On 16 December 2014, the SESAR Joint Undertaking and its members organised a high-level conference in Brussels to discuss the future edition of the European ATM Master Plan [1], which is the overarching plan for the modernisation of Air Traffic Management system in Europe.

The aim of the conference was to launch the review campaign of the European ATM Master Plan. The campaign, which will run until June 2015, aims to bring together all ATM actors in order to review, select and prioritise the technological changes needed to achieve greater interoperability and a higher level of European aviation performance. Within this context, the conference was an opportunity to remind stakeholders about the role that the current European ATM Master Plan has in being instrumental in overcoming R&D fragmentation and bringing convergence towards deploying new technologies and operational improvements to ATM in Europe.

This update campaign is of particular significance for the following reasons:

• Adoption by the European Commission of Member States’ performance plans with binding targets for the years 2015-2019;
• Nomination on 5 December 2014 of the SESAR Deployment Manager, an industry alliance in charge of implementing the pilot common project, the first materialisation of coordinated deployment of technology developed within SESAR;
• Adoption by the Transport Council of the SES II + proposal, aiming at giving a new impetus to the Single European Sky initiative.

Opening the conference, João Aguiar Machado, Director-General of the Mobility and Transport Directorate-General (DG Move), European Commission, highlighted the strategic importance of a joint roadmap for ATM modernisation in order to strengthen Europe’s overall aviation system. “It is crucial for Europe to have a better performing aviation system. SESAR technology alone will not be able to solve all Europe’s modernisation challenges but it is certainly a key enabler and capability to making the SES 2+ package a reality – making Europe an attractive, global transport hub. The European Commission expects this to be fully articulated in the European ATM Master Plan.”

Looking beyond Europe, Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, President of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) emphasised the value that the Master Plan brings to efforts to harmonise and ensure global interoperability, particularly in the context of ICAO and its Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP), which is designed to guide complementarity and sector-wide air transport progress over 2013-2028. “The European ATM Master Plan is an important instrument for capturing the most important priorities of European Stakeholders. However, it needs to stay aligned with the GANP, as well as allow for continued European support in building timely and efficient standards and provisions,” said Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, President of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), who addressed the conference with a video message.

This sentiment was echoed by Frank Brenner, Director General Eurocontrol, who stressed the strategic importance of the Master Plan in contributing to the ICAO GNAP process. He also emphasised Eurocontrol’s commitment to ensuring the success of the Plan and underlined the need for all stakeholders to collaborate in the update campaign “We ask the different stakeholders to be bold, challenge yourselves and help us to showcase that Europe is ready to implement concrete solutions that will help modernise our skies in Europe and beyond” he said.

The conference also heard from Florian Guillermet, Executive Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking – the organisation which is responsible for the European ATM Master Plan and thereby the review campaign. Mr Guillermet said that the Plan provided ATM actors with an opportunity to drive changes and at the same time safeguard their investment plans. “Being part of a European endeavour, like the Master Plan, means that the choices being made in terms of technologies and standards are European choices, thereby reducing technological risk and uncertainty for ATM actors,” he said.  

Responding to the earlier interventions, an executive panel comprised representatives from the military, manufacturing industry, airports, airlines, ANSPs and professional staff association, gave their vision for the future of ATM and what the Master Plan means for their communities and business.

Maurizio Castelletti, Head of Unit, Single European Sky, Mobility and Transport Directorate-General (DG Move), European Commission, closed the high level morning session with a call to action for stakeholders to engage in this journey towards ATM modernisation: “I call on all stakeholders to commit to creating the best possible and timely synchronised roadmap for technology’s contribution to further the Single European Sky and the ICAO GANP.”

An afternoon session led by Henk Hof, Master Planning Group Chairman, offered participants a more detailed look at the Master Plan review campaign and allowed for discussion on a number of headline topics.

To contribute to the European ATM Master Plan update campaign, contact [email protected]

The conference was live streamed and interested parties can view the event proceeding here.

Interviews and highlights video: This video features interviews with key ATM actors and decision makers on the importance of the Plan for their sectors and why they are contributing to the campaign to review the Plan in 2015.

Pictures from the event can be found here.

The presentations can be downloaded below!

[1] The European ATM Master Plan is the common roadmap for the development and deployment of SESAR technologies and procedures, linking them to the Single European Sky performance objectives. The plan defines the essential operational changes that need to occur in order to achieve the SES performance objectives, and identifies the related functionalities and actions that operational stakeholders should implement within a given timeframe and environment.