Industry gets the floor: Developing future Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management Systems (ATFCM)

One of the key SESAR projects in the area of Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management Systems (ATFCM) is Project 13.1.4, managed by Dominique Latgé, from Thales. He explained how the project will enable industry to contribute to future ATFCM systems through SESAR.

SESAR project 13.1.4 deals with the impact of new roles and responsibilities on regional, sub-regional and local ATFCM sub-systems. The project, which recently started execution, is led by Thales, with participation from Indra, NATS and Eurocontrol. Following the evolution of the Single European Sky (SES) implementing rules, the operational concepts definition in SESAR WP 7 (Network Operations) and the high level system design in WP 13 (Network Information Management System), project 13.1.4 gives the floor to industry to define a system functions mapping for each system and sub-system inside the network, for each level and each step of SESAR. The project addresses the evolution of the Network Information Management System (NIMS) from a centralised regional system to a more collaborative and distributed system based on the Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs). One of its objectives is to help the transformation of the current regional CFMU system into marketable technical solutions for the sub-regional and local levels. Project 13.1.4 also aims to define the collaborative decision making processes needed by this new organisation of the network. Driven by the new roles and responsibilities at the different levels (regional, sub-regional and local), the project ensures that each actor will find the right information at the right time to take the right decision.

Industry gets the floor

Projects in WP 13, project 13.1.4 is led by industry. Industry contributors will use the knowledge and experience they have developed in other parts of the world and with ANSPs at a local level in Europe. Thales will use experience from work with South Africa’s air traffic & navigation system, where they helped to specify, develop and validate of a sub-regional system for air traffic flow management: CAMU (South Africa Central Airspace Management Unit). Indra, one of the other project partners, will use knowledge gained from work with Aena on local short term prediction tools and airspace management tools.

The project raises many questions, such as how can we integrate network operations in a local area control centre on a flow management position? What products are needed inside Europe and at FAB level? What do we need to take into account for areas outside Europe?

The position of manufacturing industry in SESAR projects, in particular in system projects related to air traffic control (WP 10), airports (WP 12) and SWIM (WP 14), makes it a strong technical enabler for information sharing, and is another key element to building a coherent industry view for the whole ATM system.