Weekly review #42 - April 1st

ANSP news

• PANSA statement on fake information about airspace closure - The airspace over Poland is open, transit traffic over Poland is carried out all the time, and the Polish Civil Aviation Administration (ULC) and the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) did not receive a request from Russia for permission to fly for such a special flights.
• DFS statement on Corona virus and new labor agreement - The spread of coronavirus is causing a steep decline in air traffic volumes. Since February, DFS, the German air navigation service provider, has initiated a number of measures to protect its employees and maintain air navigation services. A newly agreed collective agreement now enables the company to adjust staff numbers to match the current situation.
• Airways New Zealand ATCOs volunteer to delay a salary increase - New Zealand’s 371 air traffic controllers were due to receive a 2.8% pay increase on April 1. However this will not go ahead following an offer from the Air Traffic Control Council of the New Zealand Airline Pilots Association (NZALPA), on behalf of its members, to defer the pay increase for up to a year. 
• EUROCONTROL Network Manager stops providing the repetitive flight plan service - In November 2018, the Network Directors of Operations meeting endorsed the decision to stop providing the RPL service; this decision was subsequently confirmed by the Network Management Board. As of 27 March 2020, the service is now no longer being provided in the FIRs of the EUROCONTROL Network Manager area of operations.
• NATS' CEO's blog on navigating the Corona crisis - Read the analysis by NATS' CEO Martin Rolfe about the situation and how NATS reacts to the Corona virus crisis.

Airports news

• Frankfurt Airport: No Restrictions on Cargo Infrastructure - The rapid spread of the coronavirus has far-reaching implications for the global economy.Nevertheless, the transport of goods – especially airfreight – must be ensured. Frankfurt Airport, Europe’s leading air cargo hub, is still providing its cargo infrastructure in full as a way of preserving key supply chains, with empty passenger aircraft increasingly being used for this purpose.

Market news

• France Aviation Civile Services enters the market of calibration flights with drones - Implementation of the UAV of the Directorate of Technology and Innovation (DTI) for the calibration of a PAPI as part of an experiment on the “pilot airport” of Toulouse-Francazal, a fast-growing airfield.

Context information

• CANSO position on ICAO's statement - The ICAO Council is urging States, international organisations and financial institutions to consider the critical importance of civil aviation to the recovery of the worldwide economy after COVID-19, declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Airport Council International - Global traffic figures show COVID-19 impact on aviation was rapid - Airports Council International (ACI) World’s monthly global traffic statistics for January show the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak had a rapid effect on passenger traffic, particularly in Asia-Pacific. 
• How long will the liquidity of European airlines last? - No ticket sales, no cash. Europe's airlines are gradually running out of money without fresh money. Here is an overview of liquidity reserves and expenditures.

Reports and data

• 2019 Air Traffic Results, an overview by France Aviation Civile Services' ATD Service - The Air Transport Data team is feeding our databases with 2019 full-year results. The first data show a global slowdown in the increase of worldwide air traffic, the growth is estimated at +3.5% (provisional) compared to 2018. 

Research and innovation

• Innovation in aviation: The Digital Sky Challenge through the eyes of the winners - The winners of the SESAR JU Digital Sky Challenge present themselves and comment on the event.

UAV and UTM

• Skyguide Unveils Digital and Automated Authorization System for UAS and Particular Flights - Skyguide and AirMap, have unveiled a streamlined digital authorization system for expedited approval of UAS and different particular flights in managed airspace. In Switzerland, flights by UAS, gliders, parachutes, scorching air balloons, and different non-commercial plane inside airspace courses C and D are topic to approval from Skyguide and the airport authority.  
• AirMap webminar on drone service providers
• Results of GUTMA webminar: Drones need cellular networks for full-service autonomous operations and UTM - Mobile network operators will not only be able to provide connectivity but integrate UTM services, according to speakers at the second “Connected Skies,” webinar on 26 March.

Contract awards

• Cobhan Aerospace awarded a research contract to protect satellite signals from interference - Cobham Aerospace Connectivity announces that it has been awarded a contract by the UK MOD’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) to research Advanced Anti-Jam techniques for the protection of navigation signals received from the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).