FAB CE News

In January 2018 FAB CE technical experts released their interim report into the introduction of Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) procedures to handle peak time traffic loads with reduced delays.

In just less than a year after signing the memorandum of cooperation aimed towards merging the two Free Route Airspaces SAXFRA (Slovenian Austrian Cross-border Free Route Airspace) and SEAFRA (South-East Axis Free Route Airspace - project of three ANSPs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro) the South East Common Sky Initiative Free Route Airspace (SECSI FRA) has successfully been implemented, with the support of the Network Manager.

FAB CE will focus on streaming projects to give stakeholders more time to move further and faster on activities such as common procurement and airspace consolidation, said Jan Klas, chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ANS CR in his opening remarks to the Prague FAB CE Social Dialogue meeting in December.

In November 2017 SESAR Deployment Alliance signed an agreement with the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) – which manages the technical and financial implementation of the European Commission’s TEN-T programme – to fund a study into the implementation of Dynamic Airspace Management (DAM) and short-term air traffic management measures (STAMs) throughout the FABCE area.

The summer and autumn months have seen strong air traffic growth in the FAB CE region, with a slight increase in air traffic flow management (ATFM) delays over 2016, mainly as a result of more volatile weather conditions.

Common telecommunications equipment has been delivered to FAB CE member states following completion of the first joint equipment procurement project managed by the FAB CE legal entity, FABCE Aviation Services Ltd (FCE). Six air navigation service providers (ANSPs) purchased CISCO routers based on a common specification and tender to benefit from lower procurement costs and economies of scale.

FCE Director Matej Eljon said: “A comparison of the cost of a single procurement process compared with multiple actions reveals an average cost reduction in excess of 30%. We also achieved a lower market price because of the economies of scale.” Analysis carried out by FCE reveals cost savings in the preparation of legal documents and agreements. It also showed a significant discount in the cost of the equipment for individual ANSPs. The legal documents provide a baseline that is now available for future common procurements.

S&T Slovenia was selected for the single contract award following a competitive tender in June 2017, and the company completed delivery of the network equipment - known as X-bone – to all six ANSPs in August 2017. The replacement hardware provides the telecommunications infrastructure to support seamless exchange of aeronautical messages between ANSPs. It provides a secure network to send and receive data electronically among neighbouring states. On completion of local installation, the expert project team from X-bone community is tasked with testing and validating the new X-bone communications network with operational approval anticipated by mid-2018.

The project is the first common system purchase by a Functional Airspace Block (FAB). It was supported by an expert team which prepared the relevant legal documents and established a framework that can be used to carry out similar projects in the future. A series of templates are now available for further common procurement actions, and can be modified according to specific project requirements.

FCE is ready to launch a new procurement project in the coming months and is confident it will be able to lower costs through a single procurement process compared with costs incurred by ANSPs individually. The FAB CE Technical Sub-Committee is analysing the future investment plans of FAB CE ANSPs to identify infrastructure projects which stand to benefit from common procurement activity. The opportunities are likely to include communications, navigation, and surveillance infrastructure where equipment is already due to be purchased, and operational requirements are comparable. Smart procurement is part of wider a FAB CE objective to harmonise and optimise operations, one of three high level initiatives set out in the FAB CE Strategy, along with safety and performance monitoring, and stakeholder communications.