Last week, I was busy visiting partners at Austro Control in Vienna and Air Nav Ireland in Dublin. We discussed various interesting subjects, and, as always, the depths and levels of my ANSP colleagues’ knowledge were stunning. I did not have to pitch FoxATM's services — not this time — but when I do, my most vital argument is always the level of experience we have, combined with honesty about what we don't know.
Sales pitches always require a lot of listening, improvisation, and flexibility to find the best solution for our partners (and ourselves). And being fair and honest is a must anyway. But these traits are even more critical in ATM. The market is small, and you won't get far with smoke and mirrors. Nothing replaces an accurate, in-depth understanding of the issues at hand.
This is especially true when speaking with technical experts and ATCOs throughout the sales process. If your sales strategy relies on bluffing your way through, it will not get you far.
Acquiring sufficient knowledge takes time. When you hire a new sales professional, they might be fantastic at sales. But they won’t necessarily have a sufficient understanding of ATM. If this is the case, they’ll need the right tools, the training, and some initial hand-holding from your in-house ATM experts to ensure success.
Remember, our colleagues in the ATM industry also have robust detectors for — to phrase it politely — nonsense.
Vincent
ANSP news
- Taking flight: progressing the path to modernise UK airspace - NATS Blog - Last year marked a pivotal step on the path to modernise UK airspace when West Airspace Deployment was implemented after four years of development. Covering an area twice the size of Portugal, 54,000 sq nm of airspace over southwest England and Wales was transformed through two concurrent airspace changes above 7,000ft and 24,500ft Free Route Airspace. West is the most complex airspace change project NATS has ever implemented and marked a major step towards more efficient air travel in the UK.
- Airways New Zealand and NZALPA sign significant strategic partnership - A key component of the MoU is to define an agreed set of parameters that will be applied to collective agreement negotiations for the next nine years, ensuring a stable industrial environment through to 2033.
- ENAIRE successfully implements its new air traffic control post (iFOCUCS) in the Valencia Control Centre - ENAIRE has successfully implemented the first iFOCUCS air control posts in the operations room of the Valencia Control Centre, which will help to increase the efficiency of operations.
- Supersonic transatlantic if the Jet Stream blows ferocious? - NATS Blog - NATS looks after flights through the North East Atlantic in what’s known as the Shanwick Flight Information Region. It’s the busiest piece of oceanic real estate in the world and as such the strength and location of the Atlantic Jet Stream plays a major part in our lives here at Prestwick Centre.
Market news
- Deployable digital tower solutions to receive a boost in Singapore through FREQUENTIS and ST Engineering - Memorandum of Understanding will harness a mutual commitment to the promotion of digital tower capabilities in the region. Complimentary skillsets will foster the delivery of military and non-military use cases within defence, civil resource, and human disaster relief sectors.
- Rohde & Schwarz delivers CERTIUM VCS for safe and efficient ATC communication across Canada - CANSO - NAV CANADA and Rohde & Schwarz sign contract for “Backup Voice Communication Solution,” providing robust systems for all major airports and centres operated by the Canadian ANSP.
- Thales and Thaicom establish the foundation to lead the unmanned traffic management deployment in Thailand - Thales and Thaicom, through Thaicom’s subsidiary establish the foundations of an Unmanned Traffic management framework to enable the growth of the drone ecosystem in Thailand. Thales provides a tailored offer of services to build a UTM implementation roadmap aligned with Thailand context.
- DFS Aviation Services - One Year of Apron Control in Lima - DFS Aviation Services proudly celebrates the one-year anniversary of undertaking Apron Control at Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima.
Context information
- Driving forward with innovation: relocation of the EUROCONTROL Innovation Hub to the Paris-Saclay Innovation Playground - The 41 EUROCONTROL Member States have agreed to the relocation of the EUROCONTROL Innovation Hub to the Paris-Saclay Innovation Playground. The project will see EUROCONTROL build a new, state-of-the-art simulation and innovation centre at the EU’s major new innovation hub, located just outside Paris.
Reports and data
- 395,000 Passengers! A New Traffic Record of Shanghai Airports - The flight movements of Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao International Airport reached 27,000 with 18,000 at PVG and 9000 at SHA, up 38.4% year on year.
Research and innovation
- Introducing our new video series: Artificial Intelligence in Aviation! - Join us every month as we unveil a new episode, delving into diverse aspects of AI in aviation. EUROCAE's Working Group 114 “Artificial Intelligence” members will bring you cutting-edge insights and discussions on this groundbreaking topic.
- Virtual Tower Operations - AT-One - Remote towers are already in operation and more and more Remote Tower Centers are becoming available worldwide. Air traffic controllers are no longer tied to the location of the airport for which they provide ATC services. Moreover, airports can now be grouped together in RTCs, creating even more synergies to increase flexibility, safety and the service level for airspace users.
- Project of the month: AEROPLANE - SESAR JU - The relationship between climate and aviation is a tricky one. The aviation industry is making strides to reduce emissions, but it must at the same time adapt its operations to a shifting climate and extreme weather. Carlo Abate from Deep Blue is coordinator of the SESAR JU AEROPLANE project, which is supporting the transition towards a net-zero, resilient aviation sector. In this article, he explains the project’s approach to tackling the challenges faced by aviation due to a changing climate.
- Future Skies: Tomorrow’s Voices’ programme launched - Future Skies: Tomorrow’s Voices is produced by CANSO, in partnership with the SESAR Engage 2 Network and Firstfruits Services. It gives young graduates and professionals aged 20 to 28 the chance to dive into the heart of the air traffic management and aerospace industries, engage with decision makers, and gain insights that will help them develop successful careers.
- Air traffic flow management: AI solutions to prevent air space congestion - SESAR JU - An artificial intelligence algorithm will assist flow management positions in predicting and managing congestion well in advance. It will be developed by the SESAR JU ASTRA project, in which Deep Blue is responsible for defining the human-machine interface requirements and leading the validation activities for the solution.
- Hotspot identification: the requirement workshop - SESAR JU - Over an insightful span of three days ASTRA project members gathered in dynamic discussion over the project achievements and future development
- Arab Aviation Summit to reimagine future of air travel - The growth opportunities and continued resilience of the aviation sector in a challenging environment will dominate discussions at the 11th Arab Aviation Summit that kicks off at the Al Hamra International Exhibition & Conference Centre in Ras Al Khaimah on February 27. Top aviation industry decision-makers representing a cross-spectrum of the airline industry will take part in the discussions.
UAV and UTM
- Poland records 12.7% increase in drone flights, exceeding half a million in 2023 - Unmanned airspace - PANSA has released its annual report on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle operations for 2023. Key highlights: 668,786 drone operations, 12,7% year-over-year growth.
- ENAIRE launches third edition of ATM technological challenge competition for researchers - Unmanned airspace - ENAIRE through CRIDA, its research and development subsidiary, and as part of its Open Innovation initiatives, is accepting applications for the third edition of the Technological Challenges in Air Traffic Management Competition, through 30 April 2024. “This annual competition aims to find innovative medium- and long-term solutions to technological challenges in the field of air transport”, notes ENAIRE’s CEO, Enrique Maurer.
