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How do you get to a Single European Sky with 42 ANSPs?
Let’s start with FABs, they said. Well, they do mirror the 19th Century military alliances that were on the historical path that led to the EU!
But now, perhaps, at last, some progress. The Borealis Alliance, a pan-FAB alliance involving nine European Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), last month announced “…. the launch of a programme to deliver seamless and integrated free route airspace across the whole of Northern Europe by 2020, enabling airspace users to plan and take the most cost effective, fuel efficient and timely routes across the entire airspace managed by Borealis members.” Wow. Sounds like a Single North European Sky! Just need to work out how the nine Borealis members will manage the airspace. That, sadly, was not disclosed.
A further step will be enabled by Aireon which “.. plans to provide the first opportunity for global air traffic surveillance (using ADSB) as early as 2017.” Aireon has announced an agreement with Blue Med FAB ANSPs which will support action “… already establishing an efficient platform for the harmonization of surveillance throughout the Mediterranean Area.”
Does this look like ANSPs willing to contract in what have previously been considered core functions? The list started with charging systems and the AIS database and then, sometimes, ab initio ATC training. Aireon can add provision of surveillance data. Step-by-step we are getting closer to monitoring and control of enroute airspace as an outsourced service.
What next?
