EUROCONTROL, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, released new guidance material to help Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) design contingency strategies and operational practices to best deal with challenging circumstances.

In the event of failure and/or disruption of air navigation services, States and ANSPs have to restore service levels as quickly as possible.

EUROCONTROL conducted a study to identify best practice in Air Traffic Management (ATM) contingency planning, with the aim of producing information that will help ATM organisations prepare for the potential loss of a major unit, such as an Area Control Centre. The strategies presented in the guidance material are based on a common high level framework that can be used by ANSPs to mitigate against a broad range of threats and hazards, including terrorist action, floods, fires and pandemics.

“In providing this guidance, EUROCONTROL’s objective is to support ANSPs and State authorities so as to ensure that the whole ATM community benefits from confirmed best practice. The material will help ANSPs fulfil their international obligations concerning ANS Contingency Planning, as laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the European Commission,” observed Guido Kerkhofs, Director of ATM Programmes at EUROCONTROL. “Once these practices have been adopted on a wide scale in Europe, the entire ATM network will enjoy an appreciably greater degree of protection and resilience.”

The new guidance material forms part of a series of Contingency Planning Guidelines already issued by EUROCONTROL. It is supplementary to, and should be read in conjunction with, the “EUROCONTROL Guidelines for Contingency Planning of Air Navigation Services, Edition 1,October 2007” and its associated Reference Guide (RG).