Members of the A6 Alliance have always been committed to the implementation of the Single European Sky and SESAR technologies, in terms of both Research & Development activities (carried out within the SESAR Joint Undertaking) and Implementation activities (carried out within the SESAR Deployment Manager).
Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funds allow ANSPs to ensure timely, coordinated and synchronized deployment of new and innovative technologies and operational procedures, to deliver a new and higher performing European ATM system to support economic growth and competitiveness.
It is estimated that implementing the European ATM Master Plan will generate economic benefits for airspace users and the European community of up to EUR 15 billion by 2035, leading to a stable, continuous and sustainable reduction in airspace user charges.
The A6 Alliance, while strongly supporting deployment activities, believes that ANSPs are not sufficiently incentivized to implement the Deployment Programme as funds are channelled via ANSPs to the airlines; this effectively turns ANSPs into management companies for the distribution of EU subsidies directed at the airline industry.
ANSPs should be considered as beneficiaries of CEF funds for their investments in deployment activities; this requires a change of regulation for the upcoming RP3 by incentivizing ANSPs to invest in order to increase flexibility in service provision at network level. The new regulatory framework should also improve ANSPs’ customer focus, as well as increase technological and financial capability, which underpin the ongoing modernization of the European ATM System.
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