European airspace is among the busiest in the world and faces a number of challenges: growing demand for air travel (beyond the current economic downturn), the European governments' strong political will to tackle environmental and global warming issues, the need to significantly reduce ATM costs (which amount to some €8 billion each year in Europe), the nationally rather than globally designed air routes and air navigation service provision, and the constraints linked to the large areas of European airspace reserved for military use.
SESAR is a far-reaching European programme launched as technical support for the Single European Sky initiative. The programme aims to develop a new-generation air traffic management system capable of ensuring the safety and fluidity of air transport over the next 30 years. Based on open systems, SESAR will be compatible with similar global initiatives such as Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), the air traffic control modernisation project in the United States.
Under SESAR, European ATM will undergo a progressive and very thorough transformation of its concept of operations (CONOPS), technologies and systems, as well as the role of the operators.
This transformation will be characterised by:
- the transition from ATM primarily based on sector management to one focused on gate-to-gate trajectory management and optimisation
- full interconnection and interoperability of systems at European and wider level, in a network-centric approach leading to functional integration between ground, airborne and space systems
- use of state-of-the-art technology
- multi-layered, dynamic management of airspace, routes and trajectories
- a much-needed increase in the use of automation support tools.
Thales is a major partner in the pan-European project and the company has been involved since its inception, actively supporting the launch of the programme, providing technical expertise for the definition phase, and now helping to prepare the next phases.
The SESAR programme is broken down into three distinct phases:
- The definition phase (2006-2008), which was completed in May 2008, was carried out by a consortium of 50 members representing all ATM stakeholders (air navigation service providers, airlines, airports, the supply industry, professional associations, military) and managed by the Air Traffic Alliance (a grouping of Airbus, Thales and EADS). It established a Master Plan that stated a common vision and plan for future European ATM, including performance target figures, CONOPS and architecture principals, essential technology needs, R&D requirements, and the timeline for development and implementation.
- The development phase (2009-2016) will be carried out by the SESAR joint undertaking, which will determine by 2015 all the technical elements that will form the future European ATM: operational concepts and validated procedures, standards, detailed architectures, technologies, prototypes and live testing.
In addition to the European Commission and Eurocontrol, who are the joint undertaking's founding members, 15 new members are expected to join this public-private partnership in the coming months: six air navigation service providers (France, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden), a consortium of major airports and industry suppliers (Thales, Airbus, Selex, Indra, Alenia, Frequentis, Honeywell and a consortium of Nordic industries). Along with Eurocontrol, they will be the major actors of the SESAR R&D.
- The organisation for the deployment phase still has to be finalised. It will start from 2015 and it is expected that member countries, air navigation service providers and airlines will equip themselves according to specifications and the timeline set by the European Union.
The new ATM system, which will be introduced in 2020, is expected to:
- increase capacity by a factor of 3
- improve safety by a factor of 10
- cut the environmental impact per flight by 10%
- slash ATM costs by 50%
All stakeholders, from aviation professionals to the general public, will directly benefit from the modernisation of European airspace:
- Airlines will be able to meet demand with a better quality of service, better flight profiles and lower fuel consumption.
- Air navigation service providers will provide a better quality of service at a lower unit cost for airspace users.
- Airports will be able to optimise operations and service provision in bad weather conditions.
- Passengers will benefit from better service and increased safety.
- The general public will experience less noise and air pollution.
Thanks to its combined expertise in ATM systems, avionics, radar, communications, satellites, security of mission critical systems and systems of systems, Thales is set to provide a key contribution to the development of the ATM of the future.