Weekly Review #254 - Know Your Customer

Picture of Vincent Lambercy
Posted August 7 2024 by Vincent Lambercy
Knowing your customer is key to sales, right? I don't mean in the usual compliance sense, but in terms of what they need. When it comes to air traffic control, is it the same all over the globe? Is it done the same way everywhere and therefore what you sell will be relevant to all ANSPs? The answer is no. It's not. 
 
The task might be the same indeed but this is where the analogy stops. ATCOs and ATSEPs in different countries often have to deal with very different issues. Obviously, the European core area ANSPs have to deal with high levels of traffic but how does this extrapolate outside of the core area?
 
I started my career in ATC with Skyguide and, for years, I simply thought all ANSPs were the same. Moving to DFS later and having projects at DSNA was the first eye opener for me. After creating FoxATM and working with ANSPs all over the place, I realized how varied day-to-day challenge are at different organizations. 
 
And, it's more than traffic. ANSPs have to deal with equipment and infrastructure becoming obsolete and requiring updates, others deal with social issues, and at some ANSPs training is the largest pain point. They might have a complicated relationship with the regulator, or a dramatic reduction of traffic flow because of a regional conflict.
 
All of these challenges play a role. So, it is important to know your customers and understand their needs. Otherwise, sales attempts will only end up in wasted time on both sides. So keep your finger on their pulse and let us, at FoxATM, provide you with information beyond market intelligence, because context is super important.

Vincent

ANSP news

  • Ferenc Turi is the new CEO of HungaroControl- Ferenc Turi, who has decades of experience in strategy and business consulting in the aviation industry, will take over the management of our company. László Tóth, former CEO, has left his position by mutual agreement.
  • ENAIRE managed over 1.1 million flights in the first half of the year, 9% more than in 2023, a record year- ENAIRE handled over 1.1 million flights (1,105,326) in the first half of the year, an increase of 9% versus the same period in 2023, a record year. This was the six-month period with the most traffic in history, and the forecast is for 2024 to be a new record year. In the first six months of the year, international flights (626,137) went up 11.1%, overflights (253,188), which do not land at or depart from a Spanish airport, 6.7%, and domestic flights (226,001) 6.3%.

Market news

  • Tern's POLARIS ATM Release 24.1 operational at Isavia ANS- We're thrilled to announce that we recently completed a maintenance upgrade for Isavia ANS. This upgrade brings several minor enhancements to the Safety Net Server, including the use of the selected flight level to enhance vertical projection. Additionally, we provided an updated ground map for BIKF and implemented various improvements.POLARIS is currently being used at Isavia ANS as the Approach ATM system for Keflavik and Reykjavik. POLARIS has been developed in close collaboration between Ter

Context information

  • Advanced Air Mobility – a Symphony, Not a Solo - NATS Blog- The aerospace industry is entering a new era, marked by the rise of Advanced Air Mobility and electrified transport. This shift promises to revolutionise how we travel, but achieving this vision requires more than developing new aircraft or modernising airspace.
  • Olympian effort for the opening ceremony in Paris - NATS Blog- Our eyes were on the skies, though, where a huge 80-mile exclusion zone around the French capital kicked in at 4.30pm and stayed in place till 10pm. How to deal with air traffic unable to fly through some of Europe’s busiest airspace had been the subject of six months’ planning co-ordinated by the French ATC provider DSNA and Eurocontrol. For neighbouring countries like the UK this meant a massive amount of planning for the air traffic likely to reroute through our airspace.

UAV and UTM

  • Fourteen featured speakers and programme announced for Aerial Cities 2024 in London - Unmanned airspace- This November 13-14, London will host the exclusive Aerial Cities 2024 conference to enable the integration of Advanced Air Mobility and drone technologies into our city landscapes. This exclusive, invitation-only event will catalyse collaboration and innovation, bringing together leaders from the AAM and drone sectors, regulatory bodies, service users, and urban planning communities to aim for new heights in urban environments.
  • NATS Services and Altitude Angel make ‘flying under the radar’ a thing of the past- The Arrow ground-based DAA, deployed in partnership by NATS Services, the commercial arm of the UK’s leading air traffic services company and Altitude Angel, the world’s most trusted UTM (Unified Traffic Management) technology provider, continuously monitored the airspace, notably aircraft operating at lower levels.
  • Thales and Garuda Aerospace sign MoU- Thales, a global leader in the aerospace industry, and Garuda Aerospace have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote the development of the drone ecosystem in India. This collaboration aims to foster innovation and to advance the development of technological solutions that can enable safe and secure drone operations and help the growth of drone-based applications in India.
  • FAA Makes Drone History in Dallas Area- In a first for U.S. aviation, the FAA has authorized commercial drone flights without visual observers in the same Dallas-area airspace. The authorizations for Zipline International and Wing Aviation allow them to deliver packages while keeping their drones safely separated using Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) technology. In this system, the industry manages the airspace with rigorous FAA safety oversight.