David McMillan - Articles and news items

Efficiency efforts by airports yielding significant results for airlines & passengers

Airport news / 28 November 2012 /

As the entire aviation sector is facing patchy air traffic growth in the short term, significant financing challenges and a growing focus on emissions, the themes of efficiency and performance have become key for Europe’s airports.

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EUROCONTROL Permanent Commission appoints Frank Brenner as new Director General from January 2013

Airport news / 6 July 2012 /

The EUROCONTROL Permanent Commission has appointed Mr Frank Brenner as Director General of EUROCONTROL with effect from 1 January 2013.

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A new era for the ARTAS System

Airport news / 20 June 2012 /

The first operational version of ATM suRveillance Tracker And Server (ARTAS) V8B1 was successfully released on 6 June 2012. This version is a tangible example of deployment of cost-effective common solutions, fostering infrastructure harmonisation and defragmentation.

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David McMillan granted with the European Business Aviation Awards at EBACE 2012

Airport news / 16 May 2012 /

During the opening day of the 12th Annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2012), David McMillan, EUROCONTROL’s Director General, with Don Spruston, Director General of the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC), were granted with the 2012 European Business Aviation Awards by the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) and National Business Aviation Association (NBAA).

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New Director announced for EUROCONTROL MUAC

Airport news / 7 December 2011 /

The Director General of EUROCONTROL, David McMillan, today announced the appointment of Lieutenant-General Jac Jansen of the Netherlands Air Force as the new Director of the Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC). Lt. Gen Jansen will take up his functions as of 1 April 2012.

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Aviation partners report on roll-out of joint programme to combat airport congestion, reduce fuel burn & CO2 emissions

Airport news / 29 November 2011 /

The threat of climate change, the global economic crisis and the resulting changes in the structure of the European aviation market have led to a renewed focus on efficiency and performance for Europe’s airports.

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EUROCONTROL celebrates two decades of ARTAS success

Airport news / 9 November 2011 /

At a ceremony which took place on 8 November, EUROCONTROL celebrated 10 years of the ARTAS service and 20 years since the launch of the ARTAS concept.

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EUROCONTROL nominated as Europe’s ‘Network Manager’

Airport news / 18 July 2011 /

EUROCONTROL has just received a formal letter from the European Commission, nominating the Agency to take on the role of European ‘Network Manager’ as defined in the Single European Sky II (SES) legislation.

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CANSO steps up to lead change

Airport news / 16 June 2011 /

CANSO, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation, has been tasked by the world’s aviation leaders to ‘step up’ and lead industry change.

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CANSO joins ACI EUROPE and EUROCONTROL’s partnership to combat airport congestion and reduce fuel burn and CO2 emissions

Airport news / 5 October 2010 /

The threat of climate change, the global economic crisis and the resulting changes in the structure of the European aviation market have led to a renewed focus on efficiency and performance for Europe’s airports.

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CANSO CEOs Discuss Volcanic Ash – Call for Stronger European Safety Regulator

Airport news / 15 June 2010 /

CANSO, the Global Voice of ATM, has held a discussion on the fallout from the volcanic ash situation in Europe. This was the first time the CEOs of ANSPs from across the globe have been gathered together to discuss this issue.

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Integrating Airports into the future Air Traffic Management System

Issue 2 2010 / 5 April 2010 /

Aviation has been especially badly hit by the economic crisis. Airlines worldwide lost €7.9 billion in 2009 and a further €4 billion loss is forecast for 2010. Traffic in Europe declined by 6.6% in 2009 – the biggest fall on record and one which has had a severe impact on all in air transport. Although key hubs such as Frankfurt and London Heathrow fared slightly better than average, traffic at many European airports declined by double digit figures.

Before the current debate about aviation and climate change, which has seen the aviation sector rise to the top of the global environmental agenda, questions about the sector’s impact focused on the environmental impact on regions surrounding airports. As entry and exit points to the aviation system, airports have long had to deal with questions about noise and air quality in their vicinity.

This issue is still a pressing one and recent Air Traffic Management (ATM) programmes are making strides in not only lessening aviation’s overall environmental impact, but also in reducing the impact airports have on their localities. While the short-term economic outlook may force airports to tighten their belts and cut costs, there are strong arguments as to why they need to keep investing now for the future. (more…)

The continuing rise of continuous descents

Issue 6 2009, Past issues / 11 December 2009 /

Continuous Descent Approaches (CDA) are on the rise: March 2009 marked the launch of the European Joint Industry CDA Action Plan, backed by IATA, CANSO, ACI-EUROPE and EUROCONTROL₁. Since then, according to EUROCONTROL’s CDA Implementation Support Team, implementation progress has been non-stop. Why are CDAs gathering this momentum?

Continuous Descent Approaches are an aircraft operating technique which reduces the amount of level flight in an arriving aircraft’s descent; this reduces fuel burn and also has benefits in reducing noise. In fact, it has been calculated that in the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) area, CDA has the potential to save over 150,000 tonnes of fuel per year, the equivalent of almost 500,000 tonnes of CO2. That’s not to mention an estimated one to five decibel reduction in noise impact on the ground per flight₂.

The European Joint Industry CDA Action Plan supports the SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research Programme) requirement for CDA to be in widespread practice by 2013. SESAR aims to deliver greater safety, capacity and environmental sustainability. With such a target, the support of all industry partners is essential in its implementation. (more…)

EUROCONTROL’s Challenges of Growth 2008 Report

Issue 6 2008, Past issues / 3 December 2008 /

EUROCONTROL publishes a series of studies aimed at providing decision makers with up-to-date assessments of the challenges presented by the increasing demand for air transport. The latest, ‘Challenges of Growth 2008’₁, is the third in the series and looks at those long-term challenges needing long-term solutions. (more…)

Change and challenge in European Air Traffic Management

Issue 3 2008, Past issues / 30 May 2008 /

It might be a truism, but change is gradually changing. This can be seen in the accelerating rate that new inventions are adopted wide-scale. The World Bank recently conducted a study into this and found that in the past, it took a long time before new technology was adopted.

It took 120 years for trains and open-hearth steel furnaces to be widely used; even the telephone took over a century to really catch on. Aviation and radio, invented in the early 20th century, were accepted a degree faster in some 60 years, but the rate of acceptance of new technology is growing rapidly. In 20 years, personal computers and CAT scans were embraced and mobile phones took only 16 years to achieve more than 80% of country coverage.

Change and new technology feature strongly in the field of Air Traffic Management; here in Europe, we find ourselves on the brink of a new era. The SESAR programme (Single European Sky ATM Research Programme) will see the development and implementation of radically new equipment, approaches and procedures. (more…)