You are here: Home » Areas of Activity » Safety & Security » Newsletter » Flight Bag - April 2009 » Regional Updates

Asia / Pacific

In Asia Pacific and North Asia Regions, IATA has facilitated negotiations on the current program of ADS/B, and subsequently, VHF installations in the South China Sea.

Initial agreement was reached in 2008 and thanks to good cooperation between Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam a chain of ADS/B stations and VHF transceivers (shown in green below) is progressively being established.

 
Importantly, IATA is facilitating the data sharing arrangements between these States as a precursor to enabling the tactical use of ADS/B information. Equipment upgrades in ATC Centres towards the end of 2010 will enable display of this data and use of surveillance separation in this congested airspace.

The next stage involves IATA actively working with affected States on the expansion of this program to further enhance surveillance and significantly improve traffic handling capability throughout the region.

North Asia

IATA Meets with the Chinese Government

IATA and the OPC steering committee held some meetings with Chinese Military, Air Traffic Management Bureau (ATMB), Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and State Air Traffic Control Commission (SATCC). Discussions were based on IATA member airlines’ requirements and the focus was on the flexible entry/exit points.
Some of the results included:

• Chinese military reiterated the commitment to open the entry /exit points for flexible usage; however the whole process may take some time to prepare.
• ATMB believed that flexible use of the entry/exit points for cross polar operation goes well since 2003 & 2007 when first 3, then additional 2 entry/exit points were opened for flexible use.
• SATCC will gradually implement the flexible use of the entry/exit points.

New Air Route Opened in China

Following active coordination by IATA and positive efforts by Chinese air traffic management authorities in recent years, a new air route W112 in the Chinese territory was opened to the public on 15 January 2009.

The flights provided by foreign airlines coming from the direction of Pakistan (entry point PURPA) bound for Beijing and beyond can use this route, no longer diverting to Urumqi by taking route B215. With the new route, the flying distance shortened 190 nautical miles (351 km).

Airlines began using this new route on 16 January 2009. It saves 21 minutes of flying time and 2.4 tonnes of fuel for every inbound flight, and 27 minutes of flying time and 3 tonnes of fuel for every outbound flight.

Following the establishment of this new route, the IATA planned route CHA2 (KCA-L888-SADAN-Y1-MAGOD-W112-CHW) was also opened and it can shorten 75 nautical miles.

IATA Delegation Meets with Mongolian Civil Aviation Authority

IATA met with the Mongolian Civil Aviation Authority (MCAA) on 13 March. IATA briefed the requirements/ proposals of the routes in Mongolian airspace and the MCAA also made a presentation to IATA. MCAA was quite open in discussing the requirements. The main problem now would be the procedural control process, which has the limitation on the number of aircraft flying across its airspace. MCAA stated that once the new ATC radars systems are properly functioning, there will be more flexibility to accommodate more aircraft. MCAA is undergoing organisational reform, including a separation between its air traffic services department and the Government to enable the ATS to be an independent ANSP.

Africa

Implementation Programme for Safe Operations in Africa (IPSOA) is Launched

IATA has launched the IATA Implementation Programme for Safe Operations in Africa (IPSOA) as part of IATA's initiatives to improve safety in Africa.

Under IPSOA, IATA provides sponsorship to African airlines eligible to join its Flight Data Analysis (FDA) service for a limited period.

IPSOA is scheduled to take off with a limited membership of five airlines on 1 May 2009.

The objectives of the programme include achieving:

• Improved and more data driven safety management;
• Appreciation and support of non-punitive reporting systems by African operators and regulators;
• More efficient operations in terms of fuel savings and;
• Overall contribution to lowering the African accident rate.

Africa - Indian Ocean Meeting

The 6th meeting of ATS Incident Analysis Group (AIAG) took place on 30-31 March 2009. It was attended by 44 participants.

The group analyzed 120 Aviation Technical Services (ATS) incidents and investigation feedback rate on Arfica ATS was 95%. Among the identified contributing factors, the majority are human factors - ATC proficiency, coordination between ATS units and cockpit procedures.

The analyses confirmed the relevance of use of ACAS-II and IATA In-Flight Broadcast Procedure (IFBP) in resolving air traffic conflicts.

Middle East and Africa

Route Efficiency Project

A route efficiency project is underway, which will cover airspace within the Bahrain, Emirates and Muscat Flight Information Regions in addition to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and the coastal areas of Iran, Iraq and Kuwait plus adjoining high seas. In coordination with IATA member airlines, the involved States and air navigation service providers, new routes will be designed that will employ state-of-the-art technology enabling closer spacing while still maintaining safety. The proposal is expected to be submitted to ICAO before the end of the third quarter 2009.

Infrastructure in Iraq

IATA is taking part in rebuilding the aviation infrastructure in Iraq, by strongly supporting efforts of the Civil Aviation Authority to improve the air traffic services route structure as well as by implementing Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM), whereby vertical separation between aircraft at and between flight levels 290 and 410 (approximately 29,000 to 41,000 feet) will safely be reduced to 1,000 feet, similarly to what is already the case in most parts of the world today.

Europe

Single European Sky Progress

Following 12 months of political negotiations in the institutions of the European Union (EU) and after extensive lobbying by IATA and its member airlines including the support of other European user associations, the SES Package II legislative proposals were adopted on the 25 March. This was an important milestone as the 27 EU Member States agreed an ambitious package to: 

• Establish a Performance Framework to improve Europe’s ATM System with binding targets for cost efficiency, safety, capacity and flight efficiency.
• A deadline for the introduction of Functional Airspace Blocks (FAB) by 2012
• Promotes the concept of common projects, such as SESAR, which might be co-financed by Community funding and other measures. Users successfully avoided the threat of pre-financing.
• Establishment of the Network Manager functions, closely linked to the reform of Eurocontrol including the separation of regulatory from service provision tasks

The next steps will be the development of the more detailed secondary implementation rules. Some of these rules will be proposed over the next 12 months by the European Commission (EC) working in conjunction with the Single Sky Committee and following consultation with the Industry.  Work has already commenced on the performance Framework with the launch of a study by Eurocontrol’s Performance Review commission on the design of the Performance Scheme, the definition of future European targets and how these could be applied or transposed at the national/FAB level. IATA will engage in this work to ensure that it meets user requirements.

SESAR Developments

Mr. Alain Siebert (Chief Economics and Environment, SESAR JU) delivered a presentation at the OPC on SESAR development and implementation.

Three significant developments have occurred in this major project whose objective is the design and development of a common ATM system for Europe:

1) Transport Ministers endorsed the European ATM Master Plan at its meeting on 30 March. The first version of the plan was produced by the SESAR Consortium during the project definition phase. This version will become the initial version of an evolving document which will be managed by the SESAR Joint Undertaking. Significantly, Ministers have requested that the European Commission take all necessary actions to achieve the highest level of interoperability between SESAR and NEXTGEN and has invited the Commission to commence the process which could lead to a mandate for negotiations with the FAA of the USA. Details of the Council’s resolution can be found  here.

2) The SESAR Joint Undertaking has launched a call for tender for airlines/airspace users’ involvement in the SESAR development work covering the SESAR development phase 2009 - 2014. The SJU intends to conclude framework contracts (12 in total) with individual airlines for two years which would 100% finance their contribution in various domains. IATA/AEA are planning a workshop to review the SJU work programme on 21 April. Further details on the tender invitation can be found  here.

3) A decision by Eurocontrol’s Provisional Council to approve the membership agreements between Eurocontrol and the SESAR Joint Undertaking has been delayed until May in order to address matters raised by non-EU states.

EASA - Extension of Consultation Period for Notices of Proposed Assessments (NPAS)

Jules Kneepkens (Rulemaking Director, EASA) and Jean-Marc Cluzeau (Rulemaking Director, EASA) presented an update on EASA with a focus on rulemaking activities at the OPC.

Over the past weeks the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has organised several meetings to inform and discuss their rulemaking proposals in the areas of Air Operations, Operational Suitability Certification (OSC) and Authority and Organisation Requirements (alias Management Systems). As an outcome of these meetings and workshops it has appeared that the scope, nature and ambitious timeline for the associated consultation process for these NPAs has solicited serious concerns from the airline community, as well as other industry stakeholders.

IATA met EASA on 3 March in Paris to discuss relations and key topics. The airline community is engaged in the early stages and task forces will be created to address pending issues including a reply to the NPA.

IATA, in close coordination with the Association of European Airlines (AEA), has engaged EASA directly in order to highlight the airline community's views and concerns on a number of specific items (e.g. Flight and Duty Time Limitations (FTL), Fatigue Risk Management, Ops Specs,...), and has been instrumental in achieving this extension of the consultation as part of the continued effort to seek improvements in the EASA consultation process with industry stakeholders.
The new dates are as follows:

• NPA 2008-22a to -22e (Authority and Organisation Requirements) - 28 May 2009
• NPA 2009-01 (Operational Suitability Certification) - 30 June 2009
• NPA 2009-02a to -02g (Air Operations) - 31 July 2009

All these NPAs can be found on the EASA website.

ECAST Issues Best Practice Material on Safety Management Systems

In order to support organisations in their implementation of Safety Management Systems (SMS), the European Commercial Aviation Safety Team (ECAST) issued best practice material for industry and civil aviation authorities.
The ECAST work focused on four main areas, where guidance was considered as most useful:

• Review of reference material and safety culture, providing an overview of current SMS initiatives and guidance on the concept of safety culture, considered as an enabler of SMS;
• Organisational structures, offering guiding principles and examples of organisational structures suitable for SMS implementation;
• Hazards Identification, providing concise and useful material and references on definitions (hazard, risk, etc.), and on hazards identification processes, methods, and techniques;
• Risk Assessment, presenting a suitable risk assessment method (Airline Risk Management Solutions - ARMS) for air operators and other organisations such as maintenance and Air Navigation Service Providers.

The documents can be found here.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Airport Wildlife Issues

IATA is working with the Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil's (DGACs) of El Salvador and Nicaragua to address wildlife problems in the airport area. The number of bird strike incidents at Comalapa International Airport (SAL) and Augusto C Sandino Airport (MGA) have increased significantly over the past two years causing significant operational damage and costs to the airlines. IATA is liaising with the FAA to obtain technical assistance in order to implement corrective actions.

Advance Passenger Information

Mexican immigration commissioners in Cancun (CUN), Monterrey (MTY), Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo (ZIH) and Guadalajara Miguel Hidalgo (GDL) Airports began requesting API data to be transmitted locally by air carriers directly to them rather than via the national system. IATA approached Instituto Nacional de Migracion (INM) to raise the issue. INM does support IATA’s position and has requested that all local commissioners cease local API requests. However, this has yet to be removed. We are continuing to co-ordinate with INM.

Direct Routing from Cuba

Cuba has begun providing direct routing for flights between Central America and Eastern USA/ Europe (fix UVA - SELEK / SELEK - UVA). This includes estimated annual fuel savings of 1,308 tonnes and reduced CO2 of 4,105 tonnes.

North Atlantic and North America

Expanded Airspace

Houston TRACON expanded its airspace and added new routes as part of a multi-stage plan designed to allow air traffic to flow in and out of the area more smoothly.  The third phase of the Houston Area Air Traffic System program, (HAATS), allows controllers to guide flights into Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in dual streams, with one used for low performance prop and turbo prop planes and the other for large and heavy aircraft.  Estimated annual fuel savings 10,000 tonnes and reduced CO2 of 30,000 tonnes. 

Random Routes East Expansion

IATA met with FAA to continue work on the expansion of the Random Routes East Initiative. Agreement was reached to expand the trial to include additional cities and airlines.  Departure airports now include Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta (ATL), Charlotte Douglas International (CLT), Orlando International (MCO), with Washington Dulles (IAD) undergoing air traffic management analysis for near-term inclusion. 

IATA and NAVCANADA

IATA met with NAVCANADA to follow up on the Industry Action Items (agreed on August 27, 2008) to improve operational efficiency in Canadian Airspace. The meeting also served to align the 2009 objectives and agree on a strategy for implementation.  NAVCANADA has done considerable work to improve efficiency and reliability through new ATC infrastructure initiatives and enhanced ATC procedures. Emphasis was placed on ADS-B implementation in Hudson Bay, Windsor, Toronto and Montreal Airspace enhancement and RNAV/RNP development.