Story ID: BCSesarDeploymentProgram06292015
European Alliance Delivers ATM Modernization Blueprint
By: Bill Carey
Caption: The deployment program charts the transition from research and development to implementation of the Single European Sky effort.
Word Count: 326
The Sesar Deployment Manager, an alliance of European airports, air navigation service providers (Ansps) and airlines, delivered its first air traffic management (ATM) modernization plan to the European Commission (EC) on June 29. The delivery of the document is a “significant milestone” that marks the transition from research and development to implementation of the Single European Sky, the alliance said.

The Deployment Program Version 1 (DP v1) document identifies projects that industry participants should perform to comply with a regulation the EC approved in June 2014. The regulation, called the Pilot Common Project (PCP), mandates that European Union member states implement six ATM functionalities: extended arrival management and performance-based navigation in high density terminal areas; improved runway safety and throughput; flexible airspace management; collaborative network management; initial system wide information management; and initial trajectory information sharing.

“The Sesar Deployment Manager is responsible for managing the implementation of the PCP in a coordinated and timely manner,” the alliance explains in a video. “The PCP regulation sets out what needs to be implemented where, by whom and when, but not how. Defining the ‘how’ is the responsibility of the deployment manager.” The DP “is the vehicle for breaking down the implementation of the PCP to a project level, providing the how.”

The v1 deployment program, which the EC must approve, supports nearly €2 billion ($2.25 billion) in public and private investment, the alliance said. It includes 110 projects the alliance submitted in April to expedite the ATM modernization effort.

Last December, the EC selected 40 entities to serve in the Deployment Manager alliance. The membership consists of 25 airports, 11 Ansps and carriers Air France, British Airways, easyJet and Lufthansa.

“Six months after the establishment of the Sesar Deployment Manager, Europe has today a unique, agreed and supported air traffic management technological implementation plan which has been consulted on, and developed by the industry, for the industry,” stated Massimo Garbini, the alliance’s managing director.