Air Traffic Management

Consistently, users of air travel services list punctuality as a high importance factor for their satisfaction. For passengers, one particular gripe they have when travelling by air is delays – being held on board an aircraft whilst still on the tarmac and being told that the captain is awaiting clearance from Air Traffic Control or that their departure (or arrival) slot was lost.

With aviation, there is inherent complexity within the operation; the simplest operation starts at one place and ends at another (often in another country), crossing boundaries and legal jurisdictions. Finding solutions therefore and indeed implementing those solutions, presents a raft of challenges.

The good news is that there are several work-streams that are currently being developed or are at various stages of implementation. Shared learning from more developed aviation regions is certainly one potentially positive opportunity – ultimately to the benefit of passengers, who can arrive at their destinations on time to start their business meetings or holidays.

However, the important question is what can be done, and how can improvements be introduced in order to streamline the various processes and complex parts of the overall operation  thereby delivering an improved service offering that is capable of sustainable growth? The answer lies with all aviation stakeholders; airports, aircraft operators and consumers all have a role to play – and the ultimate link that joins all these together is Air Traffic Management (ATM).

Within the current economic climate, aviation as a whole needs to carefully review what can be done to provide better standards of service to passengers on several levels, including punctuality. In fact, the recession and downturn in traffic could be viewed as an opportunity and potential catalyst to review current air traffic management methods and look for areas for improvement. Add to that the effects of aviation on Climate Change, and the significant improvements and efficiencies that an effective air traffic management can introduce by eliminating waste, encouraging fuel consumption efficiencies and improvement in punctuality performance, and the critical role that this link plays in the aviation chain of processes becomes apparent.

One of the leading authorities on streamlining air traffic processes is Eurocontrol. This is the European organization, set up to manage all aspects of safety of air navigation, which aims to provide a consistent high level of safety over Europe’s skies, while at the same time accommodating growing air traffic demands.

Single European Sky is a further initiative launched by the European Commission in 1999, aimed at reforming the architecture of European ATM. It leads the legislative approach to meet future capacity and safety needs at pan European, rather than local levels.

Their key objectives can be summarized thus:
1. To restructure European airspace as a function of air traffic flows
2. To create additional capacity
3. To increase the overall efficiency of the European air traffic management system.

It is clear – the Middle East is a fast growing aviation region. According to IATA, the Middle East has grown from 5% of international traffic to 10% in the past seven years. Naturally, with this level of growth have come certain challenges, as the skies over the Middle East become increasingly congested – challenges such as:

• A unified approach to policy creation
• Legal governance and mandate
• Air traffic infrastructure
• Military and civilian aviation and restricted air zones
• Control of airspace zones
• Change management
• Introducing new approaches and ATM systems

An important aspect that should be included in any review of the end to end ATM processes would be the impact of climate change on regions and operations in the sense that climate change is a fact, and the rising temperatures and melting ice caps will inevitably have a direct impact on aviation operations.

Now may be a good time to commission a study into what best practice can be gleaned from Eurocontrol and others and potentially follow a similar approach in managing the ever increasing demand for airspace in the Middle East.

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