Weekly review #49- May 20

ANSP news

• Lithuanian ANSP Oro navigacija reports positive trends for the first time since the COVID-19 crisis - At the beginning of April, the flight statistics were not showing positive trends, nevertheless, in the last few days of this month, the curve of flights went distinctly upwards and the results of the second week of quarantine were reached.

• Hungaro Control - the road to recovery - Attila Simon, HungaroControl’s Director of Business Development in a recent webinar hosted by GATM emphasised the importance of coordinated actions and speeding up crucial developments to make the industry able to advance in a cost-efficient way, while maintaining or even improving existing safety standards.

• Zurich Approach can now be handled from the tower in low traffic situations - Due to the COVID-19 situation, a reserve workstation in the Zurich control Tower has been converted in a way that allows a single air traffic controller to handle radar traffic control, which allows for the release of all approach control service positions in the ACC at this time.

• IAA confirms scale of crisis for Irish Aviation as a result of COVID-19 Air Traffic Falls 85% in April - The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) announced that only 14,907 flights were handled during the month of April 2020 when compared to the previous month in 2019. This represents a decrease of 85% compared to the previous year.

• ENAV Board Of Directors approves the interim Financial Report at 31 March 2020 - En-route and terminal traffic declined by -12.3% and -22.4% respectively, in terms of service units vs. the first quarter of 2019. Consolidated revenue of 171.6 million euro (-3.8% vs. Q1 2019). Consolidated EBITDA of 28.9 million euro (-6.7% vs. Q1 2019), with cost efficiency measures offsetting most of the decline in revenue

• Avinor first quarter 2020: Profit and solidity strongly affected by the pandemic - The loss of traffic and revenue at the airports has made it necessary for Avinor to enter into a dialogue with the owner about measures to strengthen the Group's liquidity and equity.

• Airways New Zealand response to claims made by NZALPA - Passenger safety will be maintained if proposals currently in discussion went ahead, Airways CEO Graeme Sumner said. “Airways does not compromise on safety, and the proposals we have presented to date are based on this fundamental understanding."

• ENAIRE recorded a drop in the number of flights of nearly 95% in April as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic - International flights (4,406) fell by 95.9%; domestic flights by 91% (3,226); and overflights (those that do not depart from or land at a Spanish airport), by 95.1% (1,995).

Airports news

• Frankfurt Airport Ready to Fly Safely despite COVID - Amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic, Frankfurt Airport is getting ready to ramp up passenger flights again. Fraport is taking comprehensive steps to prevent contagion in the currently used areas of Terminal 1 and comply with the requirements imposed by the responsible health authorities.

• COVID-19 Infection control in Norwegian airports - Since the end of January 2020, Avinor has been following the advice and guidelines issued by both the national and local health authorities in order to ensure that good infection control measures are in place at Norway’s airports.

• ADP-I project in Almaty - ADP Ingénierie works on this contract in collaboration with Groupe ADP, TAV Airports and TAV Construction, who envisage the start of the construction phase in summer 2020. Groupe ADP just announced the signing of a Share Purchase Agreement by its TAV Airports subsidiary (in consortium with VTE Capital) for the acquisition of 100% shares of the airport.

• Fraport Traffic Figures – April 2020: Major Decline in Passenger Volumes Continues - Frankfurt Airport (FRA) counted only 188,078 passengers in April 2020, 96.9% less than in the corresponding month of last year. The total in the first four months of 2020 dropped by 45.7%. This major decline was due to the ongoing travel restrictions and collapsing demand triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. With only 6,512 takeoffs and landings, flight movements were also down by 85.1 percent.

Market news

• AZIMUT continues improving its products - Following the successful certification tests, Azimut JSC received an FAAT-RNA 025 Type Certificate issued by the Federal Agency for Air Transport for the upgraded ILS 2700 landing system.

• SITTI selected for the new VCS in Paramaribo (Suriname) - The Republic of Suriname economic growth and the need of enhancing the air connections infrastructure led to the search for a new Voice Communication System (VCS), capable of coping with the local needs, but already prepared for any possible future expansion. The new system is planned to be installed at the capital’s international airport, Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport. SITTI has been chosen as the preferred supplier.

Context information

• FlighAware reports first upward trend in airline flight volume - For the last two weeks, we've seen our first upward trajectory in airline flight volume since the crisis began. The majority of the recovery is coming from China, which was impacted first, and is the first to begin a recovery said Daniel Baker, CEO, FlightAware

• ACI World Governing Board calls for urgent COVID-19 industry relief - The resolution passed by the board calls for coordinated industry engagement between States, regulatory authorities, and all aviation stakeholders, to promote an internationally recognised framework for a sound, seamless and sustainable recovery.

• SESAR JU acts to support its aviation partners during the COVID crisis - The SESAR Joint Undertaking, with the support of the European Commission, is putting in place a basket of measures to assist its members, many of whom are facing unprecedented economic challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic.

• Renewable energy projects and stakeholders consultation in new projects in Australia - For any new proposed project to succeed, the renewable energy industry has to address various sustainability challenges. Notably, social challenges, including community consultation which plays a core role in securing a development approval. Genuine community consultation and engagement is essential for wind farm projects to gain widespread support and earn social approval to operate within the community.

• Think Research's current reflections of the future of ATM - Further reflection on how priorities in the industry are changing to re-plan short-term goals. 

Research and innovation

• Rory Hedman appointed as co-chair of the CANSO smart digital tower task force - The exchange of knowledge and experiences that takes place is invaluable to helping to drive concept development, innovation and to set a path for others. This is something that greatly benefits concepts such as Digital Tower, where there is uniqueness to each implementation and scope to operate the technologies in a wide variety of ways

• Estonian Air Navigation Services and Cybernetica Sign Agreement to Expand Markets for Remote Tower - Estonian Air Navigation Services (EANS) and Cybernetica have signed an agreement for the continuous development and global offering of the Remote Tower system, currently developed and deployed in Estonia, with the sales perspective focused on low-traffic intensity aerodromes around the world.

UAV and UTM

• Financial support for a digital revolution in drone services in Poland - The rapid development of the drone market in Poland is a fact. An innovative development project worth over PLN 61 million is starting, which will have a great and widespread positive effect on safety of flights performed by unmanned aerial vehicles. PANSA is one of the beneficiaries.

• Altitude Angel announces their open source remote ID solution - Scout is the open source project from Altitude Angel featuring electrical schematics, firmware and 3D-printable case designs to add cellular telemetry, remote ID capabilities and full command & control to any drone.

• GUTMA Ask The Experts Webinar - GUTMA members will get a chance to ask questions to the FAA this online event.

• Edge computing will open up new revenue streams for UTM companies, drone operators and telecommunications providers - What are the commercial opportunities for UTM service providers, drone operators and mobile network operators in moving their services to the edge? This was the subject of the latest GUTMA/GSMA Connected skies webinar “Drone Services at the edge – business implications, held on 6 May 2020.

• The DLR/NASA Design Challenge seeks new ideas for package delivery drones in inner-city areas - The German Aerospace Centre DLR and NASA jointly set the task for students in Germany and the USA. The contestants are now preparing their proposals for the competition. The German winners will present their work alongside the US winners in the autumn, at an event jointly organised by DLR and NASA.

• Aviation associations call for greater cooperation to ensure safe co-existence of manned and unmanned aircraft - The joint signatories of the ‘We are All One in the Sky’ initiative have issued an open letter to the European Transport Commissioner, Ms Vălean, on the EASA proposal for a high-level regulatory framework for unmanned aviation operations and UAS traffic management (UTM / U-Space).

• Stay Safe and Travel the World From Your Couch with AirMap’s 360 Map - AirMap is excited to bring you this 360 map, which features immersive photos from around the world captured and uploaded by our users.