VANCOUVER AND MONTRÉAL, 21 JUNE 2016 – The interoperability of global airspace management must be improved to ensure that air traffic growth, infrastructure investments, aircraft tracking improvements and cybersecurity risks are sustainably managed, ICAO’s Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu told Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) at the 2016 CANSO Global Air Traffic Management Summit in Vancouver today.
CANSO, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation, is an international body that acts as the global voice of air traffic management (ATM) and represents its Members’ views to a wide range of aviation stakeholders.
The implementation of air traffic flow management (ATFM) and collaborative decision-making, as set forth in ICAO’s Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP), will be critical to ensuring system-wide safety and efficiency of air traffic as it doubles in volume by 2030 (according to current predictions.) However, barely 3% of annual global infrastructure investment is currently earmarked for aviation development. ICAO is therefore ensuring States receive all necessary encouragement and guidance to optimise their investments and standardise their operations according to international practice.
“ICAO will be focusing its efforts over the next three years on air traffic flow management, including runway sequencing capabilities and the related continuous climb and descent operations achieved through Performance-based Navigation. Obviously these priorities will need to be analysed based on specific operational scenarios and regional and national needs, and this points to a good opportunity for CANSO and ICAO cooperation,” Dr. Liu said, underscoring the importance of CANSO’s contributions to the elaboration of the GANP itself.
“CANSO’s relationship with ICAO and States is key to our vision to transform the performance of air traffic management (ATM) globally,” noted Jeff Poole, Director General, CANSO. “With air traffic demand continuing to grow, leading to increased threats of congestion and complexity, we must ensure the appropriate infrastructure is built on the ground and in the air. States need to invest in modern, efficient ATM to ensure they have the right infrastructure to reap the economic benefits of aviation including: improved connectivity, better access to markets, and tourism; all of which contribute to GDP growth. The ICAO Aviation System Block Upgrades (ASBU) are a vital catalyst for States to modernise air traffic management; CANSO helps States and ANSPs to implement the ASBUs through training courses, guidance materials, and exchanging best practice. We are also working with ICAO to transform ATM performance across a range of issues including safety, integrating remotely piloted aircraft systems and other new entrants into airspace, cyber security and others.”
ICAO is also pushing forward the global information sharing that underpins air traffic management and navigation systems. “System-wide Information Management, or ‘SWIM’, is an essential enabler,” Dr. Liu said. “Aeronautical information systems have to be operationally and technically interoperable and harmonized to allow for safe, cyber-resilient and seamless coordination between global flight information regions. Our main challenge ahead will be the development of Standards related to SWIM’s governance and architectural components.” SWIM will notably contribute to the successful implementation of the ICAO Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS). GADSS will provide for the reporting of aircraft locations every fifteen minutes from 2018 onwards and once per minute from 2021 onwards.
Cyber risk management is a key consideration for ICAO as the aviation community develops SWIM. Various reports have highlighted the possible vulnerabilities of aircraft and air navigation systems to cyber-attacks, and ICAO is now working to develop substantial measures to support the safety and security of the aviation system, including the establishment of a global network architecture for use by our industry everywhere in the world. “The Civil Aviation Cybersecurity Action Plan, agreed to by ICAO, CANSO and the other members of the Industry High-level Group (IHLG), sets out a roadmap and joint commitments to ensure that industry and States establish coherent cybersecurity approaches and responses,” Dr. Liu said.
The Secretary General concluded her address by calling on ANSPs to play a greater role in lifting the quality of global air traffic services through deeper collaboration amongst themselves, through CANSO, and with ICAO. She underscored the organization’s commitment to its “No Country Left Behind” initiative and invited ANSPs to participate in regional frameworks for improving and harmonizing the quality of air navigation services that have been developed under her stewardship.
Resources for editors
