Welcome to our first online newsletter

Welcome to the first edition of our new online A6 newsletter. In this issue, you will find out about the latest technological developments in Europe and the work we are doing as the A6 to support that.

Developing and implementing a future ATM system to support the expected increase in air traffic in the coming years in a safe and environmentally-friendly way is a key priority for European aviation.

The effective deployment of technologies and concepts developed through the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) programme will help us meet that challenge. It is one of the most ambitious programmes ever launched by the European Community.

A key issue for the European Commission currently is to decide the process by which SESAR will be deployed. From an A6 perspective and fully supportive of our trade organisation’s CANSO position, we are keen to ensure that a Deployment Manager is appointed shortly to take ownership of the programme, to make sure that the requirements of the providers of that service – ANSPs – are fully involved, and to ensure that it is delivered collaboratively across the aviation community.

Meanwhile, the first substantial update of the ATM Master Plan has been produced. This document, provides a blueprint for the future of European aviation. It sets out the performance needs of the future ATM system, including the right sequence of operational and technological changes, as well as the regulations that will be required to achieve that. The A6 has played a significant role in shaping the document so far and will continue to contribute to future updates through ensuring that the technical and funding requirements of ANSPs are adequately addressed.

We hope you will find this newsletter useful. In the meantime, we firmly believe that only by working together across the whole industry, will we achieve the much needed step change in European ATM and ensure that we remain co-ordinated globally through our co-operation agreement with the FAA and the NexGen programme.