Weekly Review #255 - Insights from August in ATM

Written by Vincent Lambercy | August 14 2024

The news this week has been partly dominated by the Voepass 2283 accident in Brazil. This is a tragedy. And, as always, unfortunately, many people speculate and forward videos with little to no added value. It is important to remember that the investigation will take time and to refrain from speculating. ATM likely played no role in this accident. Nevertheless, we are all aviation professionals and should behave accordingly when communicating, especially on social networks.

On a separate note, I wanted to revisit the topic I discussed two weeks ago. Volocopter finally flew in Paris! Well, in the vicinity of Paris at least. The demonstration flight took place at dawn, at the Chateau de Versailles, and the pictures look really good. Our featured image is also courtesy of Volocopter.

The flight had only the pilot on board and, unfortunately, it wasn't close to the city center. From that perspective, it is a missed opportunity. But it is great to see progress! The landing barge in Paris city center is legally approved until the end of the year. Hopefully, we'll see some activity there by then.

As with every year, August is a rather slow month for the ATM market and at FoxATM we see it through two factors: the number of items in the bulletins we prepare for our users every week gets lower and the number of out-of-office replies we get to our weekly newsletter goes up. However, we keep scanning the market relentlessly, day in and day out, and generate alerts when required, so our users stay best informed even in such a quiet phase. Want to know more? Contact us and see how the FoxATM Market Radar can support your ATM business.

Vincent

ANSP news

Airservices Australia trials flexible user-preferred routing for shorter travel and sustainability in cross-border collaboration- Airservices Australia is collaborating with air navigation service providers and airline operators from Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Singapore to trial an initiative that will allow pilots on select flights to choose their own routes between destinations to take advantage of prevailing winds to shorten travel times, save fuel and reduce carbon emissions.
The weather impact on global Air Traffic Management operations and how to solve it - CANSO- CANSO has highlighted the challenges faced by ANSPs across the globe with the increased frequency of adverse weather creating a more challenging operating environment. Global aviation is experiencing strong traffic growth. Against this backdrop of strong traffic growth, adverse weather events are on the rise. Most discussions focus on aviation’s impact on the environment but it is increasingly apparent that the reverse is also true.
In line with the Operational Requirements of the Doha FIR Full Equipment of the ATC Center to Begin its Functions of Managing Region- In line with the operational requirements of the Doha Flight Information Region (DFIR), the Air Navigation Department of QCAA recently completed the phase related to the management of the Doha Flight Information Region in the Control Tower Building, and equipped the Qatar Air Traffic Control Center in preparation for the second phase activation of air traffic management above international waters.

Airport news

Ethiopian Airlines signs deal for $6 billion mega airport- Ethiopian Airlines had signed a memorandum of understanding with Dubai-based consulting company Dar to develop the design for the airport, which will have four runways. It will be built in Bishoftu, about 40 kilometres southeast of the capital Addis Ababa, and stretch across 35 square kilometres.
The new Buon Ma Thuot ATC Tower was put into official operation- The new Buon Ma Thuot ATC Tower was built on an area of 1,500m2 within the area of Buon Ma Thuot Airport. This is one of the key and significant projects for the development of Buon Ma Thuot Airport. The project has a total investment of over 74 billion VND, funded by VATM's development investment capital.
Turkiye to Open 58th Civilian Airport- Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Oraloglu has announced the opening of Cukurova International Airport in the south of the country. The widest aircraft can land on the airport's main runway, which is 3,500 meters long and 60 meters wide. The airport's capacity is 8 million passengers annually, and its hall area is 110,000 square meters.
UK Civil Aviation Authority consults on Gatwick Airport Limited’s commitments- The UK CAA has published an initial assessment of proposals from Gatwick Airport Limited (GAL) to extend the set of ‘commitments’ it makes to airlines by a period of four years. This consultation considers the views of stakeholders following an industry consultation last summer (CAP2554), develops a framework for assessing whether GAL’s proposals to extend the commitments are in the interests of consumers and sets out our initial assessment using this framework.
Airports Council Releases 2023 North American Airport Traffic Rankings - Aircraft movements continued to increase in 2023 after the sharp decline experienced during the pandemic. Total aircraft movements increased by 4.8 percent in 2023 as compared to 2022. This increase was driven by a recovery of 8.0 percent in passenger and combination aircraft movements. All-cargo aircraft movements recorded a decrease of 4.5 percent from 2022 in 2023.
Western Sydney Airport set to open in late 2026 – Airport World- Western Sydney Airport is one step closer to reality following the completion of its roof, paving the way for the acceleration of its internal fit out. According to a new statement, more than 80% of the new Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport is now complete, with domestic, international and air cargo services expected to commence from the gateway from late 2026.

Market news

Altitude Angel takes the lead in delivering CAA’s Airspace Modernisation Strategy- In a landmark development for UK aviation safety and traffic management, Altitude Angel is to expand its existing advanced comprehensive EC (electronic conspicuity) sensor network to cover the majority of the UK by the end of the year, establishing foundations needed for BVLOS drone flights in 2025.
EUROCONTROL and FREQUENTIS extend long-term contract for air traffic surveillance solution- EUROCONTROL and Frequentis Comsoft have extended their industrial partner contract for modern air traffic management with the ARTAS tracker. ARTAS provides high-performance tracking as well as surveillance and flight data processing capabilities.

Reports and data

ENAIRE managed over 1.3 million flights in the first seven months of the year, 8.5% more than in 2023, a record year- ENAIRE managed over 1.3 million flights in the first seven months of the year, an increase of 8.5% versus the same period in 2023, a record year. This was the January-July period with the most traffic in history, and the forecast is for 2024 to be another record year.
Nearly 2.5 million passengers at Brussels Airport in July - Almost 61,000 tonnes of freight transported- There were 19,212 flight movements in July, a rise of 3% compared to the same month last year. The number of passenger flights also increased by 3% compared to July 2023. There were, on average, 152 passengers travelling per flight that month, an increase of two passengers per flight compared to the same period in 2023. That is an all-time record number of passengers per flight.
airBaltic Carries Over Half a Million Passengers in July, New Records in Estonia and Lithuania- airBaltic continues to demonstrate a strong performance in July carrying more than half a million passengers – 560 200, marking a 9% growth, compared to the same period last year. In the previous month, airBaltic performed 4 550 flights, showing a 6% increase from July 2023

UAV and UTM

Volocopter Conducts First eVTOL Flight at the Palace of Versailles- Volocopter conducted the world’s first electric vertical take-off and landing flight test within the premises of the World Heritage Palace of Versailles. This unprecedented flight marks the conclusion of this summer’s multi-day operational validation test campaign at the Aerodrome of Saint-Cyr-l'Ecole and Versailles. Volocopter and its partners aspire to return to Paris later in the year to fly our eVTOL aircraft in central Paris.
DSNA deploys drone detection system in Nice and Marseille with more areas to follow - Unmanned airspace- French air services navigation provider DSNA has selected the XTR SERIS consortium to provide a drone detection service for airspace around airports.
ENAIRE partners with research and Canary Island government to progress U-space - Unmanned airspace- ENAIRE has announced a partnership agreement covering new projects related to drones, air mobility and satellites. The agreement was signed by ENAIRE and the Council of Universities, Science, Innovation and Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and the Information Society, and the Council of Fuerteventura, through the Parque Tecnológico de Fuerteventura S.A.
European Commission publishes decision on remote ID harmonised standards - Unmanned airspace- The European Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/2103 of 30 July 2024 on harmonised standard for direct remote identification for unmanned aircraft drafted in support of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 has been published.

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