iTEC and EUROCONTROL develop Single European Sky initiative

EUROCONTROL and the members of the iTEC Collaboration, which includes Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) from across Europe, have signed a Collaboration Agreement that meets the growing demand for air travel in Europe in a safe and efficient way.

The agreement enables the sharing of essential data which assists in the delivery of the SESAR concept of operations, outlined in the European ATM Master Plan, being deployed by iTEC members.

The signing of the collaboration agreement sees the joint development of the Flight Object Manager (FOM) and the System Wide Information (SWIM) Node which underpins the future exchange of flight trajectory data, having significant enhancements of consistency across system boundaries.

This recognises the next stage in the ever growing partnership between the iTEC collaboration members and EUROCONTROL. This collaboration agreement will enable the joint definition of operational concepts, common requirements and shared development of the Flight Object Manager and SWIM services. It demonstrates the commitment of iTEC and EUROCONTROL Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre with the development of SESAR IOP and European interoperability infrastructure.

Sharing flight trajectories between ANSPs and EUROCONTROL’s Network Manager is one of the key functionalities required by the European Commission’s Pilot Common Project legislation. The joint development of the FOM and SWIM components enables this to happen.

The SESAR IOP operational concepts are being validated in SESAR projects thanks to the collaboration between European ANSPs and industry.

Robert Schickling, Chair of the iTEC Board/Steering Group and Managing Director Operations DFS, concluded: “With Flight Object Interoperability, the iTEC partners are working together on technologies that are decisive for the future of the Single European Sky. All the air navigation service providers involved in guiding an aircraft from A to B will share all the information needed for this flight.

This will mean they can jointly – in coordination with the Network Manager – make decisions at an early stage to enable the optimal route. The trajectory-based technology is the foundation for the enhanced performance of the ATM system in Europe. The iTEC partners are looking forward to working together with EUROCONTROL on this project.”

John Santurbano, Director of EUROCONTROL’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre, concluded: “This agreement is a significant milestone that strengthens the collaboration between iTEC and EUROCONTROL and a first step towards the deployment of a Flight Object Interoperability in an operational environment. We look forward to implementing the Flight Object at the earliest possible opportunity and roll out the latest technologies that will take us to enhanced ATM services.”