- ENAV Group acquires a new customer. Contract signed with Maldives Airport Company - ENAV Group was awarded a contract with Maldives Airport Company thus added to customer’s portfolio. The contract worth approximately $500,000 and foreseen to provide for the supply, installation, and operational management of the Aviation Message Management System at Velana International Airport in Malé.
Context information
- EUROCONTROL’s Central Route Charge Office embarks on a digitalisation journey with a new portal to manage its interactions with airspace users
- A6 Alliance and the EUROCONTROL Network Manager reinforce their commitment to the modernisation and digitalisation of Air Traffic Management - The EUROCONTROL Network Manager and the CEOs of the A6 Alliance have met to reflect on the traffic evolution and performance, considering the impact and contributions of all aviation actors in the network.
- Singapore Airlines deploys SITA OptiClimb to reduce up to 15,000 tons of aircraft carbon emissions per year - By deploying SITA OptiClimb, the airline is able to optimize fuel utilization during the aircraft’s climb-out phase. The unique solution combines aircraft tail-specific machine-learning models with 4D weather forecasts to recommend customized climb speeds at different altitudes.
- Commission welcomes political agreement on new EU slot relief rules - The European Commission welcomes the political agreement between the European Parliament and the Council, to extend certain slot flexibilities for the next two scheduling seasons.
Reports and data
- Traffic development - Czech Republic ANS - Traffic development in the airspace of the Czech Republic (FIR Prague) in September: Number of movements 2019:87 025; Number of movements 2022: 65 533 Traffic comparison 2022/2019: -24,7% Traffic development at Prague Airport: Number of movements 2019:15 351; Number of movements 2022: 10 243 Traffic comparison 2022/2019: -33,2 %
- Fraport Traffic Figures – September 2022: Passenger Growth Continues Noticeably Compared to Last Year - Aircraft movements climbed by 21.5 percent year-on-year to 34,171 takeoffs and landings in the reporting month.
- Passenger traffic recovery continues at Queen Alia - The airport accommodated 5,614 aircraft movements, registering a 6.6% growth and 17.1% drop compared to 2021 and 2019 figures, respectively.
- Record Number of Flights in Austrian Airspace during Summer - More than 102.000 flights were counted in July 2020. A new record for Austro Control.
Research and innovation
- Defining the benefits of long-range ATFM - CANSO - Balancing airspace demand with capacity is nothing new but has taken on increased importance in the post-pandemic world. CANSO’s white paper, Long-Range Air Traffic Flow Management Concept, explores a crucial tool in this endeavour.
- War in Ukraine and economic fallout delaying recovery in air traffic until after 2024 according to new EUROCONTROL 2022-2028 forecast - Air traffic in Europe is not expected to recover to 2019 levels until after 2024 according to a new 7-year forecast of air traffic, issued today by EUROCONTROL.
UAV and UTM
- 28 September saw another trials to integrate drones into urban environments in Estonia - EANS - On 28 September, under the initiative of the Estonian Air Navigation Services, trial flights once again took place in Viimsi as part of the GOF2.0 project with drones of different sizes and purposes in cooperation with drone developers and manufacturers CAFA Tech Estonia, Threod Systems Estonia.
- Demand/capacity balancing in urban areas - new DACUS Conops report published - Unmanned airspace - The European SESAR demand and capacity balancing research project DACUS has published a final report that outlines the ConOps for the DACUS solution to managing demand and capacity within U-space. The report incorporates results of experiments such as simulated social impact hotspots in Toulouse.
