aeronautical - eurocontrol · 3 dear readers, the provision of aeronautical information has become...

Skyway is a quarterly publication of the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, EUROCONTROLVolume 10, Number 42, Autumn 2006

AERONAUTICALINFORMATION PROVISION

From AIS to AIM

EAD: European AIS Database

CHAIN: Controlled & HarmonisedAeronautical Information Network

AIXM: Aeronautical InformationExchange Model

Skyway Magazine is a EUROCONTROL publication. Articles appearing in this magazine do not necessarily reflect EUROCONTROL’s official policy.

Publisher: Víctor M. AguadoManaging Editor: Gerhard StadlerEditor: Lucia [email protected] Editorial Team: Christos Petrou, Jean-Jacques Sauvage Linguistic Advisers: Language Service (DGS/LSEC)Layout: Frédérique FyonPhotography and pre-press coordination:Christian SampouxPrinting: EUROCONTROL Logistics and Support Services, Bureau DGS/LOG

Articles, photographs and letters from readers are welcome. Whilst every care will be taken of material submitted for publication, the Managing Editorregrets that he is unable to accept responsibility for any loss or damage.

EUROCONTROL Website: http://www.eurocontrol.int

3 Editorial

Focus4 From AIS to AIM:

evolution of aeronautical information provision to serve ATM better

7 AIXM: a bridge to computer-interpretable NOTAMs

10 CHAIN: Controlled & Harmonised Aeronautical Information Network

14 The world’s largest aeronautical information service:EAD (the European AIS Database)

Review17 Network Operations Plan: latest news

29 Harmonising air traffic controller training standards: EUROCONTROL issues its first-ever ATC certificate of competence

Independent Platform20 The role of AIS in future ATM systems

Stakeholder Forum23 AIS regulation: the need for change

26 The evolution of global aeronautical information management: the impact on AIS in Africa

Datelines32 A strategy for cooperative change:

the Global AIS Congress, 27-29 June, Madrid

SESAR

35 SESAR Definition Phase progressD1: Air Transport Framework – the current situationStep completed

36 Industry News

38 Visits & Agreements

Contents

3

Dear readers,

The provision of aeronautical information hasbecome a core process that underpins all theelements of air traffic management (ATM).

That is why we believe that aeronautical information services shouldchange and go much further in terms of the services they currently pro-vide.

By enhancing our global aeronautical information service systems, wewill improve safety, improve ATM system efficiency and reduce costs byeliminating the expensive need to continually validate data throughoutthe production process.

Europe has already gone some way towards addressing its aeronauticalinformation service issues through the development of the EuropeanAeronautical Information Services Database – the EAD.

Of course, different continents have different requirements and needs.In order to move forward, we must however recognise that the globalnature of aeronautical information provision and its exchange calls foran active, coordinated, global approach.

We must draw up a practical, affordable roadmap to support ICAO infacilitating change on a global scale, within the framework of the ICAOGlobal ATM Concept. This should be based on a common exchangeformat, a digital environment, and automated processing.

From our experience in Europe, we know that major improvements inthis area can be achieved with comparatively limited financialresources.

Aeronautical information services will strengthen the capability of ATMto meet the challenges which have been identified for the upcomingyears in terms of safety, capacity, efficiency and environment.

The stakes are huge – and potentially involve substantial benefits forsociety, for air transport has increasingly become a key driver for eco-nomic growth and is growing faster than other sectors of the economy.

The 20th century was a pioneering era for aviation. The 21st century isbeginning to be a pioneering era for information exchange and globalcommunications.

Aeronautical information spans both domains. It will act as a bridge intothe future of aviation by championing 21st-century technology.

Víctor M. AguadoDirector General

Chers lecteurs,

La fourniture de l’information aéronautique est devenue un processus essentiel,qui sous-tend tous les éléments de la gestion du trafic aérien (ATM).

C'est pourquoi nous estimons que les services d'information aéronautiquedevraient évoluer dans le sens d'un élargissement de la palette des prestationsoffertes.

En renforçant les systèmes de nos services d'information aéronautique àl'échelle mondiale, nous améliorerons la sécurité ainsi que l’efficacité du sys-tème ATM, et nous réduirons les coûts en supprimant l’onéreuse nécessité d’unevalidation permanente des données tout au long du processus de production.

L’Europe a déjà réalisé des avancées dans ce domaine avec le développementde la base européenne de données AIS, plus connue sous l'appellation EAD.

Certes, les exigences et les besoins varient d’un continent à l'autre.

Pour aller plus loin, nous devons reconnaître que la dimension planétaire de lafourniture et de l’échange des informations aéronautiques requiert une approcheglobale, coordonnée et soutenue.

Nous devons définir une feuille de route pratique et financièrement acceptableà l’appui des efforts déployés par l’OACI pour faciliter un changement à l’échellede la planète dans le cadre de son Concept d’ATM mondial. Les trois fonde-ments de cette feuille de route devraient être un format d’échange commun, unenvironnement numérique et un traitement automatisé.

Notre expérience européenne nous permet d'affirmer que des améliorationsimportantes dans ce domaine peuvent être obtenues moyennant des investisse-ments relativement limités.

Les services d'information aéronautique renforceront la capacité de l’ATM arépondre aux défis qui se poseront dans les prochaines années, en termes desécurité, de capacité, d’efficacité et d’environnement.

Les enjeux sont énormes, mais il pourrait en résulter des avantages consid-érables pour la société.

Le transport aérien est en effet devenu un levier de plus en plus important de lacroissance économique, et son essor est plus soutenu que d’autres secteurs del’économie.

Si le 20e siècle fut l’ère pionnière de l’aviation, le 21e siècle se profile commel’ère pionnière de l’échange de l’information et des communications mondiales.

L’information aéronautique recouvre précisément ces deux domaines. En sefaisant le champion des technologies du siècle, elle jettera une passerelle versl’aviation de demain.

Víctor M. AguadoDirecteur général

Skyway 42 - Autumn 2006

EditorialEditorial

Air transport is an essential enablingcomponent of the global, regional and(in many States) national economies. Itcontributes 1% in pure aviation opera-tions terms to global Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) and 8% when all relat-ed activities are factored in. And as theglobal economy expands, so does thedemand for air transportation. As aresult, global air traffic management(ATM) is faced with a significant andcontinuous increase in air trafficdemand over the next fifteen years andbeyond. Recognising this, the ICAOATM concept at the global level andthe EUROCONTROL ATM Strategy forthe years 2000+ which focuses onregional needs, have been developedto provide the strategic framework forchange. Both documents describe theobjectives, processes and measuresby which the forecast demand may besatisfied, while improving aviationsafety.

The overall objective of the future ATMnetwork, though written for Europe, iswell described in this extract from theATM Strategy: “For all phases of flight, toenable the safe, economic, expeditiousand orderly flow of traffic through theprovision of ATM services which areadaptable and scalable to the require-ments of all users and areas of(European) airspace. The services shallmeet demand in a cost-effective way, beglobally inter-operable, operate to uni-form principles, be environmentally sus-

tainable and satisfy national securityrequirements”.

This demanding challenge requires thatall airspace in Europe and perhapsglobally be progressively regarded as acontinuum, organised on the basis of airtraffic management requirements andthis is one objective of the SingleEuropean Sky regulations. In conse-quence, the new ATM systems, concepts and techniques now underdevelopment must be designed toensure that they contribute to improvedsafety, increased efficiency and greatercost-effectiveness to users.

The key to the future is the harmonisa-tion of present and future systems toprovide the fundamental interoperabili-ty which underpins the future ATM con-cept. At a physical level, navigationand ATM systems are, or will be, data-dependent – reliant on access to global

broad-based aeronautical informationof a considerably higher quality andtimeliness than is generally availabletoday.

The provision of aeronautical informa-tion has become a core process thatunderpins all elements of ATM and,without good data, the future ATM sys-tem cannot be realised.

Aeronautical information has to bedeveloped to support seamless airtraffic and navigation services. Itmust evolve from its presently mainlypre-flight orientation to be able tocover all phases of flight and all theprocedures related to it. The devel-opments should be such as to facili-tate the ability to plan and operateflights with maximum flexibility, flightefficiency and cost-effectiveness andin an environmentally friendly way.Yet such flights require to be con-

4

From AIS to AIMEvolution of aeronautical

information provision toserve ATM better

By Ken Reid,Head of theAeronauticalInformationManagementBusiness Division

FocusFocus


ducted with minimum constraints andwith no deterioration in safety. A mostchallenging balancing act to per-form.

Traditionally, aeronautical informationhas been provided by a State in accor-dance with the provisions of ICAOAnnex 15 (Aeronautical InformationServices – AIS). The Annex, first pub-lished in May 1952, details the require-ments – the what, why and in somecases how of what information shouldbe made available.

Since 1952, Global AIS has continuedto provide a sterling service but, giventhe new and most demanding informa-tion paradigm, there is growing recog-nition that Annex 15 no longer fully rep-resents users’ needs. The scope andcontent of the Annex is thought bymany to be too limited. Moreover,ongoing studies in Europe have shown

that there is a significant failure to meetthe levels of data integrity proscribedby ICAO for flight-critical data. This inturn has an impact on the implementa-tion of advanced systems and con-cepts such as Precision AreaNavigation in the Terminal Area and inconsequence on the ability to provideextra capacity safely in an affordableway.

The integrity issue, or more properly thechallenge of providing quality-assuredaeronautical information, is one that isexercising global AIS particularly. InEurope it has the highest priority withinthe AIS domain for resolution. Therehave been, and continue to be, manyinitiatives in this field. The EuropeanAIS Database (EAD) and the CHAINProject both outlined in following arti-cles in this edition of Skyway are twovery significant initiatives in thisrespect.

Yet despite these investments, the rootcause of the problem will continue toexist and will require radical action toaddress. One issue is that AIS data iscurrently still manually-processed andpaper-based. It is now commonlyagreed that a transition to an automat-ed and fully digital environment isrequired. The future system will strike abalance between the capacity of com-puters to avoid transactional mistakes,a problem of human processing today,and the cognitive processes of humans

to resolve problems in an intelligentand intuitive way.

The ATM 2000+ Strategy recognisesthe challenges and identifies the role ofAIS as follows:

■ “AIS will be improved and devel-oped to provide a harmonised, co-ordinated service delivering quality-assured most up-to-date informationfor all phases of flight and all users.”

■ “AIS must make the transition fromsupply of predetermined productsto the management of aeronauticalinformation to serve future ATMneeds.”

It also identifies the essential need for theexchange of information between civiland military air navigation serviceproviders, and clearly states that this canonly be achieved if civil and military sys-tems are interoperable.

Clearly AIS must evolveto meet these changingand most demandingneeds. But how?

AIS has evolved over the years to meetthe needs of airspace users for compre-hensive information on airspace configu-ration, aerodrome and navigation facili-ties and other details needed by pilots.This development is ongoing and mucheffort is being devoted to enhancing andrefining the provision of aeronautical

5

Focus

information even more over the next fewyears. More radical action is, however,required. AIS has to make the transitionin the medium and longer term toAeronautical Information Management(AIM), a significantly different method ofinformation provision and management.AIM is data-centric in nature in contrastto the product-centric approach of AIS.AIM can meet the future needs of air-space users in a cost-effective way. Acarefully developed and agreed strategyis needed to guide the transitionprocess, and significant changes toAnnex 15 are clearly required.

In Europe, a strategy for transition to AIMhas been agreed policy since 2000. Itwas compiled to define the developmentof aeronautical information managementnecessary to support implementation ofthe ATM2000+ Strategy. It considers thenature of the future ATM operationalenvironment and proposes the means bywhich its needs should be met.

What is AIM?

AIM is the term applied to the globallyinteroperable provision of aeronauticaldata of the required quality, covering theneeds of the present and future ATMsystem and all phases of flight. It is adata-oriented, holistic approach to aero-nautical information provision.

The objective of AIM is to foster thenotion and the implementation of collab-orative information-sharing, which isessential if the concept of CollaborativeDecision-Making (CDM) is ever to befully realised. The role of AIM at one levelis to monitor and control the quality of theshared data. It will provide the basis forimproved decision-making by all ATMcommunity members during the strate-

gic, pre-tactical and tactical planningprocesses.

User applications, which may be exter-nal to AIM, will interface with it to pulldata that will be converted and organ-ised into aeronautical information for useby pilots, air traffic controllers and otherdata users. It should however be clearlynoted that within the concept, it is theinformation itself that is of significanceand not the technology that supports it.

The ultimate goal of AIM at the concep-tual level is to evolve into a (generic)System-Wide Information Management(SWIM) system, a globally recognisedgoal. SWIM will be a global, distributedaeronautical data management environ-ment. It will manage the aeronauticalcontent (format, timeliness, collection,checking, distribution, etc.) as well as thetechnical elements (storage, consistencyof data bases, global interfacing, etc.).The AIM concept does not infer achange of ownership of function. Forinstance, aviation meteorology (MET) willcontinue to be provided by the METauthorities. AIM therefore can best belikened to a managed and regulatedInternet for ATM. In time, SWIM willevolve and incorporate AIM. However, itwill also encompass all other ATM infor-mation management functions notalready incorporated in AIM.

Achieving full SWIM implementation willtake time. The present target bracket is2015-2025. Though seemingly distant,there is very little time to lose. Clearly

stakeholder buy-in is required. In thisrespect the implementation of AIM, fore-seen in the 2008-2012 timeframe, can beregarded as the proof of the concept (thebasis of the business case) for SWIM.

AIM is therefore the all-important inter-mediate step to ensuring effective tran-sition of AIS to a system better-suited tothe evolving needs of ATM. Well man-aged, it will create the basis for the evo-lution of ATM information services andpave the way for SWIM.

The AIM concept has growing globalrecognition. The United Statesannounced its adoption as core policyin a paper to the ICAO 11th AirNavigation Conference in the Autumnof 2003 and a number of AIS havealready renamed themselves AIM toreflect the change.

A global version of the second editionof the European AIM Strategy,presently in the approval process, waspresented to the Global AIS Congressin Madrid in June this year (see articleon page 32). The document, entitledthe AIM Concept, was submitted as acatalyst to engineer informed debatefor change. It was well received andthe challenge now for all AIS, orshould it be AIM stakeholders, is toparticipate in the global debate todeliver AIM. A start has been madebut much more is required to translateAIS into AIM and beyond and allstakeholder groups must be fullyengaged in the debate. ■ ■

6

Focus

From AIS to AIMEvolution of aeronauticalinformation provision toserve ATM better

2008 2018

AeronauticalInformationManagement (AIM)

■ Data-oriented■ Increased scope■ Terrain and obstacle data■ Follows SWIM principles■ Guides AIS to AIM transition

Traditional AeronauticalInformation Services(AIS)

■ Data-oriented■ Limited scope

AIMStrategy

Annex 15

IMStrategy

InformationManagement (IM)

■ Scope includes all ATM data■ Fully SWIM-based■ Single, merged strategy for AIM and SWIM (IM Strategy)■ Guides transition to desired IM end-state

Increasing Information Scope


This valuable information is traditional-ly published in the form of AeronauticalInformation Publications (AIPs), withshort-duration amendments being pro-vided through the use of Notices toAirmen (NOTAMs). As you start read-ing this article, approximately 18,000international NOTAMs are in forceworldwide. Within an hour, an addition-al 20 to 25 NOTAMs will have beenissued, replaced or cancelled.1

NOTAMs contain information relatingto runway closures (most commonly),situations on runways and at aero-dromes, danger area activation, taxi-way closures, etc. As a result, they areessential, indeed critical, for the safety,regularity and efficiency of internation-al air navigation.

The current NOTAM system wasdesigned more than 50 years ago andits messages are intended to be readand interpreted by humans (briefing

officers, pilots, air traffic controllers,flight dispatchers, etc.). Since theirintroduction, ICAO efforts towardsimproving the system have been ori-ented towards adding codes that allowfor better storage and selection ofNOTAM messages. However, the mostmeaningful part of the NOTAM infor-mation has remained free text, a loose-ly structured message.

Automation needed

Today’s aviation world is increasinglyreliant on computers and automatedsystems for tasks which range fromcomputer-based charting and docu-ment-editing to automatic conduct offlights. Many such systems depend onup-to-date aeronautical information,including the last-minute changeswhich are disseminated via NOTAMs.With each new type of automationequipment installed on board aircraftor at air traffic control centres, there is

increasing pressure forNOTAMs to be madeunderstandable to com-puters.

A case in point is thepresent trend towardsreplacing the papercharts and flight manualson board aircraft withelectronic ones. Papercharts, however, have afacility which is not obvious for elec-tronic charts: with the pre-flight bul-letin at hand, a pilot can annotate thepaper chart of the destination airportto indicate taxiways that are closed,work areas, temporary obstacles, etc.When the chart is readily available inelectronic form on board an aircraft,such as in an “electronic flight bag”, itis normal for a pilot to expect suchcharts to be up-to-date and to incor-porate all last-minute NOTAM informa-tion.

7

FocusFocus

AIXM: a bridge tocomputer-interpretable NOTAMsThe xNOTAM projectAeronautical information is a critical component of the present and future air trafficmanagement system, as the performance of the system is increasingly dependent onits ability to access aeronautical information which is reliable, of high quality and timely.

1- This is statisticaldata provided bythe EAD worldwideNOTAM database

By Eduard Porosnicu, xNOTAM ProjectInitiator

However, it is currently not feasible forcomputers to reliably interpret the freetext contained in NOTAMs, in order toupdate the database and in turn thechart. Using the NOTAM selection cri-teria, a computer program can detectthat a NOTAM for instance concerns ataxiway closure at Brussels airport.However, which taxiway is involved,can only be determined precisely by ahuman, who reads and interprets thefree text “E” field. Moreover, there areexamples of complex NOTAMs whicheven humans have difficulty under-standing.

If NOTAMs were fully computer-inter-pretable, then it would be possible toautomatically update the electronicchart with last-minute information. Mostpeople involved in aeronautical infor-mation management would agree thatthe time has come for such a change.NOTAM information is critical for safeflight operations and must be integrat-ed into automated data-processingchains.

The solution: AIXM

In the Aeronautical InformationManagement (AIM) Domain ofEUROCONTROL’s European Air TrafficManagement Programme (EATM), webelieve that we have found the key formaking the NOTAM text understand-able for computers. The project behindthis is known as “xNOTAM”.

The name of the solution is AIXM, whichstands for Aeronautical InformationExchange Model. AIXM is a data-exchange specification originallydeveloped for the European AISDatabase (EAD), with the objective ofencoding the structured data con-tained in AIPs and related data, suchas the flow restrictions contained in the

Route Availability Document (RAD)issued by the Central Flow Mana-gement Unit (CFMU). The first versionsof AIXM were developed by the AIMUnit of EATM, with a substantial contri-bution from the CFMU.

The AIXM standard has two main com-ponents. One component describesthe concepts of the aeronautical infor-mation domain as a collection of class-es, attributes and relationships. Thiscomponent is referred to as theAeronautical Information ConceptualModel (AICM). The AICM can be usedas the basis for the design of an AISdatabase. The second componentderives from AICM and describes howto encode aeronautical data in a formatthat can be transmitted electronicallybetween computer systems. The sec-ond component uses XML (ExtensibleMark-Up Language) as a language forsystem-to-system exchange. This com-ponent is also referred to as the XMLSchema of AIXM. Today AIXM is imple-mented in the central EAD system, in a

number of local aeronautical informa-tion systems in European States, andits use is expanding globally.

A joint effort

The next version of AIXM (5) will pro-vide the means for computer-inter-pretable NOTAMs. It is being devel-oped by EUROCONTROL in a jointeffort with the United States FederalAviation Administration (FAA), with thesupport of the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency (NGA). The aim isto position AIXM as a globally applica-ble aeronautical information exchangestandard, which can satisfy therequirements of the current and futureapplications for automated aeronauti-cal data management. The majortenets are:

■ alignment with the relevant stan-dards for geospatial information ofthe ISO 19100 series, including theuse of the Geography Mark-UpLanguage (GML);

8

AIXM: a bridge to computer-interpretable NOTAMsThe xNOTAM project

FocusFocus


■ an exhaustive temporality model,including support for the encodingof information of a temporary natureand/or short duration, as containedin NOTAMs (the essence of thexNOTAM project);

■ support for the latest industry andICAO requirements for aeronauticaldata, including obstacles, terminalprocedures and airport mappingdatabases;

■ modularity and extensibility.

The major design principles of AIXM 5are mature and have been available forpublic review since February 2006. Thedesign team is currently working onrefreshing selected AICM domains(obstacle data, terminal procedures, air-space usage, etc.). The aim is to issueAIXM 5 as a candidate release byNovember 2006.

First trials

In parallel with the AICM designprocess, a first xNOTAM trial was run by

the Darmstadt University of Technology(TUD), under contract to EURO-CONTROL. In a cockpit simulation envi-ronment, the trial demonstrated that it ispossible to automatically update an on-board electronic airport map withxNOTAM information. The main goal ofthe trial was to validate the AIXM 5 tem-porality model and to identify the gapsbetween the current AIXM capabilitiesand the aeronautical information itemsthat are relevant for digital airport maps.More information about this trial, includ-ing a short movie, is available on thewebsite at http://www.aixm.aero.

However, the business case for computer-interpretable NOTAMs is notprimarily based on benefits which willaccrue on board aircraft. In the shortterm, it is unlikely that the avionics of the

aircraft flying today will integrate auto-matic xNOTAM processors.

The future

In the short term, the most radicalimprovements brought by computer-interpretable NOTAMs are likely tooccur in the content and layout of pre-flight information bulletins (PIBs) andperhaps in the way in which the pre-flight information is delivered. It willbecome possible to apply appropriatehuman factor principles to the PIBstructure and presentation. For exam-ple, the information may be ordered byrelevance and feature affected, usingcolours and text hints to enhance read-ability, etc. The radical improvement ofPIBs does not require huge costs andcan be quickly implemented.

Finally, it is important to note that thexNOTAM project does not have as itsobjective the elimination of the NOTAMsystem. The aim is to provide the meansto make the NOTAM information com-puter-interpretable. Many end-usersand legacy systems will still need clas-sical free-text NOTAMs for many yearsto come. Consequently, the xNOTAM isbeing configured to serve current andfuture users. However, it is expectedthat with time, computer-interpretableaeronautical data will become the normand the NOTAM as we know it todaymay cease to exist. ■ ■

9

”

“xNOTAM at the FAA

The FAA has made a commitment to use AIXM in the FAA aeronautical information managementsystems. Nowhere is the adoption of AIXM more critical than for use in the United States NOTAMsystem. Trials of danger area NOTAMs (such as those used to prohibit flying near forest fires orwithin security zones) have demonstrated the value of computer-interpretable NOTAMS (see tfr.faa.gov).

The next step is to develop a prototype xNOTAM system based on AIXM 5. Over the coming year,the FAA plans to carry out the necessary research and development to create an airport surfaceand GNSS outage NOTAM collection and dissemination system based on AIXM 5. The work willdemonstrate the possibility of encoding airport surface and GNSS outage NOTAMinformation into AIXM 5. The AIXM xNOTAM information will then be distributedand used to create innovative end-user visualisation systems that enable theNOTAM customer to filter, highlight, map and read NOTAM information.(by Brett Brunk, FAA)

The core AIXM 5 design team members

Focus

Introduction

The quality of aeronautical informationis becoming more and more importantas existing and new navigation meth-ods and systems rely extensively onaccurate and reliable data. To reachthe required levels of performance,navigation and ATM systems needaeronautical information of consider-ably higher quality than that currentlyavailable.

For international civil aviation, ICAOhas specified the requirements foraeronautical data quality in Annex 15;these include accuracy, resolution,traceability, timeliness and in particularintegrity.

Integrity is understood to be a degreeof assurance that aeronautical dataand its value have not been lost oraltered since the origination or autho-rised amendment.

Recognising the common need forhigh-quality aeronautical data, theEUROCONTROL Agency has initiatedan activity called Controlled andHarmonised Aeronautical InformationNetwork (CHAIN).

Problem

The core problem appears when tasksare performed by multiple actors basedon manual processes involving numer-

10

Focus

CHAINControlled & HarmonisedAeronautical Information Network

By ManfredUnterreiner,CHAIN Manager”

“The common aim:safe and efficient flight operationsThe common need: high-quality aeronautical data


ous transaction points. At each of thesepoints, data may leave a (semi) elec-tronic (or even a fully manual) environ-ment and be transferred in paper form(= media break) rather than in electron-ic form.

As a result, we are faced with repeat-ed re-entry and checking, involving ahigh risk of error with a likely impact onsafety.

Objective

The objective of CHAIN is to improvethe accuracy and quality of the originat-ed aeronautical data and its manage-ment from the point of origination to thepoint of publication. It is designed toassist in the establishment of an auto-mated data supply chain to supportStates’ regulators, service providersand originators in their compliance with

internationally agreed standards. Thisin turn will enable system-wide interop-erability and improve the integrity andquality of aeronautical data throughoutthe data chain, through the implemen-tation and maintenance of traceable,controlled and auditable processes.

CHAIN covers flight-critical and essen-tial navigational aeronautical data (e.g.a runway threshold) as established inICAO Annex 15, supplemented by theindustry standards EUROCAE ED-76and ED-77. Based on the current man-date, CHAIN is to operate betweenMarch 2005 and September 2007.

Main deliverables

CHAIN is expected to deliver:

■ A campaign to raise awareness ofthe problem. To this end a series ofregional awareness workshops arebeing conducted in order to presentproblems, requirements andresponsibilities related to the aero-nautical data supply chain and dataintegrity, in particular. The aim is toidentify best practice, promotepotential solutions and encourageimprovement actions.

■ Guidance material to cover dataand quality management, dataexchange and data publication.

■ Harmonised specifications in sup-port of automated processes, whichis crucial to achieving integrity asthe primary threat to this is the pres-ence of manual intervention in thechain.

■ Implementation support and train-ing to assist in implementation ofCHAIN deliverables based on theECIP objective INFO5: “Improveend-to-end integrity of aeronauticaldata”.

11

Air TrafficServiceProvider

MetServiceProvider

AeronauticalInformation

Service

“Media break”Aeronautical DataTailoring Requirements

CommServiceProvider

End-Usere.g. Airlines

Aircraft owners

Other State Sources,Geographical Institute,

Equipment Services

Simulation DataApplication

ProviderFlight Planning

Data ApplicationProvider

Aerodrome

FMS DataApplicationIntegrator

End-Usere.g. Airlines,

Aircraft Owner

NOTAM

AIPs

Procedure &AirspaceDesigner

Data ServiceProvider

SARServiceProvider

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Focus

Current status

CHAIN has recently finalised the sys-tem-wide awareness phase. In parallel,the development of a series of guide-lines has taken place including pilot tri-als and implementation to proactivelyvalidate and enhance the deliverables.The implementation and training phasewill be launched in October 2006.

AwarenessEleven regional awareness workshopshave taken place to date (5 October2006). Over 400 experts from 33 Stateshave participated, representing themain data supply chain actors, includingthe military sector and industry, and cov-ering all levels from operational/ techni-cal to managerial.

Development of guidelinesA series of distinct and independentelements are being put in place to pro-vide a ‘suite’ for the various types ofactors serving a quite heterogeneousinstitutional environment.

■ The Family of Data IntegrityDocuments was finalised in May2006. These comprise guidancematerial consisting of principles, dataand quality management, dataexchange, data publication and aglossary. A further document on"Aeronautical Data Origination" is cur-rently being revised.

■ Service Level Agreements (SLAs)between data providers and aero-nautical information services arebeing developed, under the umbrellaof the regulator.

On 26 July 2006 the first SLA wassigned between AIS Latvia, VentspilsInternational Airport and the Civil

Aviation Agency as a result of thecooperation between Latvia andCHAIN through a pilot implementa-tion. Similar pilot implementations –currently ongoing in Slovakia, theNetherlands and Slovenia – showvery promising progress. On thisbasis, the SLA package can be rolledout to all stakeholders.

■ Detailed data process mapping toperform supply chain modelling andverification to map individual dataelements to processes, identify keysteps and functions, including trans-action processes. The output will be6 State-specific models (those pro-viding active input during fact-find-ing) and a generic data processmodel that can subsequently beused by all stakeholders to modeltheir processes in support of e.g.automation or SLAs.

■ Standard Input Forms (SIFs) willcover all entities which are definedby ICAO Annex 15, Appendix 7 asbeing critical and essential. Theyconsist of a set of templates for theinput of AIS data. For example, dataoriginators receive guidance on howto provide more structured and com-plete input. This is expected toenable a proactive provision of digitaldata along the supply chain support-ing and enhancing a series of qualityattributes before system-wideautomation takes place.

Development of a specificationin support of an automatedprocessThis work consists of two parts:

■ A study of existing industry workflowmanagement solutions.

■ A common and harmonised specifi-cation in support of an automatedprocess.

Its aim is to facilitate the provision of acommon operational specification for an‘automated process’ supporting States indeveloping specific, national solutionsthrough a harmonised approach.

This should directly support individualState developments or may form thebasis for individual State procurementof a process support means undernational responsibility.

This development is at an early phaseand delivery of the specification isplanned for late spring 2007.

Benefits

The main benefits to be derivedthrough CHAIN are in the areas of safe-ty and efficiency. More specificallythese have been identified as:

■ increased safety due to higher qual-ity, reliability and confidence in data;

12

Focus

CHAINControlled & HarmonisedAeronautical InformationNetwork


■ reduced costs through the reduc-tion/elimination of repeated process-ing and multiple quality checks;

■ reduced aeronautical data errorsand increased user satisfaction;

■ enhanced traceability though consistent provision of meta data;

■ improved interoperability in a digitaldata environment (process automa-tion);

■ prevention of unauthorised corrup-tion through restricted, controlledaccess.

■ improved definition of roles andresponsibilities within the process;

■ more efficient deployment of humanresources;

■ provision of a framework to conformto ICAO SARPs.

The adoption of a harmonised automat-ed process in the provision of aeronauti-cal information will contribute to higherquality, reliability and integrity and resultin increased safety for the users. In turnthis situation will contribute to increased

interoperability, thus enabling the imple-mentation of new navigation applicationsand other improvements of the EuropeanATM system.

Conclusion

The first CHAIN deliverables are avail-able. They will pave the way for pro-gressive implementation:■ national implementation actions

need to be initiated now;■ European planning and commitment

are facilitated through ECIP INF05;■ CHAIN is closely related to the SES

Aeronautical Data Integrity (ADI)mandate;

■ CHAIN is not a single solution to asingle and isolated problem. ■ ■

For further information:[email protected]/chain CHAIN OneSky teams

13

Although CHAIN's scope is 'upstream dataoperations' only (point of origination to pointof publication), the awareness phase doesconsider wider aspects of 'end-to-end' aero-nautical data integrity reflecting upon‘downstream data operations' (data integra-tion to the end users).

DATADATADATDATAATAATADADATINTEINTEEGRITYEGRITYTYTYTEGTEGINTINTNTEGRNTEGRGRITGRITRITYRITY

National QualityDatabase

DigitalStandards

Process Mapping

QMSBest Practise Awareness SLAs

SMS Standard InputForms ECIPs

AutomatedProcesses

AeronauticalData Chain

Focus

At beginning of the 1990s, the pro-cessing chain of aeronautical informa-tion was fragmented. Lacking stan-dardisation, being both manually-dri-ven and paper-based, it raised seri-ous safety concerns and meant highcosts for all parties involved. As aresult, the EUROCONTROL MemberStates decided in 1997 to launch asan alternative the European AISDatabase (EAD).

EAD is a reference database of quali-ty-assured aeronautical information,incorporating a fully-integrated state-of-the-art AIS solution. AIS units, act-ing as data providers, maintain theaeronautical information under theirresponsibility whereas airspace usersand others, acting as data users, canretrieve, consult, and download thisinformation. The European AISDatabase became fully operational inJune 2003.

Validated data forsafer flying

Before EAD, each Member State ofthe European Civil AviationConference (ECAC) had its own sys-tem for collecting and distributing itsAIS data to and from airspace usersand AIS information providers. Thisled to incoherencies in aeronauticalinformation, lack of interoperabilitybetween systems and late distribu-tion of aeronautical informationupdates.

The creation of this new, easily acces-sible database therefore addressedsafety issues through the provision ofquality data, meeting cost-effective-ness concerns and ensuring the avail-ability of data and systems.

14

Focus

The world’s largestaeronautical information serviceEAD: the European AIS Database

By Sylviane Wybo,Head of the CFMU/EADAeronautical Information Bureau

Based on a need to meet requirements regarding safety,availability and cost-effectiveness, a concept was develo-ped to improve the quality and accessibility of all aero-nautical information. Since 2003 this concept has beco-me a reality and it is known as EAD, the EuropeanAeronautical Information Services (AIS) Database.

EAD data coverageECAC AREA

Static Data Operations (SDOs)Full set of aeronautical information data published in AIPs:■ Aerodrome information including procedures and obstacles■ En-route information such as airspaces, routes, navaids and waypoints■ General information such as organisation, authority and units

International NOTAM Operations (INOs):Original NOTAM, SNOWTAM, and ASHTAM

Published Aeronautical Information Management Publication(PAMS): AIP, Amendments, Supplements, AIC and Charts

WORLDWIDE

Static Data Operations (SDOs)■ Minimum set of SDO required for NOTAM validation and pre-flight ■ Information Bulletin (PIB) generation encompassing aerodromes

identification with associated runways, airspaces (FIR, UIR, TMA, P-D-R), routes, navaids and waypoints.

International NOTAM Operations (INOs): Worldwide NOTAM, SNOWTAM and ASHTAM


Data qualityQuality of data is being increased on adaily basis with all parties involvedusing standardised rules and proce-dures to ensure cross-border consis-tency.

Cost-effectivenessThe central processing of the data andthe availability of worldwide andEuropean data, as well as the fact thatthe application is commonly developedand maintained, have reduced the costassociated with aeronautical informa-tion services.

AvailabilityData is always instantly availablethrough dedicated applications, whilesystems availability is defined in ServiceLevel Agreements.

As a reference repository of aeronauti-cal information, the EAD allows cen-

tralised management of digital aeronau-tical information based on AICM/AIXM(Aeronautical Information ConceptualModel – Exchange Model) developedby EUROCONTROL. It enhances thequality of aeronautical data by usinginternational standards and rigorousdata-checking procedures, includingin-depth validation and verification.

The role of data providers

Data providers, typically AIS units fromcivil aviation authorities, air navigationservice providers and military authori-ties, use the different EAD componentsfor the creation, maintenance and stor-age of aeronautical information. Theyretain full control of and copyright forthe data they input into EAD. The con-cept of having the data providers main-tain their data in a common database isunique in the aviation world.

… for the benefitof data users

Data users, ranging from aircraft opera-tors, aerodromes, pilots and commercialusers to the general public, can consultand download aeronautical data or pub-lications, and can generate reports fromEAD through dedicated applications orvia the internet.

EAD services

The EAD available components are:■ SDO – maintenance, download and

reporting of static data;■ INO – creation and retrieval of

NOTAM;■ PAMS – publication and consultation

of aeronautical documents;■ AIP – AIP production;■ CHART – chart production;■ PIB – generation of pre-flight

information bulletins.

In addition to the availability of the oper-ational AIS data, clients can take fulladvantage of:■ 24h/day service availability: profes-

sional staff work around the clock toprocess aeronautical information andto provide a client helpdesk.

■ Periodic data-quality reviews: datainput by both EUROCONTROL andclients is reviewed regularly againstinternational regulations and printedpublications in order to develop dataquality and continually improve com-pleteness, correctness and timeli-ness.

■ Consistency with ICAO and EURO-CONTROL standards and recom-mendations: the system, databaseand the operations are updatedwhenever new standards are intro-duced or old ones are updated.

15

EADServiceProvider

AIPBrowsing

SDOReporting/Download

DataUser

StaticData

ECACAIP Library

DynamicData

StaticData

DataProvisionWorkflow

AFTN, worldwideNOTAM reception

Worldwide AIP Subscription

TAM Processing

Figure 1: EAD Workflow for Data Provision

Figure 2: EAD Functionalities for Data Usage

Worldwide MinimumStatic Data Set Update

AIP / Supp / AIC

TAM Creation

ECACAIP Library

DynamicData

Briefing &NOTAMSubscription

eAIP Production& Charts

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PAMS

NOTAMDistribution

SDO

INO

ECACAISOffice

Military/Civil

Focus

■ Migration support: from point ofcommitment through to start of oper-ations, clients are fully supported toensure a smooth transition from theircurrent system.

■ User groups: one of the goals is toensure clients' evolving require-ments are understood. Regular UserGroups are held, to provide clientswith a forum to exchange ideas andexperiences.

■ Cost-effective integrated AIS solu-tion by implementation of automatedprocesses and a commonly devel-oped and maintained application.

Continuous evolution

As AIS is constantly evolving, EADadapts to these changes. Throughyearly releases (release 4 is currentlybeing developed), the EAD makes sure

it keeps up-to-date with the AIXM andprojects like DMEAN, CHAIN, CAS-CADE, and SESAR. Furthermore, feed-back from user experiences, shared forexample at User Group Meetings (i.e.improvement of the briefing based onthe integrated briefing specifications)and recommendations from othersources, are taken into account whendefining a new release.

Although the EAD will always be per-ceived as a centralised system, it maydevelop over time thanks to moderntechnologies into a virtual centralisedsystem, where the database itself couldphysically be operated from a numberof sites.

In January 2005, EUROCONTROL’sCFMU/EAD and AeronauticalInformation Bureau (EAB) took over all

activities related to the managementof the EAD. It is the Agency’s objec-tive to ensure both close coordinationwith data providers and the success-ful provision of the EAD service todata users, as well as the future evo-lution of the service.

Today’s concept for the future

After three years of operation, the EADhas proven its efficiency through:■ continuous improvement of data

quality;■ 99.975% availability;■ achievement of the service’s per-

formance targets.

Many ECAC States use the EAD astheir sole mean of delivering the fullscope of their AIS services while someother air navigation service providershave decided to use it in parallel withtheir existing systems. All, however,recognise the value of the EAD, andmore importantly, they recognise theimpact the EAD has on the harmonisa-tion and quality of aeronautical infor-mation.

Increasingly, other parts of the worldare showing interest in making use ofthis unique concept and exchangingdata with the EAD. The European AISDatabase will therefore continue toaddress all safety aspects and cost-effectiveness concerns of the avia-tion world, today, tomorrow and intothe future, whilst increasing theavailability and accessibility of AISinformation. ■■

[email protected]/ead

16

Focus

The world’s largest aeronautical information serviceEAD: the European AIS Database

EAD key benefitsEAD offers a number of clear benefits to both data providers and data users:

■ a reliable and easily accessible source of European aeronautical information, in real time;

■ significantly improved data quality made possible by constant data-checking (based on ICAO and EUROCONTROL recommendations)

■ data integrity ensured on the basis of cyclic redundancy checks (CRC);■ additional cross-border data-coherence verification;■ a secure channel for timely and efficient electronic distribution of aeronautical

information to all users;■ reduced workload throughout the complete AIS process;■ reduced investment costs in the development and maintenance of local

systems by both AIS units and airspace users;■ increased availability of data through easy access.

The EAD contributes to a reduction of the safety risks posed by the distribution and publication of aeronautical information. A full safety case in line with EUROCONTROLsafety regulatory requirements (ESARRs), has allowed to identify, mitigate and manage all risks with respect to the introduction, operation and correct use of the EAD.


NOP Summer 2006:a successful first release

This first summer edition of the NOPwas well received by the Agencystakeholders. It was used at workinglevel at flow management positionsmeetings and aircraft operator sum-mer briefings. Two updates of the doc-uments were made available on theCFMU website in July and Septemberso as to reflect the latest planninginformation available.

In total, 850 copies of the documentshave been distributed; the NOP file hasbeen downloaded more than 2500times and 6500 NOP-related pageshave been consulted since the publica-tion.

ports regarding in particular de-icingand management of chaotic situations,and special events and dynamic man-agement of the Route AvailabilityDocument using CFMU 11 functionali-ties.

The plan will be consolidated via theautumn FMP regional meetings and theDOP meeting.

The CFMU will publish the NOP Winter2006 in mid-November. ■■

The document will be downloadable from the CFMU websitewww.cfmu.eurocontrol.int/cfmu and the DMEAN pagewww.eurocontrol.int/dmean

17

ReviewReview

Network Operations PlanLatest news

The Network OperationsPlan (NOP) is a key tool inthe achievement of opera-tional improvements in thecontext of the DynamicManagement of theEuropean AirspaceNetwork (DMEAN) Programme. This document incorporates the existing information on traffic demand and capacity plans, identifyingbottlenecks and presentingthe air traffic flow, capacityand airspace managementmeasures being planned tocounterbalance them.

NOP Winter 2006: the process goes on

The successful operational partnershipapproach involving the main ATM part-ners continues.

The NOP Winter 2006 issue will becompiled using feedback from users aswell as the experience gained in estab-lishing the coordination process to gen-erate the plan.

It will cover mainly network measuresand activities such as winter scenarioscovering the ski traffic and the Santaflights flow, winter procedures at air-

IndependentPlatform

Somebody has to assemble and dis-seminate the information. Yet there is noglobally unified aeronautical informationsystem, and the standards that definewhat is required are in dire need of anupdate, a fact acknowledged by theInternational Civil Aviation Organiza-tion’s Air Navigation Commission. Ofcourse an AIS exists today, and it doeswork, but it consists of individual, nation-ally-based entities working to specifica-tions first published in Annex 15 in May1953, with no fundamental updatessince then. And there is no global AISquality control system.

At the end of June this year in Madrid,Spain, the EUROCONTROL-organisedGlobal AIS Congress agreed on theneed for a coordinated worldwideapproach, and it identified numerousareas for action. Heading the list wasthe recommendation that ICAO shouldadopt a standard model for aeronauti-cal information, a standard system forexchanging it, develop a means of

defining and ensuring compliance, andset up a system for managing anddeveloping both the model and theexchange system. The whole system,the Congress agreed, should be basedon digital information technology andcommunications.

Director of Air Traffic Management(ATM) Strategies at EUROCONTROLBo Redeborn says it was no accidentthat the Agency is heading the movetoward AIS digitisation. Europe’snationally fragmented ATM system,

unlike the US Federal AviationAdministration’s single organisationfor a country of geographically similarsize to continental Europe, meant thatits AIS were similarly complex. So in1997 it decided to set up theEuropean AIS Database (EAD), a uni-fied digital system for Europe thatwould have the potential for formingpart of a global network. It has nowbeen active since 2003.

Based on the concepts employed forEAD, EUROCONTROL and the USFAA have since developed what iseffectively a prototype for a globalsystem. Known as the AeronauticalInformation Conceptual Model(AICM), it embodies a networkingenabler called the AeronauticalInformation Exchange Model (AIXM),and these models have both beenwelcomed by the national aviationauthorities of the world’s major avia-tion nations. Now they are calling onICAO to provide the forum throughwhich this can be agreed, ratified,and made to happen.

The oxygen metaphor is not an exag-geration of how important aeronauticalinformation is to all aviation operations.Without it, charts of the world’s airwaysand airports could not be created and

provided to pilots, and flightmanagement systems on aircraftwould have no geographical, ter-rain, or route waypoint coordi-nates to upload, so navigationwould be impossible. On a localscale, warnings of – for example– work in progress that shortens

a runway temporarily would beunknown to the arriving pilots whowould innocently land and find theusable runway length is shorter thanpublished – possibly with disastrousconsequences.

20

Independent Platform

The role of AISin future ATM systems

By DavidLearmount, Operations andSafety Editor, FlightInternational

Aeronautical information is aviation’s oxygen. Without itpilots cannot navigate and they have no advance warningof changes, hazards and inoperative systems, andcontrollers have no access to information about changesin infrastructure status both en route and at airports. Sowithout high-quality aeronautical information, there can beno high-quality air navigation service provision.

Bo Redeborn says it was no accident that the Agencyis heading the move towardAIS digitisation.


Aeronautical information takes variousforms. There is the information that ispermanent, like geographical coordi-nates defining terrain; semi-permanent,like local variations to internationalpractices – for example the definition ofaltitude in metres rather than feet; andtemporary, like equipment or infrastruc-ture that is unserviceable or undermaintenance. It is about routes, air-space structure and who controls it,local procedures and regulations, serv-ices (radio communications, radio nav-igation beacons and radar surveil-lance), and service providers. Andinformation on all of these regularlyneeds updating for both temporary andlong-term changes. Finally, pilots needweather information, both forecast andreal-time, at airports and in the upperatmosphere.

At present, aeronautical information isgathered locally at points all around theworld, committed to paper, then trans-mitted either by post or by what areeffectively telegrams via aeronauticaltelecommunications networks to a mas-sive number of addressees. At thereceiving end they are printed out andmay be transcribed for local distribu-tion within an airline, an operations cen-tre at an airport, or at a national aviationauthority. Ken Reid, the Head ofEUROCONTROL’s AIS Team, pointsout that the more transcriptions or inter-pretations there are in the informationchain, the greater the potential for intro-ducing unintentional mistakes.

By today’s digital communicationsstandards, the world’s AIS is not a trulyglobal system, neither does it have theaccuracy and integrity of, for example,financial trading or banking networks.Yet there is no reason why AIS couldnot – and should not – be brought up tothat level.

At the Global AIS Congress, Reid pre-sented what he called “the road mapfor change”. He explains: “We shouldmove away from reliance on paper-based, specified products to the provi-sion and management of data itself,and let the end users select the infor-mation or data they want to use, andenable them to customise their owntools to do it.” That would, Reidexplains, transform an aeronauticalinformation provision system into anaeronautical information management(AIM) system – a data-bank that couldbe accessed for precisely the informa-tion relevant to a pilot’s needs for a par-ticular flight or mission. For example, apilot could sit down at an AIXM termi-nal, enter a departure airport, principleroute waypoints, the destination andpotential alternate airports, and thisquery would locate all the data for theentire route or – if it were a schedule thepilot flies often – just the notices to air-men (NOTAMs) that apply to it current-ly. All the information would be sourcedfrom its point of origin, so althoughhuman error at the point of entry cannotbe ruled out, transcription and interpre-tation errors would be eliminated. Also,the information will be delivered in plainEnglish, not in the code currently used,Reid explains. Finally, if the meteoro-logical service were to become part ofthe AIXM, the weather for the route

could be extracted at the same time.Reid characterises the change from anAIS to an AIM system as being one ofthe most significant objectives of theupgrading process.

Reid presented the Congress with adescription of the long road to get toAIM, and named the essential partnersin charting its course and the chal-lenges they face. ICAO is the essentialenabler, he made clear – it is the onlyforum with the constitution and the cloutto ensure global cooperation. Yet, hetold the Congress: “The scope ofAnnex 15 [the present ICAO documentdefining standards and recommendedpractices on AIS] is too restrictive. Sochange is needed – and needed now!”ICAO is ready – in principle – to do this,Reid pointed out. The 11th AirNavigation Conference at the ICAOheadquarters in Montreal in September2003 made three recommendations forAIS: that it should move to a digitalenvironment; that it should adopt acommon information exchange model –and in that context the AIXM wasspecifically mentioned. Also, the AirNavigation Commission recommend-ed, Annexes 4 (which covers charts)and 15 (which covers the AIS) shouldbe reviewed urgently. The only problemis that, although much groundwork todefine the AICM/AIXM can be done

21

IndependentPlatform

between now and 2010, it will not beuntil that year that the plan can be rati-fied at ICAO’s Assembly in Montreal.Assemblies are convened every threeyears, but by the 2007 Assembly thedetailed proposals will not yet beready. Until the requirements for digitalAIM are embodied in an updatedAnnex 15, however, according to Reid,many nations will not convert to it how-ever desirable the objective is seen tobe.

Meanwhile EUROCONTROL is lead-ing the digitisation of its MemberStates’ AIS, and has set up theEuropean Aeronautical InformationServices Database (EAD), which Reiddescribes as “a component, and thefirst step into the digitisation of data”.But, he adds: “There is a huge amountmore to do, and of course the EAD isdesigned by Europe for Europe, itdoes not cover the world”. It does,however, host some global informa-tion – what Reid refers to as the “theAnnex 15 material, the material nor-mally found in aeronautical informa-tion publications [AIP]” – but only the

geospatial data so far. Some individ-ual countries, Reid reveals, havealready converted their AIP informa-tion into digital form: Belgium becamethe first of them, he explains, as aresult of its taking part in a EURO-CONTROL project based on AIXM, soit has the foundations for taking part inthe future AIM system.

For those countries which will struggleto find the resources to digitise theirsystems, Reid has talked to the WorldBank to see if that organisation couldprovide the necessary assistance.The costs are actually very low, hesays, and once a nation’s AIS hasbeen digitised, the costs of providingthe service drop dramatically at thesame time as the levels of accuracyand integrity have the potential to rise.

When all aviation countries or regionshave digitised their AIS and created alocal, updatable database, the AIXMwill enable them all to become an inte-grated network. Not only national AISdatabases, but terrain databases,obstacle databases, meteorological

databases, “will all be able to be syn-thesised into a single tool”, Reidexplains. The meteorological servicesare talking to the managers of AISwith the aim of enabling the informa-tion to be merged by adopting thesame language.

The International Air TransportAssociation (IATA) is starting its ownAIS working group next year, not hav-ing taken a great deal of interest in thesubject up to this point. However, theairlines are now beginning to realisethat there may be a serious businesscase for the greater operational effi-ciencies accurate AIM can bring.Since, as Reid says, “if you don’t getAIM you don’t get future air trafficmanagement (ATM) systems – it’s assimple as that”, the airlines now see itas being in their interest to have astake in how AIM develops. Reidexplains further: “If you want to intro-duce Precision Area Navigation(PRNAV) into the Terminal Manoeuv-ring Areas (TMAs), unless you canguarantee the quality of the data youcan’t have it. So where do you getyour capacity growth from?” Thesame is true of positioning aircraftcloser – with safety – in any airspace:“You can only do that by guaranteeingthe precise position of the aircraft, soif the underlying geospatial data is nothigh enough quality, you can’t do it,”Reid points out.

EUROCONTROL plans to host a mini-Global AIS Congress at its Brusselsheadquarters in 2007 just after theParis Air Show, and another full-scaleCongress is expected to take place in2010. The pressure to advance isinexorable, and EUROCONTROL isdoing what it can to facilitate theprocess and to help ICAO in its cen-tral role. ■■

22

Independent Platform

The role of AIS in future ATM systems

Airlines are also realising

the greater operational efficiencies

accurate AIM can bring


Both States and ICAO need to step uptheir efforts if they are to meet the reg-ulatory challenges inherent in readyingaeronautical information services forthe role they will play in the future ATMenvironment.

Australia accepted the task of identify-ing some of the regulatory questionsthat will need to be addressed.

We fully realise the extent of the task.Some little time ago, Australia com-menced a study of the arrangementsfor delivering the Australian AIS. Ourthinking has been driven by the ICAOGlobal ATM Operational Concept andthe idea of a global AIS. We are alsowell aware of the established role of pri-vate data providers, not just in theAustralian market, but also globally.

As the Aviation Policy Agency for gov-ernment, we needed to examine theissues from the broadest possible per-

spective. Therefore, we focussed onjust what an AIS is – it is a comprehen-sive system of equipment, processesand people by which the State fulfils itsobligation to provide the “aeronauticalinformation/data necessary for thesafety, regularity and efficiency of airnavigation”.

The review is not yet complete. However,I can outline some of the key issues wehave considered.

The ICAO Global ATMOperational Concept

Australia is strongly influenced by theconclusions of the 11th Air NavigationConference (ANC) of ICAO in 2003.ANC-11 made it very clear that AIS wascentral to the long-term vision of aGlobal ATM and that it needed to con-siderably improve data quality andintegrity and also needed to develop anefficient means of data exchange.

Oversight by the safetyregulator

The performance of Australia’s AISprovider, Airservices, is not currentlysubject to oversight from the safety reg-ulator. ICAO Annex 15 calls for theestablishment of quality systems and,while there is every confidence in theability of Airservices1 to meet therequirements of the Annex, the provi-sion of the AIS remains a State respon-sibility, even where delegated or allo-cated to an agency.

23

StakeholderForumStakeholder Forum

AIS regulationThe need for change

The following article is a synopsis of a presentation given by Mr Sargent to the GlobalAIS Congress, in June this year. It presents an excellent outline of the institutional issuesthat are not unique to Australia but are common to all States. It recognises that only byall States working closely with ICAO can we address the challenges on a global basis.

By Stuart Sargent,General Manager,Office of AirspaceManagement, Department ofTransport andRegional Services,Australia

1- AirservicesAustralia is a gorvernment-owned corporationproviding safe andenvironmentallysound air trafficcontrol manage-ment and relatedairside services tothe aviation indus-try. Its FIR coversAustralian airspaceas well as theinternationalairspace over thePacific and IndianOceans.

www.airservices.gov.au

StakeholderForum

Therefore, we have concluded thatthere should be independent oversightof Airservices to confirm Australia’scompliance with Annex 15 as well asthe performance of Airservices as datacompiler and manager.

The publishing function

The location of and arrangements forthe publishing function should be abusiness decision for the AIS provider,provided Annex 15 and domestic safe-ty regulatory requirements are met. Inour case, we also recognise thatAirservices has a monopoly on the pro-vision of aeronautical data. TheAustralian government has systems inplace to ensure that a monopoly posi-tion cannot be abused.

Data chain integrity

The increasing importance of datameans States have added responsibili-ties for the integrity of aeronautical data– see for example the heavy require-ments of amendment 33 to Annex 15.

As a number of aviation administrationsare realising, much of the data in use tosupport precision navigation applica-tions in the approach phase of flight(the most operationally critical phase)does not meet the “critical” standard ofaccuracy now specified in Annex 15.Safety cases based on the achieve-ment of the reliability standards cannot

be sound if these levels are not deliv-ered.

Errors in current data sets are alreadycausing problems that are requiring theuse of additional checking mecha-nisms to ensure safety levels for specif-ic operations such as RNAV (GNSS)and RNP approaches. Demonstrablyaccurate data is essential for emergingATM and FMS systems to be intro-duced safely.

The question of the integrity of data ismost acute when considering the wholedata chain, particularly once it has leftthe State provider and is in the hands ofthird-party data providers. It is surelyan anachronism today for private sec-tor data processors to manually tran-scribe State data, as they do. This hasbeen unavoidable to date because sofew States have automated, butAustralia is forming the view that manu-

al processes are becoming a liability asthe demands on data accuracy esca-late.

States need to insist upon higher lev-els of data integrity and robust, com-mon mechanisms are needed to sup-port them. This was well recognisedby ANC 11, which urged ICAO to:“urgently adopt a common aeronauti-cal information exchange model, tak-ing into account operational systemsor concepts of data interchange,including specifically, AICM/AIXMwhich was under development byEUROCONTROL and the FAA, andtheir mutual interoperabilities.”

States also need to develop methodsof including the regulation of the oper-ation of third-party data providers intheir safety regulatory systems. Thiswill be an important focus of work inAustralia.

24

Stakeholder Forum


The future of AIS

The Congress heard about the futurefor AIS – and the necessity forenhanced interoperability. ICAO’s ATMOperational Concept calls for a conver-gence of the data needs of airlines,pilots, air traffic control and airports.This demands an integrated approachto AIS.

IATA’s implementation road map alsomakes specific reference to the needfor standardised flight information dataset formats and for the developmentand implementation of integrated dataservices.

While the SWIM (System WideInformation Management) concept maybe something for the future, it is impor-tant to ensure our systems are con-structed to fit that framework.

Data will need to be managed so that allplayers can access the database. AISmanagers will be less in the business ofoffering predetermined hard productsthey think users want – they will need toprovide data to feed whatever needsusers decide for themselves they want –in an AICM/AIXM-compliant quality-assured process if the ANC 11 recom-mendations are implemented.

Clearly, there needs to be a debateabout the boundaries of the State AIS –to determine what data sets, and to what

quality, need to be provided by the Stateand what does not.

A global approach, and a complemen-tary operating model in which all play-ers are allowed to use the commondata as best fit their requirements, isessential.

Third-party providers

Of course, there already is a global AIS– private data suppliers have been con-solidating State AIPs for many years.Generally for the cost of a subscriptionto the State AIP, they have built a busi-ness of repackaging State AIS data fortheir customers. Not only do they pro-vide a “one-stop-shop” access to theworld’s global AIS information, theyalso fill an indispensable need in trans-lating that information into digital form,suitable for use in aircraft flight man-agement systems and GPS data cards.

The private sector has been the driverof innovation in aviation and Australia isconcerned to strike the right balancebetween regulatory oversight in theinterests of safety and allowing suffi-cient freedom for the private sector todevelop services and respond to mar-ket demands. Australia believes thatprivate suppliers are an integral part ofthe aviation industry.

However, ICAO guidance on howStates should regulate their access to

State AIS is at best ambiguous. There isa need for agreement on clear princi-ples to govern access if we are to takebest advantage of the ICAO vision for aGlobal ATM. Australia believes thatICAO is in the best position to providethis guidance, most likely in the contextof further development of Annex 15.

As already mentioned, these down-stream suppliers also need to comeunder the same disciplines regardingdata integrity and quality assurance asState AIS providers.

Conclusions

We can draw a number of importantconclusions about the regulatory taskfacing us, both as regulators of theState AIS and as participants in thefuture global AIS:

■ A Global ATM system needs a glob-al, integrated and quality-assuredAIS.

■ States have a responsibility to regu-late both the State AIS and the oper-ations of downstream suppliers.

■ The future of aviation will be data-driven – for all players – and AIS willbe central to that future.

■ As this future approaches, Stateswill face new regulatory challengeswhere a way will have to be found toencourage innovation while ensur-ing that the data reaching the enduser is safe.

■ Private sector aeronautical datasuppliers are an integral part of thecurrent and future global AIS andICAO guidance on principles to gov-ern their access to State AIS will beimportant for the achievement of aglobal AIS.

To meet these challenges, both Statesand ICAO need to step up to the mark. ■■

25

AIS regulationThe need for change

StakeholderForum

Background

The growing importance of aeronauticalinformation is recognised throughoutAfrica. Yet just as in many other parts ofthe world its quality and timeliness maynot be as required by ICAO Standardsand Recommended Practices (SARPs)detailed in Annex 15 (AeronauticalInformation Services – AIS).

In an effort to increase the level of aware-ness of the AIS/MAP service providers inthe ICAO African and Idian Ocean (AFI)Region regarding quality issues and inconsequence the need for conformitywith and application of SARPs, and tofoster implementation of the AIS quality

systems and automation, the ICAOWACAF Office organised an AIS/MAPSpecial Implementation ProjectWorkshop for States of the Region inDakar, Senegal, on 11-14 October 2005.

The corresponding report can be down-loaded from the ICAO public website atwww.icao.int/ from the list of meetings for2005.

The AIS/MAP SpecialImplementation ProjectWorkshop

The Workshop considered the objectiveof aeronautical information services,which is to ensure the flow of informationnecessary for safe, orderly and efficientinternational air navigation. As each Statemust interact with one another, AIS wasrecognised to be a truly global business.

In spite of the economic hardship affect-ing most States in the region, theWorkshop was well attended with 60 par-ticipants from 26 AFI ICAO ContractingStates and four international aviationorganisations. This participation servedto highlight the recognition in the AFIRegion of the key role of aeronauticalinformation in air traffic management(ATM) and the importance attached bythis Region to coping with the challengesposed by the global implementation ofaeronautical information management(AIM).

In practical terms, the Workshop consid-ered topics which were of great interestto the ICAO African Region and in someways pre-empted the Global AISCongress of June this year. It presentedthe current status and challenges of glob-al AIS, the implications for the AFI Regionand its possible contribution.

The Workshop highlighted that AIS ischanging rapidly from AIS to AIM andthat the AFI Region is being invited,indeed being challenged, to be a partof the future global AIM. The AFIRegion showed its determination toembrace such change and to shape itto suit its own purposes.

The Workshop also clearly recognisedthat the role and importance of aero-nautical information/data has changedsignificantly with the implementation ofArea Navigation (RNAV), RequiredNavigation Performance (RNP) and air-borne computer-based navigation sys-tems. It was agreed that aeronauticaldata has become a critical componentof present and future ATM systems.States in the AFI Region were urged totake the message home to ensure thatappropriate follow-up action was takenby their respective authorities. In partic-ular, they were encouraged to facilitatethe implementation of the ICAO provi-sions in the fields of AeronauticalInformation Services (AIS) andAeronautical Charts (MAP).

Actions

Efforts on various fronts are beingundertaken by the African Regiontowards the implementation of theICAO provisions.

With respect to AIS automation, Stateswhich have not yet introduced automa-tion within their aeronautical informationservices have been encouraged to doso.

The African States are also undertakingactions to implement the IntegratedAeronautical Information Package(IAIP), Aeronautical Information Regu-

Stakeholder Forum

By GeorgesBaldeh,Regional OfficerAIS/MAP,ICAO RegionalOffice Dakar

26

The evolution of global aeronautical information management The impact on AIS in Africa


lation and Control (AIRAC), pre-flightand post-flight information, aeronauti-cal charts, notification of differencesfrom ICAO Annexes 4 and 15, as wellas the AFI Facilities and Implementa-tion Directory (FASID) AIS Tables.

Noting that the ability to viewAeronautical Information Publication(AIP) components electronically isbecoming increasingly available, espe-cially as the use of the Internet increas-es, the AFI States have been encour-aged and are undertaking action tomake every effort for their AIPs to beavailable electronically for briefing pur-poses at established aerodrome units.

Given the need expressed by most air-craft operators and AIS users, it wasnoted that there is a top-priority require-ment for the updating of instrumentapproach charts, aerodrome obstaclecharts, aerodrome charts and preci-sion-approach terrain charts (for run-way categories II and III) and the AFIStates are undertaking action on a joint-cooperation basis.

In respect of the most challengingrequirements of implementing the pro-visions of Amendment 33 to Annex 15,namely digital terrain and obstructiondata, as of 20 November 2008 Stateswill make available terrain and obstacledata according to Area 1 and terraindata according to Area 4 specifications(Annex 15 standard 10.2, 10.3 and10.4). As of 18 November 2010 Statesare to make available terrain and obsta-cle data according to Areas 2 and 3specifications (Annex 15 standard10.2, 10.3 and 10.4).

In this connection, the ICAO RegionalOffice Dakar is seeking the support of

the ANC/ICAO Council for theapproval of an AFI Region SIPWorkshop in the year 2007 on the pro-vision of terrain and obstacle dataaccording to Area 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Annex15 standard 10.2, 10.3 and 10.4).1

Challenges

Aeronautical information services inthe ICAO African Region are facingmany challenges. This is primarily dueto a variety of causes: the integrity ofaeronautical information is currentlyconsiderably below ICAO require-ments; the dissemination of aeronauti-cal information is often not timely (andvaries significantly from State toState); the data accuracy and dataresolution do not always fulfill therequirements for performance-basednavigation; working practices in manyAIS offices are still based on manualprocesses; and quality managementsystems have not yet been implement-ed in many States.

More specifically, the region mustaddress the need for automatedAIS/MAP and the eventual development

of an integrated AFI Region AIS automa-tion system. Enhancing the level ofautomation within the AFI States’ AISwould contribute to overcoming the cur-rent deficiencies related to aeronauticalinformation in the context of the globalATM operational concept.

To this end, ICAO adopted theAPIRG/15 Conclusion 15/43 –(Centralised AFI AIS Database) whichstates inter alia: “that IATA, in coopera-tion with ICAO and air navigation serv-ice providers in the AFI Region, studythe establishment of a centralised AFIAIS database similar to the EuropeanAIS Database (EAD) and forward it tothe AIS/MAP Task Force for its consid-eration”.2

It is worth noting that item “g” of theterms of reference of the AFI RegionAIS/MAP Task Force states that:

“Any State in the in the AFI Regionwhich is unable to meet the AIS/MAPrequirements may arrange, in theinterest of improved efficiency, on thebasis of bi- or multi-lateral agree-ments between States or other non-

27

1- From conver-sations during theGlobal AISCongress it became apparentthat all States aregrappling withidentifying themeans to imple-ment this verydemanding set of requirements.

2- The ICAORegional OfficerAIS/MAP at DakarRegional Office isthe secretary ofthe AIS/MAP taskforce and is currently workingon a draft plan forthe establishmentof a centralisedAFI AIS databasesimilar to the EAD to suit thepurposes of theAFI Region withinthe framework ofthe African CivilAviationCommission(AFCAC), whichcollectively embodies all theStates in the AFIRegion.

ICAO WACAF OfficeThis Office was established in Dakar (Senegal) in 1963 and has 24 accredited ICAOContracting States in the African and Indian Ocean (AFI) Region. A multidisciplinary teamof 25 staff members carries out the Office's mandate, which is:

■ to promote the ICAO policies and Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs)contained in the Annexes to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (signed inChicago on 7 December 1944) and to further the implementation of the Air NavigationPlans (ANPs) approved by the Organisation on the basis of the recommendationsissued by Regional Air Navigation (RAN) Meetings and the AFI Planning andImplementation Regional Group (APIRG); and

■ to closely liaise with States of accreditation, appropriate organisations and regional civilaviation bodies, by giving advice and providing necessary assistance as required intheir endeavours to establish and maintain a coordinated and high-performance air nav-igation system aiming at a safe, orderly and efficient air transport system.

This Office also provides support and assistance to the Secretariat of the African CivilAviation Commission (AFCAC), which is a specialised agency of the African Union (AU) inthe field of civil aviation.

StakeholderForum

governmental organisations, for theprovision of aeronautical informationas well as other technical administra-tive aspects associated with sucharrangement”. This statement is in fullcompliance with the provisions ofAnnex 15 with regard to service pro-vision. Nevertheless, the State retainsfull responsibility for the informationthat is published on its behalf.

From the foregoing, it can be seen thatthe AFI Region has clearly identified theshortcomings of AIS, the challenges thatit faces and its determination to affectchange. In doing so it has mirrored theconclusions of other ICAO Regions,which in turn led to the Global AISCongress. After having noted the chal-lenges, what is however the current sta-tus of AIS in the Region?

Current AIS Status

AIS automationEighteen States of the ICAO Westernand Central African (WACAF) regionhave started AIS automation at their

main airports and they have a commonwebsite where all AIS products (AIP, AIPSupplements, AIC, Summaries,Checklists of NOTAMs) are posted onthe ASECNA AIS website: www.ais-asecna.org.

AIPsOf the 24 WACAF States, 23 States havepublished their AIPs in accordance withthe new three-part format, recommend-ed by ICAO.

Provision of aeronautical dataat aerodrome and aeronauticalinformation officesPresently, some aerodromes in theregion can issue pre-flight informationbulletins for flights departing to regionalor inter-continental aerodromes elec-tronically and more are following suit.

NOTAM distributionAll States in the region use the standardICAO NOTAM format, which containsnecessary qualifiers needed to facilitatestoring, sorting and retrieval of NOTAMinformation.

Implementation of WGS-84CoordinatesTwenty-two States of the region haveconducted coordinated surveys forWorld Geodetic System (WGS-84) attheir main airports. The conversion ofreporting points was done and dis-seminated in AIPs.

An Implementation Training Program-me was concluded with the USNational Geospatial IntelligenceAgency (NGA), which provided work-shop training for regional WGS-84 sur-veyors to support GNSS aeronauticaloperations.

A global challenge

The subjects discussed and the chal-lenges noted in the ICAO African Regionare echoed around the world. Theydescribe well the task that global AIScollectively must address in order toprovide aeronautical information of thequality and timeliness required by ATM.

The article demonstrates that that theAFI Region is fully aware of its respon-sibilities with regard to AIS and thechallenges that face AIS providersboth today and tomorrow in the transi-tion to AIM. It is clear that AFI Regionis determined and committed to mak-ing the required change.

The problems of data quality, timeli-ness and resources are common tomany AIS throughout the world andthe AFI Region looks forward to work-ing with its global colleagues toensure that its stakeholders’ needs aresatisfied. ■ ■

28

Stakeholder Forum

The evolution of global aeronauticalinformation managementThe impact on AIS in Africa

ReviewReview

Harmonising air traffic controllertraining standardsEUROCONTROL issues its first-ever ATCcertificate of competence


The Institute has been training ab-initiostudents for years. The difference inthis case however was the introductionof the student ATC certificate of com-petence reflecting the changes in thelicensing of controllers over recentyears.

Background

The Agency has always issued its airtraffic controllers with certificates ofcompetence since the beginning ofoperations of the Maastricht UAC in1972. This was founded on an earlierdecision of the then Policy andPlanning Committee (PPC) of the fourStates1, which has since been lost inthe mists of time.

The Institute has always been involvedin training controllers, too. However, thecurriculum was based on internalAgency decisions which have alsoevolved over time, particularly with theincreasing use of radar control and theprogressive disappearance of proce-dural control functions. Students whosucceeded in their “Institution” trainingsimply went on to Maastricht UAC andfollowed the local unit training plan until“validating” on their first sector, whenthey received their ATC certificate ofcompetence.

In October 2000 the Safety RegulationCommission produced a safety regula-tion for “ATM services' personnel”ESARR5. This was adopted by thePermanent Commission and as a resultall EUROCONTROL Member Stateswere mandated to implement therequirements.

In essence, the regulation required airtraffic controllers to be licensed – thisdid not change much for the Agency asit had already been issuing equivalentcertificates since 1972. However, it didintroduce a new concept – that of thestudent ATC licence. The purpose wasto ensure that, for safety reasons,trainees did not carry out any duties ina live environment without having hadadequate preparatory training. Again,this was fully in line with Agency prac-tices, but the issuing of a studentlicence for this was new. This in itselfwas no great change, but it came withadditional requirements. ESARR5 intro-duced a training curriculum, known asCommon Core Content, which formedthe basis of training for all air trafficcontrol ratings.

Air traffic controllerlicence

A further development came with theEuropean Commission proposing aDirective for the licensing of air trafficcontrollers in the European Union. ThisDirective, EC 2006/23/EC on aCommunity air traffic controller licence,finally released on 5 April 2006, drewheavily on the work carried out forESARR5. Its purpose, apart from thesafety issue, is to introduce greaterflexibility within the labour market, andit requires Member States to mutuallyrecognise the ATC licences of otherMember States. It also mandates theuse of the Common Core Content asthe basis for the training of air trafficcontrollers. The EU Directive goes fur-ther, requiring regulatory authorities tocertify ATC training providers.

29

By Jan van den Assem,Head of theAgency SafetyRegulatoryOversight Unit

On 7 July 2006 a group of

trainees received their

student ATC certificate of

competence, after having

successfully completed the

ab-inito 40 course at the

EUROCONTROL Institute of

Air Navigation Services in

Luxembourg. This was a

major achievement for them

as they demonstrated the

required knowledge and

capability to begin ATC

on-the-job training at an

operational unit – more

specifically at the Maastricht

Upper Area Control Centre

(UAC). At the same time,

this event was a significant

step forward in the safety

regulatory framework within

the Agency and the EURO-

CONTROL Member States. 1- Beneluxand Germany

Review

This is a key development towardsovercoming the mobility problems of airtraffic controllers caused by differentlicensing and training standards, med-ical requirements, etc. in the variousEuropean States.

Consequently, the progressive intro-duction of safety regulations and labourmarket freedom have brought about achange in the training requirements forair traffic controllers. In short, the train-ing establishments must be approved,they must teach a curriculum based onCommon Core Content, and at the end,the student should receive a licence (orcertificate of competence) which istrustworthy and can be mutually recog-nised by any other EU Member State.

What at first seemed just a simple pieceof paper is in fact the tip of an iceberg,where what is below the surface ismuch bigger and more significant thanwould at first appear. Looking back tothe 1971 decision of the Policy andPlanning Committee, it becomes obvi-ous that now is the opportune momentto review the lost-in-time air traffic con-troller licensing requirements and bring

them up to date with the latest interna-tional developments.

At Agency level

What then do these developments meanfor the Agency and its air traffic controllertraining programme? Firstly, the AgencySafety Regulatory Oversight Unit (ASRO)prepared an Executive Rule (ER) on thetraining and certification of air traffic con-trollers. This was issued by the EURO-CONTROL Director General and cameinto force in September 2005. Essentiallythe ER transposes within the regulatoryframework of the Agency the generic ESARR-5 requirements into more specif-ic requirements relating to the MaastrichtUAC and the Institute, as ATC trainingproviders. It also introduced the studentATC certificate of competence, for thefirst time.

An Executive Rule does not in itself gen-erate the level of safety which is beingsought. That comes from actually imple-menting the training curriculum andensuring that students are taught inaccordance with it. This task has been asignificant undertaking for the Institute.

Prior to the Executive Rule, controllertraining had been streamlined and tar-geted at the upper airspace ofMaastricht UAC – a very advanced sys-tem. As such it did not seek to providethe trainee controllers with an all-roundappreciation of other types of airspaceand control techniques which mightneed to be used in less sophisticatedsystems. However, the introduction of acommon curriculum made it necessaryto take a wider view of the controllertraining. If every Member State onlytrains for its own ATC systems, then theword “common” would cease to haveany real value in terms of Common CoreContent, and the idea of mutual recogni-tion of licences and freedom of move-ment, advocated by the EU, would behard to sustain.

Thus, the Institute had the demandingtask of comparing the training curricu-lum planned for the ab-initio students forMaastricht with the Common CoreContent curriculum. This was indeed along and gruelling task, not only for themeticulous approach which needed tobe taken, but also because it was anunforeseen workload placed on top ofthe already busy staff of the Institute.

Finally, after a thorough two years ofevaluation, the Institute was in a positionto present an assessment of the coursewith the Common Core Content curricu-lum, together with a proposal for adapta-tion to meet any objectives not currentlyachieved. This assessment coveredboth the basic course, common to all rat-ings, and the Area Control Surveillance(with radar endorsement) rating course.

The ASRO Unit, which is charged withthe safety oversight function within theAgency, received this evaluation andproceeded with a series of four audits,over an eight month period, in which theauditors verified the compliance of the

30

Review

Harmonising air traffic controller training standardsEUROCONTROL issues its first-ever ATC certificate of competence

The mutualrecognition ofATC licences

contributesto air trafficcontroller’s

mobility


updated course of the Institute againstthe Common Core Content objectives.As is often the case with external over-sight, a number of deviations were iden-tified. The Institute was however able tocorrect any problem in a relatively shorttime, thanks to the considerable dedica-tion and commitment of its staff. TheASRO Unit was able to approve thecourse as Common Core Content com-pliant, by the end of June 2006.

Another element of the Executive Rulewas the introduction of a separate med-ical oversight process, under the formalresponsibility of the Head of MedicalServices. The purpose is to ensure anindependent medical fitness assess-ment of air traffic controllers, whichmeets internationally agreed stan-dards. In future, all air traffic controllerand student air traffic controllers will beissued with a medical certificate by anapproved medical examiner, which willform part of the new ATC certificate ofcompetence and student ATC certifi-cate of competence.

Despite the completion of all thesetasks, there still remained the produc-tion of the certificate. The ExecutiveRule requires air traffic controllers tohave the certificate with them – toensure they have proof they are opera-tionally current and medically fit. Thisrequired the format of the present cer-tificate to be reduced to a new compactformat which could be easily carriedaround. Also, it was desirable to haveboth the ATC certificate and the stu-dent ATC certificate in the same format.Eventually a suitable compact formatwas developed and it was ready for thegraduation ceremony in July.

This being the first time a student ATCcertificate of competence had beenissued, a handout was prepared anddelivered with the certificate explaining

the rights, privileges and responsibili-ties of the holder.

When the student certificate was hand-ed over to the successful trainees inJuly, it might have looked just like a sim-ple piece of paper in a small yellow hold-er. It was however the culmination of achain of events set in motion by theSRC, and a great deal of unseen workby many people within the Agency.

The result is that the trainees now holda student certificate of competence

which is fully compliant with the newAgency Executive Rules and theESARR5 requirements prepared bythe SRC and adopted by thePermanent Commission. The certifi-cate is delivered by an independentauthority which has audited andapproved the training provider ascompliant with Common CoreContent, and which other MemberStates can have full confidence in asregards the mutual recognition oflicences as provided for by the EUDirective. ■ ■

31

On 7 July, the EUROCONTROL Institute of Air Navigation Services held a grad-uation ceremony for the first student controller group to have successfully com-pleted the fully Common-Core-Content-compliant and Agency-approved trainingpackage.

Over 50 people attended the ceremony, during which the students received theirInitial Training course certificates and the first-issued “student licence” enablingthem to progress to Unit training at Maastricht UAC.

Having commenced their initial training at the Institute back in 7 November 2005,the students also had the opportunity to provide their families and friends with aninsight into the training process they had undertaken at the Institute. The groupsubsequently commenced their training at Maastricht UAC on 24 July. ■■

Graduation CeremonyLuxembourg, 7 July 2006

Datelines

The pressing need to increase capacityin Europe and to find innovative ways ofproviding such capacity have resultedin an ever-growing reliance on the pro-vision of timely aeronautical informationof the right quality. But Europe is notalone in this respect. Other ICAORegions and/or individual States areactive in this field, yet there is no mech-anism for coordinating and harmonis-ing such efforts.

The key word “harmonise” is an essen-tial component in this area, since theprovision of aeronautical information isa global business which transcendsregional boundaries and national fron-tiers.

Recognising this, a number of Statesand organisations came together to dosomething about the promotion of“change”. The result was the “Global

Aeronautical Information Services (AIS)Congress”, held on 27-29 June inMadrid.

The origins of the Global AIS Congresslay in the recognition of the critical rolethat aeronautical information will play inthe future ICAO air traffic management(ATM) concept. Requirements regard-ing the integrity of flight-critical dataand the scope of aeronautical informa-tion needed by ATM to ensure interop-erability exceed what AIS currently pro-vides.

The objectives of the Congress were tobring together originators, processors,publishers, regulators, system design-ers, service providers and end-users,who collectively constitute the globalAIS community. Drawing on collectiveexperiences needs and requirements,the Congress:

■ considered the essential role of AISin the evolving world of ATM;

■ identified the key drivers for change;■ explored what must be done to

ensure that aeronautical informationof the right scope and quality is madeavailable;

■ reviewed technologies at a high levelthat will facilitate change in a practi-cal and affordable way; and

■ outlined a roadmap for the future ofaeronautical information provision toassist ICAO to facilitate globalchange.

The Global AIS Congress entitled “AStrategy for Cooperative Change” was astructured three-day event. It openedwith a presentation on the ICAO ATMConcept and went on to address themany facets of the aeronautical informa-tion provision paradigm. The subjectspresented included user requirements,the present status of AIS in some global-ly representative States and the tech-nologies available to facilitate change.Of critical interest to Europe in the con-text of the Single European Sky, andalso to other States, were the presenta-tions on legal, institutional and planningconsiderations, since these are proba-bly the most challenging issues that willhave to be addressed (see the articlefrom Australia earlier in this edition ofSkyway).

The final presentation, made by EURO-CONTROL, was a high-level indicationof how a roadmap for change could beconstructed. The presentation includeda submission to the Congress of a “glob-

32

Datelines

A strategy forcooperative change

The Global AIS Congress

27-29 JuneMadrid

Previous articles in this edition of Skyway have made

many references to the changing and challenging

environment that faces the providers, processors and

users of aeronautical information on a global basis.

EUROCONTROLpress conference:

(from left)Christos Petrou,Head of External

and PublicRelations,

Víctor M. Aguado,Director General,

and Bo Redeborn,Director of ATM

Strategies


al” version of the second edition of theAeronautical Information Management(AIM) Strategy, to act as a catalyst forfurther engaged and global debate. TheStrategy has been European policysince 2000 and the second edition is inthe approval process.

The Congress culminated in a most use-ful and constructive “open-panel”debate, following which the Congress’sconclusions and recommendationswere agreed.

So what did the GlobalAIS Congress achieve?

The Congress served to bring togethersome 500 AIS stakeholders, with 85nationalities present. As such it was byfar the largest gathering of the AIS fam-ily staged to date. It provided a veryeffective platform for information anddebate both in the auditorium and in theexhibition area. It was also an excellentforum for networking and exchangingideas.

It considered the essential role of AIS inthe evolving world of ATM. It discussedthe complex issues associated withevolution, explored what must be doneand identified the key drivers forchange. Recognising this, theCongress began to define a future high-level view as to the shape, nature andcontent of a strategy for the evolution ofAIS and in the provision and manage-ment of aeronautical information in gen-eral. It was also agreed that the AIM, aGlobal Strategy made available to theCongress, constituted a firm basis forfurther debate.

The Global AIS Congress agreed thatATM is dependent on the availability oftimely high-quality aeronautical informa-tion and that the nature and scope of

such information had evolved quicklyfrom the narrow requirements laid downin ICAO Annex 15. In consequence, theGlobal AIS Congress confirmed thatchange was needed and these needswere driven by, amongst other factors:

■ The increased reliance on computer-isation, both in the air and on theground (ground-based ATM sys-tems, avionics, flight dispatch solu-tions, procedure design tools, etc.)and the dependence on available,timely, high-integrity aeronauticalinformation.

■ That the provision of aeronauticalinformation of the integrity requiredby ATM could no longer be reliant onpaper-based and mainly manualprocesses and that AIS must quicklymigrate to electronic media andautomated processing to provide thetotal quality environment to satisfy itscustomers needs.

■ Emerging technology such as data-exchange models and communica-tions protocols that allowed the safeand timely exchange of digital andinteroperable information in a secureway.

■ The growing user requirements formore broad-based provision of aero-nautical information, the scope ofwhich is currently far broader thanthat laid down in Annex 15, involvesupporting present operations andemerging concepts and applicationssuch as Collaborative Decision-Making (CDM) and system-wideInformation Management.

The Global AIS Congress supported therecommendation of the ICAO 11th AirNavigation Conference (Autumn 2003),specifically Recommendation 1/8 –Global aeronautical information man-agement and data exchange model,that:

■ When developing ATM require-ments, ICAO should define corre-sponding requirements for safeand efficient global aeronauticalinformation management thatwould support a digital, real-time,accredited and secure aeronauti-cal information environment.

■ ICAO should urgently adopt acommon aeronautical informationexchange model, taking intoaccount operational systems orconcepts of data interchange,including specifically, AICM/AIXM,and their mutual interoperability;and

■ ICAO should develop, as a matterof urgency, new specifications forAnnexes 4 and 15 that would gov-ern provision, electronic storage,on-line access to and maintenanceof aeronautical information andcharts.

Moreover, the Congress confirmedthe global nature of aeronautical infor-mation provision and its exchangeand called for an active, coordinatedglobal approach to the evolution ofAIS in accordance with the recom-mendations of the 11th Air Navigation

33

DatelinesDatelines

From left:Manuel Bautista,Director Generalof Spain’s CivilAviation,Víctor M. Aguado,Director Generalof EURO-CONTROL, andRoberto KobehGonzález,President of theICAO Council(since 1 August2006)

Datelines

Conference and agreed that thisshould include all AIS stakeholders.They agreed that the objective shouldbe to develop and agree on a practi-cal, business-oriented, validated andaffordable roadmap for change onwhich States and industry (in thebroadest sense) could build invest-ment, staffing and training plans tosupport change.

The Global AIS Congress agreed thatsalient to change was the adoption byICAO of a common aeronautical infor-mation model, since this was anessential component of change.Moreover, the Global AIS Congressrecognised that the AIXM developedby EUROCONTROL and the FAA wasthe only candidate.

So was the Global AISCongress successful?

From the very positive feedback, theanswer is an unqualified yes. It met allits objectives and more. It was greatlywelcomed and appreciated and, inresponse to stakeholder requests, afurther Global AIS Congress is beingdiscussed for 2010. However, debateis all very well, but what concreteactions will be taken?

The global Consortium that cametogether to organise the Congresswill meet to agree the CongressReport to be submitted to ICAO andpublished and will consider the nextsteps. EUROCONTROL is organisinga Workshop to develop the enablingobjectives defined in the AIMStrategy, involving (limited) globalparticipation. A mini Congress willalso be hosted at EUROCONTROL’sheadquarters in June 2007. Smallsteps perhaps, but a start has beenmade along the long road of change. ■ ■

34

Datelines

A strategy forcooperative change

The above conclusions were then translated into ten robustrecommendations for submission to ICAO. These were:

Recommendation 1:ICAO should adopt the AICM1/AIXM2 as the standard aeronautical informationconceptual model and the standard aeronautical information exchange model,and develop appropriate means of compliance, and global mechanisms tomanage and develop the AICM/AIXM.

Recommendation 2ICAO should evolve the AIM Concept and associated performance require-ments and develop a road map to plan, manage and facilitate on a world-widebasis the transition from AIS to AIM.

Recommendation 3ICAO should instigate an urgent review of Annex 4 and Annex 15 in accor-dance with the recommendation of the 11th Air Navigation Conference.

Recommendation 4ICAO should incorporate transition activities into the Global Air Navigation Planin order to ensure broad-based development of AIS/AIM capabilities across allICAO Regions.

Recommendation 5ICAO should, as a matter of urgency, address legal and institutional issues,including those associated with an expansion of service from AIS to AIM thatcould constrain the adoption and implementation of AIM.

Recommendation 6States working in close coordination with international organisations shouldsupport ICAO in any activity to accommodate the transition from AIS to AIM.

Recommendation 7Recognising the critical nature of aeronautical information in the present andfuture ATM systems, States should give high priority to the implementation ofexisting standards such as WGS-84 and Quality Management Systems andshould, if necessary, request assistance from ICAO or, if appropriate interna-tional organisations, to do so.

Recommendation 8Recognising the social dimension associated with change, ICAO working withStates and international organisations should determine the required staff pro-file(s) for AIM and determine appropriate skills and competencies and amendexisting guidance material and develop new guidance and training material,under the Trainair programme perhaps, to assist States and other AIS organi-sations in the transition process.

Recommendation 9ICAO should promote open access to information.

Recommendation 10ICAO should consider as a matter of priority how a Global Forum could beestablished.

Conclusions1- AICM Aeronautical Information Conceptual Model 2- AIXM Aeronautical Information Exchange Management

ATMTarget

Concept

ATMDeploymentSequence

ATMMaster

plan

WorkProgramme

for2008-2013

ATMPerformance

Targets

D2 D3 D4 D5 D6

Dec06

July 07Oct 07

Jan 08 March 08

July 06

AirTransport

Framework

the currentsituation

D1

We are here


The first major milestone of the SESARDefinition Phase was reached in Augustwith the acceptance of the first deliver-able known as D1: Air TransportFramework - the current situation. Thisdocument describes the major aspectswhich define, describe, shape and influ-ence the air transport industry today.This is a key milestone as it constitutesthe first step in the development of theATM Master Plan for Europe.

The document is widely available to theaviation community for feedback, andis the subject of targeted distributionand presentations. It can be accessedon the website at http://www.eurocontrol.int/sesar/pub-lic/standard_page/documentation.htmlor http://www.sesar-consortium.aero.

The SESAR Consortium presented anddiscussed the results of Deliverable 1at a Stakeholder Forum held in Genevaon 12 September 2006, to 250 people,representing 33 organisations from 23countries worldwide. No disagreementnor diverging ideas were noted on D1

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SESARSESAR

SESAR Definition Phase progressD1: Air Transport Framework– the current situation

conclusions and recommendations.The numerous comments received arenow being analysed by the SESARteam and a D1 feedback report willintegrate all inputs as a D1 supplementfor consideration in further work, to bepublished by the end of October.

Ongoing work

The kick-off for the work leading to thesecond milestone deliverable, D2: ATMPerformance Targets, was held on 12July. The delivery of the D2 report isplanned for 6 December.

It will be recalled that D2 is to provide:■ an outline “vision” of the future air

transport industry and the role ofATM within it;

■ a set of objectives for changes toimprove overall performance in ATM;

■ a comprehensive set of perform-ance targets and requirements to bemet in the short, medium and longterm;

■ a definition of what constitutes “bestpractice” in support of ATM;

■ an indication of which ongoing initia-tives and programmes are alreadyaligned to meeting the declaredobjectives and can contribute tomeeting the performance targets inthe short term.

D2 will combine the output from D1with the future aspirations and expec-tations of the industry as a whole, witha view to shaping the ATM vision anddeveloping the performance require-ments which it must meet.

D2 will be presented during aStakeholder Forum scheduled to takeplace on 24 January 2007 in Geneva. ■■

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IndustrynewsIndustry News

Brussels, 12 September 2006The Board of ACI EUROPEhas appointed Olivier Jankovecas Director General with immediate effect. He succeeds Roy Griffins,

who retired in August after a robust leadership ofthe organisation since 1 December 2004.

(ACI press release)

The ceremony was attended by over 200 military air traffic controllers, CNSand MET experts working for the Unit, as well as representatives of Italian civiland military authorities, including the Italian military representative of theEUROCONTROL Provisional Council, Major General Antonio Pilotto.

“Rimini military airport, which is open to civil traffic, provides a very goodexample of air traffic management integration’, said Major General Pilotto.“Here, military personnel provide air traffic services, aeronautical informationservices as well as MET services to both civil and military airspace users,whether they are flying GAT or OAT.”

This Unit provides air traffic services to other airports, both civil and military,located within the area of responsibility of the Approach Control Unit, calledRomagna APP, also located at the airport. These include the military airport ofCervia, the civil airports of Forli and Falconara, and three secondary airports(Fano, Lugo di Romagna and Ravenna), used essentially by GAT.

In the course of the last 10 years, Romagna APP has handled approximately10,000 flights per year (military and commercial IFR flights), not counting theGAT flights operating daily within its area of responsibility.

50thOn 9 September 2006,G. Vassura military airport in Rimini(Italy) was the venue for a celebrationof the 50th anniversary of its Telecommunication andFlight Assistance Service.

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7 September 2006 European airline punctualityin 2nd Quarter 2006

6 September 2006 Federal Councilresolution marksthe way ahead

The Association of European Airlines has released details of its members’ punctuality performance in the second quarter of 2006.

Intra-European flights recorded a year-on-year worsening in punctuality for the seventh quarter in succession. In all, 20.2% ofdepartures were delayed by more than 15 minutes, compared with18.1% in the same period in 2005, and 16.6% in each of the two years before that.

All three months of the second quarter similarly showed a year-on-yearincrease in delay, the highest figure being 22.3% in June.

Of the 27 major European airports surveyed by AEA, Madrid was themost delay-affected, as it had been in the previous quarter, with 28.7%of departures affected. Next was Paris – Charles de Gaulle, followedby the two London airports – with Heathrow slightly ahead of Gatwick – and Barcelona. All had delay rates in excess of 25%.

At the other end of the scale, the least delay-affected airport wasBrussels, at 13.8%. It was followed by Geneva and Istanbul, thenHelsinki and Vienna. (AEA Press Release – www.aea.be)

Switzerland will negotiatewith France on the creationof a jointly-operated"functional airspace block". This is the conclusion that the SwissFederal Council reached andannounced following its delibera-tions on the issue. Alain Rossier,CEO of skyguide, welcomes thedecision: "We are delighted at theFederal Council's conclusion, whichwill allow the first concrete steps tobe taken in a collaboration within the overall framework of the SingleEuropean Sky," he says. "In takingthese steps, skyguide and itsFrench counterpart, the DSNA(Direction des Services de la

7 September 2006 Traffic growth forNATS despite nationalsecurity alert

NATS, the UK’s leading air trafficmanagement provider, saw thenumber of flights increase inAugust despite the security alertof 10 August.

The company handled 220,408flights, an increase of 3.1 per centover August last year. (excerpt from NATS press release)

Navigation Aérienne), will adopt apioneering role in these endeav-ours. The Federal Council's decisionsends a vital and forward-lookingsignal to Swiss air navigation servic-es, and strengthens skyguide'scommitment to a truly Europeanapproach to air traffic managementissues and concerns."

Following a joint feasibility study,skyguide and the DSNA concludedin July 2006 that a jointly-operatedfunctional airspace block (FAB)made sound sense in everyrespect, and should be further pursued.

The creation of FABs in Europe isone of the cornerstones of theEuropean Union's Single EuropeanSky Project, which is intended toenhance the capacity and efficiencyof Europe's air traffic managementnetwork. Under the Single EuropeanSky, airspace should no longer bedefined by national borders as ithas been in the past, but should beorganised supranationally in accor-dance with its users' needs.(skyguide press release)

Visits &Agreements

On 25 August the Director General welcomed Mrs NinaVaskunlahti, Representative of Finland to theEU, and Mr Yrjö Mäkelä to EUROCONTROL.Discussions were held on the European Community in EURO-CONTROL, SESAR, EASA and security. The programme wasconcluded with a visit to the Flow Management Operationsroom.

On 18 July the Director General welcomed the Presidentof the Civil Aviation Office of Poland, MrTomasz Kadziolka, and the Head of the ATMSafety Oversight Division at the Civil AviationOffice, Mr Jerzy Lisowski. Messrs Kadziolka andLisowski were briefed on the main activities of the Agencyincluding its relations with the European Community, regionalcooperation, SESAR, ATM safety, the Central Route ChargesOffice. The programme was concluded with a tour of the FlowManagement Operations room.

On 14 July the Director General welcomed the DirectorGeneral of Civil Aviation of Bulgaria, Mr GeorgiStoyanov, and the Director General of the AirTraffic Services Authority (ATSA) of Bulgaria,Mr Tzvetan Dilov. Messrs Stoyanov and Dilov werebriefed on the main activities of the Agency including its rela-tions with the European Community, regional cooperation,SESAR, ATM safety, the Central Route Charges Office. Theprogramme was concluded with a tour of the FlowManagement Operations room.

Visits & Agreements

On 29 September, a delegation from the UKDepartment of Transport led by Ms A. Godfreywas welcomed by Dr Gerhard Stadler, Director of the GeneralSecretariat, at Headquarters. They were especially interestedin the development of DMEAN and the Agency's businessand financial planning.

On 15 September 2006, representatives from 34African countries visited EUROCONTROL in the frame-work of the EU-Africa Aviation Seminar organised jointly bythe European Commission and the African Union.

On 29 August a delegation from the Chinese AirTraffic Management Bureau (ATMB), theChinese Civil Aviation Authority (CAAC) andChinese industry visited EUROCONTROL. The delega-tion was briefed on various activities of the Agency includingan overview of EATM in Europe and the role of EURO-CONTROL, SESAR, technical innovations and implementa-tions such as Mode S, ACAS, CASCADE, LINK 2000+ andFASTI. The programme also incorporated a visit to the CFMUFlight Data Operations and Flow Management Operationsrooms. �

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Skyway 42 - Autumn 2006 39

Next eventsNext events

On 27-29 June a delegation from the South-EastAsia Civil Aviation projects, sponsored by the EU, vis-ited the EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre (EEC), theOrganisation’s Headquarters and the Maastricht Upper AreaControl Centre. The delegation was briefed on the main activ-ities of the Agency including the strategy and work programmeof the EEC with a tour of the simulation facilities, safety andsecurity aspects, SESAR, civil-military issues including theFlexible Use of Airspace, and a tour of the Flow ManagementOperations room.

On 21 September, EUROCONTROL’s DirectorGeneral, Víctor M. Aguado, and the DirectorGeneral of Croatia Control Ltd, Dražen Ramljak,signed a bilateral agreement whereby the Croatian airnavigation service provider is to entrust EUROCONTROL withthe calculation, billing, accounting and collection of chargesfor terminal air navigation services on its behalf.

EUROCONTROL Website:www.eurocontrol.int

29 October 2006 - 1 November 2006 51st Annual ATCA Conference & Exposition Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington DC

14 - 15 November 2006 Workshop on Responsibilities and Liabilities in European Air Traffic Management, EUROCONTROL’s Brussels Headquarters, Belgium

16 - 17 November 2006 Aviation Safety: Existing Policies and the Need for RegionalCooperation – A Regional Seminar for the Middle-East, North African and Gulf Regions, Nicosia, Cyprus

1 December 2006Sporting and Recreational Aviation Conference,EUROCONTROL’s Brussels Headquarters, Belgium

13 - 15 February 2007 ATC Maastricht Conference & Exhibition 2007 MECC, Maastricht, the Netherlands

© European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL)April 2003

This document is published by EUROCONTROL in the interests of exchange of information.It may be copied in whole or in part, providing that the copyright notice and disclaimer are included.The information contained in this document may not be modifiedwithout prior written permission from EUROCONTROL.

EUROCONTROL makes no warranty,either implied or express, for the information contained in this document,neither does it assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy,completeness or usefulness of this information.

For more information,contact EUROCONTROL External and Public Relations,General Secretariat Directorate96, rue de la Fusée, B-1130 Brussels, BelgiumTelephone: +32 2 729 90 11Fax: +32 2 729 91 98

© European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) Autumn 2006

This document is published by EUROCONTROL in the interests of exchanging information.It may be copied in whole or in part, providing that the copyright notice and disclaimer are included. The information contained in this document may not be modified without prior written permission from EUROCONTROL.

EUROCONTROL makes no warranty, either implied or express, for the information contained in this document, neither does it assume any legal liability or responsibilityfor the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of this information.

For more information, contact EUROCONTROL External and Public Relations,General Secretariat Directorate96, rue de la Fusée, B-1130 Brussels, BelgiumTelephone: +32 2 729 34 20Fax: +32 2 729 91 98e-mail: [email protected]