A meeting of air navigation service providers, industry and regulators has endorsed the First Air Traffic Control Support Tools Implementation (FASTI) Operational Concept. When fully implemented, FASTI will provide an…
A meeting of air navigation service providers, industry and regulators has endorsed the First Air Traffic Control Support Tools Implementation (FASTI) Operational Concept. When fully implemented, FASTI will provide an additional 15% capacity to the European airspace network.
The endorsement of FASTI is seen as a milestone for the programme as it is the first time participating stakeholders have reached an agreement on the operational changes required to achieve the benefits from implementation of controller tools.
In order to avoid a shortfall in capacity across the European air traffic management network in the next five years, recognition and agreement on the need for a harmonised approach to the implementation of FASTI tools is essential. This will be done by finding more efficient ways of using controllers’ skills, changing ATC procedures and limiting the expansion of sectors.
In the past, the development and validation of controller support tools across Europe was fragmented and uncoordinated, resulting in differences between systems and operational philosophies both among air navigation service providers and industry. The FASTI Programme supports coordinated implementation and rapid deployment across Europe of controller tools such as Medium Term Conflict Detection, Monitoring Aids and System Supported Coordination. These tools will help controllers with their key tasks of planning, detecting conflicts, monitoring and coordination, allowing them to handle safely an increased number of aircraft. In the longer-term, FASTI will enable the introduction of further air traffic control automation.
“With the forecast growth in air traffic and the drive for safety improvements and cost efficiencies the need for system support tools for air traffic controllers has never been greater,” said Chris Brain, FASTI Programme Manager. “The FASTI Programme reflects EUROCONTROL’s strategy to re-focus on shorter-term capacity enhancement to meet the needs of airspace users, and will when fully implemented provide an additional 15% capacity in European airspace. Some local implementations already exist but we must ensure that they are now able to work together in order to improve and optimise the network.”
“We support FASTI. The ongoing implementation of our new VAFORIT system at Karlsruhe UAC will ensure we are fully FASTI compliant,” said DFS representative Gerwin Vogel.
“FASTI is the product of a collaborative process between Air Navigation Service Providers, ATC Regulators, Industry and EUROCONTROL. Together we are developing this pan-European implementation programme that will make another real contribution to increasing the capacity of the European air transport system,” said Guido Kerkhofs, EUROCONTROL Director of ATM Programmes.
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