Air traffic flow management in Europe

Abstract

Between the first, informal meeting on Flow Control Measures in 1970, and the decision of 23 Ministers of Transport of the European Civil Aviation conference (ECAC), in October 1988, the air traffic demands with regard to volume, time and geographical distribution, has never been really correlated, from a systems point of view, with the handling capacity of the air traffic services and of the airports.

The enormous congestion, the delays, and the economic damage, have been the driving forces for an intensified European co-operation and for the setting up of the CFMU for the European-wide organisation of the flow of air traffic. This move away from a multiplicity of national and sub-regional ATFMUs with the associated serious co-ordination problems and the sometimes counter- productive under-utilisation of available capacity, represents a significant step towards greater efficiency of air transport.

The availability of all relevant management information in a focal point, together with improvements in co-ordination through the creation of flow management positions in all Area Control Centres and an Aircraft Operators liaison cell in CFMU, will allow quick and consistent decision making.

The ATC capacity management concept of the CFMU will permit the services concerned to avoid the splitting of limited resources in a piecemeal way, with each share being managed independently and leading to a waste of capacity.

The tactical ATFM management system will ensure that no sudden overload arises that would be detrimental to safety and fluidity of traffic and the maximum use of available capacity in the Air Traffic Control system. It will also ensure equity between the various users of airspace in flow measure application and transparency through free access to ATFM information.

Furthermore, the operation of the CFMU with all its systems for full ATFM operations, will trigger enhancements and new developments in ATM systems, and will be a major contribution to the evolution of European Air Traffic Management Systems.