Fuel Savings Campaign - Infrastructure
At the recent Operations Committee (OPC), infrastructure topics focused on work being done on the Fuel Savings campaign, SESAR/NextGen harmonisation as well as guidance material that is being developed for PBN and future avionics.
The following CO2 savings have been identified for 2008 per region.
Working with ICAO
In September, IATA participated in several important ICAO meetings that have a direct impact on future infrastructure requirements.
ICAO Briefing
On 1 October, IATA briefed the ICAO Council and Air Navigation Commission on two topics: the next generation of aviation professionals and the industry crisis.
Industry statistics were provided by Narjess Teyssier, Chief Economic Analyses and Databases section in ICAO. This was then followed by an overview of the industry state of affairs by IATA's SVP SO&I, Guenther Matschnigg. Finally, the ICAO ANB Director, Nancy Graham, concluded with ICAO's position and the possible impact on the organisation's strategic objectives.
The ICAO Council and the ANC were very appreciative of the information provided and the format which reflected a joint effort by ICAO and IATA to assess the industry situation and identify common solutions.
ICAO Forum
ICAO recently hosted a Forum on Integration and Harmonisation of NextGen and SESAR into the Global ATM framework in Montreal on 8-10 September.
The Forum included key speakers giving presentations and updates on SESAR and NextGen as well as presentations made by other Key ANSPs on their future plans for Air Traffic Services like, ASECNA, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan and Russia.
Overall, the conference was ripe in concepts, but short on defined deliverables as further research and development is required, especially in the area of communications. IATA insisted on the need to have a single avionics solution for the next generation global air navigation system and the urgent need to resolve institutional issues like ADS-B IN roles and liabilities. Another focus was the need for a positive cost benefit analysis for the USD 40 billion airline investments being asked by NextGen and SESAR.
Air Traffic Management Requirements and Performance Panel
The Air Traffic Management Requirements and Performance Panel (ATMRPP) is working on the upcoming interim and future flight plan requirements. The 2012 interim flight plan contains major revisions to data field inputs of the Filed ICAO Flight Plan (FPL).
Airlines will have to comply with the new requirements on 15 November 2012. These new data fields, as detailed in an ICAO State Letter (pdf), will recognise aircraft advanced capabilities and meet evolving requirements of ATM automation. The Panel is developing Guidance Material to assist ANSP's and Airlines towards a smooth transition and will be made available to airlines as soon as it becomes available.
Additionally, the ATMRPP is developing the concept and design of the future concept for the Flight and Flow Information for a Collaborative Environment. This will be next generation ICAO Flight Plan, which has targeted the 2025 timeframe for implementation and will be closely aligned with the NextGen and SESAR programmes.
More information on the Air Navigation Bureau (ANB).
Aeronautical Communications Panel
In the world of communications, the ICAO Aeronautical Communications Panel (ACP) Working Group for Frequency Spectrum met to complete the final draft ICAO position for the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) World Radio Conference 2011 (WRC-11) and to generate working papers for the upcoming ITU Working Party meetings.
The proposed ICAO position aims to protect both current and future requirements of aeronautical spectrum that is required for radio communication, navigation and surveillance systems. In particular, it stresses that safety considerations dictate that exclusive frequency bands must be allocated to safety critical aeronautical systems and that adequate protection against harmful interference must be ensured.
IATA will work with states and relevant organisations to ensure that the aviation requirements and position is upheld at Worldradio Conference 2011.
More information on the ACP.