Details of Newly Launched SESAR Air Traffic Management System
December 10, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
This document provides background information on the SESAR Joint Undertaking, a public-private partnership in European air traffic management (ATM) research, which was inaugurated on Dec. 8.
Gestation of a unique public-private partnership
The SESAR program is the technological answer to the major challenges of the European Union (EU) air traffic management.
The aim of SESAR is to ensure the modernization of the European ATM system by coordinating and concentrating all relevant research and development efforts in the European Community. Partnership, sustainability and user-drive are key concepts of SESAR's approach.
Founded by the European Community and EUROCONTROL, 15 companies have already been pre-selected to join SESAR: AENA, Airbus, Alenia Aeronautica, DFS, DSNA, ENAV, Frequentis, INDRA, NATS, NORACON, SEAC, SELEX Sistemi Integrati and Thales. In addition, two non-European companies, Honeywell (U.S.) and Natmig (Norway) are also ready to join SESAR.
The SESAR program came to life with the acknowledgment that Europe's current air traffic control systems will soon be unable to cope with its growth in flight movements, the number of which will double by 2030.
In 2007, about 10 million flights were registered, whilst the most likely scenario in the EUROCONTROL report, "Challenges of Growth," predicts an average growth of 2.7% a year between now and 2030 - in other words, 20.4 million flights by 2030.
At the same time, environmental awareness is rising, prompting the need for more efficient operations and better technology. The EU's Single European Sky legislation has taken jurisdiction over air traffic management issues to the European Community level in a drive to coordinate the critically needed upgrade of European ATM systems.
Main conceptual change in a modernized sky: the business trajectory
Key to the SESAR concept is the "business trajectory principle," according to which users and controllers of airspace define together, through a collaborative process, the optimal flight path.
Compared with today's way of managing aircraft, SESAR represents a paradigm shift, attained in clear steps. It will change the way air traffic is managed: no more skyways, just the most efficient trajectory, thereby saving fuel and time.
The features of the SESAR concept include a dynamic rolling plan for continuous flight operations that ensures a common view of the network situation; full integration of airport operations as part of the ATM and planning process; optimal trajectory management; new aircraft separation modes and system-wide information sharing.
A label for SESAR-operating airlines, airports, manufacturers and air navigation service providers
Before the end of 2009, the SESAR program will officially launch the "SESAR label." This will be an opportunity for all airspace users to integrate the SESAR concept of operations into their way of working.
Being SESAR-labeled, air transport industry operators will demonstrate that they take on responsibility and that they are already contributing to the improvement of their flight operations.
There are currently new projects, such as the System Wide Information Management - SWIM, or also called ATM intranet - that will allow airlines to better manage their fleet and to gain time and money thanks to forward-looking information on the exact positioning of their aircraft and their precise arrival times.
Furthermore, controllers and pilots will be assisted by new automated functions that will facilitate their communications and their handling of complex decision-making processes.
Further information
For more information, see the SESAR Joint Undertaking web site and the EUROCONTROL web site.
Source: European Commission.