Weekly Review #231- Christmas edition

ANSP news

• NAV Portugal has a new Board of Directors - CANSO - Pedro Ângelo has been appointed the new CEO of NAV Portugal‘s Board ofDirectors. Gonçalo Vale and Cristina Lima are also members of this corporate body.
• Government approves Financial Plan of UkSATSE for 2024 - The main objectives of UkSATSE activity in 2024 are: to keep the Ukrainian air navigation system infrastructure alive and functional; to retain and support highly qualified personnel and ensure the operation of UkSATSE units as the main component of the Joint Civil-Military Air Traffic Management System of Ukraine in the interests of defence and security of the State.
• NAV CANADA to implement proposed service charge changes - NAV CANADA today announced it will proceed with its proposal to change customer service charges consistent with the Notice issued September 21, 2023.

Airports news

• Memorandum of Understanding between AAI and Government of Gujarat for development of various airports in State of Gujarat. - Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Government of Gujarat have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for development of airports in the state of Gujarat at Gandhinagar in the presence of Sh. Bhupendrabhai Patel, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat on 6th Dec 2023.

Market news

• Kuwait Civil Aviation signs a contract for an automatic weather monitoring system project with a French company - The General Administration of Civil Aviation signed a contract with the French company (Strela) to implement an automatic weather monitoring system project at Kuwait International Airport worth about 6.2 million US dollars.
• Vaisala’s airport surface observation system to Kuwait International Airport - Vaisala has signed a contract with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation , a government entity managing aviation services in the state of Kuwait, for airport surface observation system and airport meteorological system to Kuwait International Airport. The value of the contract is approximately EUR 20 million. The project is a part of an expansion and modernization project of the airport, and it is planned to start in February 2024 and be fully operational in 2025.

Context information

• EASA Management Board selects Florian Guillermet as future EASA Executive Director - Florian Guillermet has been selected as the future Executive Director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, following a decision by the Agency’s Management Board.
• Single European Sky: Performance Review Body publishes new reports prior to fourth reference period of performance and charging scheme (RP4) - The Performance Review Body (PRB) of the Single European Sky has today published three reports on air navigation service costs.
• Joint Statement on Higher Airspace Operations - European Commission - Joint statement by the European Union and its Member States, the Governments of the United States of America, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom, expressing support for ICAO’s efforts to address the challenges and opportunities associated with higher airspace operations.

Reports and data

• Fraport Traffic Figures – November 2023: Passenger and Flight Volumes Continue Upward Trend - Frankfurt Airport flight volume also continued to increase, with aircraft movements up 8.5 percent year-on-year to 35,310 takeoffs and landings. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights surged by 10.7 percent year-on-year to about 2.2 million metric tons.
• Queen Alia International Airport Receives 563,547 Passengers in November 2023 - According to Airport International Group statistics, Queen Alia International Airport registered 5,397 aircraft movements and handled 5,979 tons of cargo, up 2.4% and 17.9%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

Research and innovation

• Innovation in synthetic data generation: a glimpse into the world of SynthAIr - SESAR JU - SynthAIr, a two-year project supported by SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking, is set to explore and define novel AI-based methods for synthetic data generation in the domain of ATM system. SynthAIr’s mission is to increase the level of automation, leveraging the potential of synthetic data for tackling structural obstacles such as data access and scarcity, privacy issues and bias in the data.
• Innovation leads to fewer delays for airlines and travellers - Fewer delays for airlines and for travellers. That is the goal of the Decision Support Tool developed by Air Traffic Control the Netherlands. Aircraft expected to arrive during a period of congestion are given Air Traffic Flow Management delay at their departure airport.
• Leading the Way in Contrail Avoidance - NATS Blog - As part of our work to reduce the aviation industry’s non-CO2 emissions, we’re exploring measures to mitigate the impact of contrails – the visible trails of ice crystals that can form behind aircraft flying at high altitudes. I joined over 2,250 scientists, researchers and policymakers at the CANSO/EUROCONTROL Sustainable Skies Conference in Brussels recently to present our work in this area, and how it could contribute to the global push for climate neutrality and sustainability.
• Working in partnership to support Free Route Airspace - NATS Blog - Collaboration has always been a central principle to advancing aviation. That’s why for a number of years NATS has been actively participating in the Borealis Alliance’s Free Route Airspace Programme. During this time Air Navigation Service Providers from a number of different states (including EU and non-EU) have been working together to maximise the benefits that FRA can bring.
• CICONIA - Cracking the non-CO2 conundrum - SESAR JU - CICONIA supports the European Union's ambition of reaching climate neutrality by 2050, focusing on the challenge of aviation climate impact as non-CO2 emissions contribute about 2/3 of the net Effective Radiative Forcing.

UAV and UTM

• SESAR BURDI consortium publishes initial U-space Conops U-space design for Belgian airspace - Unmanned airspace - The SESAR BeNe U-space reference design implemenation (BURDI) research project has published an initial concept of operations. This first version will be revised considering outcomes and experiences all along the project. The BURDI project aims to develop a reference design implementation for U-space in the Belgian airspace.