7th December 2005, EUROCONTROL-EEC, Bretigny-Sur-Orge, France
Presentation of EUROCONTROL
by Jean-Luc Hardy, EUROCONTROL
Overview
Air Traffic Management is a rather catch-all term that actually covers three fairly distinct domains. The first is Air Traffic Control (ATC): surveillance to avoid collisions. ATFM is Air Traffic Flow Management, where airport capacities are factored in to avoid delays and planes parked in holding patterns above the destination airport. Finally, Air Space Management (ASM) involves optimum organization of the air space.
In order to support this ATM activity, there is a communication, navigation, and surveillance infrastructure (CNS). Communication involves communication between the pilot and the controller, or between controllers of different ATC centres. Navigation tools help an aircraft follow the proper route, and include beacons and ILS at airports, as well as satellites like GPS and soon Galileo. Surveillance can be active or passive. Passive surveillance uses radar, and GPS technologies have consistently improved active reporting of position.
EUROCONTROL has been involved in all these activities since the '60s. The first convention established the Maastricht control centre. In the '80s, flight delays became bothersome enough that ATFM grew in importance, and a big EUROCONTROL unit in Brussels was devoted to flight planning. More recently, ASM has been the response to rising air traffic, with the Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) project. All these activities require a lot of coordination between the different Member States, and that is the role of EUROCONTROL.
EUROCONTROL has 35 Member States: all the EU Member States except the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, plus 13 other non-EU countries, including for example, Turkey and Switzerland.
A few words about TCAS, before the more in-depth talk that Garfield Dean will present: Traffic alert and Collision Avoidance System is an on-board, last-minute collision detection system. If the ground control system fails, TCAS is the last chance at avoiding a collision.
The main mission of EUROCONTROL is safety. There are other missions that EUROCONTROL handles as well: increasing the capacity of air traffic in general, improving efficiency, improving security (especially since 9/11), and last but not least, the environment. EUROCONTROL coordinates big, pan-European programs, does R&D especially in this building, training in Luxembourg, operational ATC in Maastricht and (sooner or later) in Budapest for Eastern European coverage. Flow management operates out of the Central Flow Management Unit (CFMU) in Brussels, with a backup near here.
Salient points
- Air Traffic Management (ATM) groups three domains: Air Traffic Control (ATC), Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM), and Air Space Management (ASM).
- A communication, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) infrastructure supports ATM activity.
- ATM activities require a lot of coordination between Member States, and that is the role of EUROCONTROL.
- TCAS is the last chance at avoiding a collision.
- The main mission of EUROCONTROL is safety. EUROCONTROL handles other missions at different centres in Europe.
"The main mission of
EUROCONTROL
is safety."
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