The European GNSS Agency (GSA) and Eurocontrol plan to leverage synergies to enhance aviation safety, improve air traffic management and better the aviation user experience.
As Europe’s skies and major airports become increasingly congested, there is need for Air Traffic
Management (ATM) technologies to evolve from ground-based infrastructures to more advanced systems based on new technologies – including European GNSS programmes like EGNOS and Galileo.
Both Eurocontrol and the GSA have a shared objective of developing and exploiting European GNSS technology to improve accessibility, efficiency and safety to European operators, pilots and airports. “The full deployment of GNSS offers unprecedented opportunities to further improve air traffic management safety and capacity while reducing costs at a pan-European level,” says GSA Executive Director, Carlo des Dorides. “Eurocontrol’s activities in this field will complement those of the GSA to ensure that the development and implementation of satellite-based navigation provides an optimal solution for European airspace users.”
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The aim of the agreement is to jointly contribute to the implementation of European Union GNSS policies as they apply to the field of aviation. “Eurocontrol and the GSA share a common objective – the secure and safe implementation of European satellite navigation policies in the aviation sector,” says Frank Brenner, Director General of Eurocontrol. “The enhanced cooperation between our two organisations means that Eurocontrol will now bring its unequalled capacity to understand, coordinate and represent the needs of the civil and military airspace users to the promotion and development of GNSS.”
The cooperation agreement, which was signed at a 15 September 2014 press conference attended by the GSA, Eurocontrol and the European Commission, serves as another example of the European Commission’s support of the aviation sector. “I am confident that a strong cooperation between the GSA and Eurocontrol will benefit aviation, the European GNSS Programmes and indeed European citizens,” says Daniel Calleja Crespo, Director General of DG Enterprise and Industry at the European Commission.
- Definition of aviation user requirements for EGNOS and Galileo
- Introduction of European GNSS services for aviation within the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) area
- Coordination in aviation research and development
- Aviation-specific GNSS performance monitoring
- Promotion of European GNSS aviation activities at the international level
“The full deployment of GNSS offers unprecedented opportunities to further improve air traffic management safety and capacity while reducing costs at a pan-European level.”
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Carlo des Dorides, Executive Director, GSA
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