Len Wicks Regional Officer, Air Traffic Management, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

Air Traffic Management Issues

Busan, 10-11 May 2017

Contents • Asia/Pacific Seamless ATM Plan • Civil/Military Cooperation • AKARA Corridor • ATC Separation Standards • Trans-Regional Proposals • ATFM

Asia/Pacific Seamless ATM Plan • Hierarchy of global

and regional planning • APAC Seamless ATM

planning is at the level of strategy for regional implementation

Administered by ICAO HQ

Administered by ICAO Regional Office

Asia-Pacific Plan for Collaborative AIM

Asia/Pacific Seamless ATM Plan • New ASBU Block 1 elements was endorsed by APANPIRG/27

for Phase II (2019): – B1-ACDM; – B1-SURF; – B1-RSEQ; – B1-CDO; – B1-TBO (only DCL); and – B1-NOPS.

Asia/Pacific Seamless ATM Plan • New regional items proposed for Phase II (2019):

– B1-SAR (implementation of the Asia/Pacific SAR Plan); – Ballistic rocket launch/space re-entry management planning; – Voice communications over IP between ATS units (VoIP); – Common aeRonautical Virtual private network (CRV) and – Airport Master Plans.

Asia/Pacific Seamless ATM Plan • ASBU Block 1 modules

which may be considered in 2019 or 2022 (Phase 3):

– B1-SWIM, B1-FICE, B1-DATM, B1-TBO, B1-RPAS, B1-SNET, B1-APTA, B1-AMET, B1-WAKE and B1-ASEP.

Asia/Pacific Seamless ATM Plan • As at 16 February 2016,

22 Asia/Pacific administrations (52%), had submitted a Seamless ATM report

Asia/Pacific Seamless ATM Plan • The initial data indicates that States which have reported are:

– on target for Phase 1 B0-FRTO and civil/military regional elements (however this needs verification as issues remain)

– partially on target for B0-NOPS (ATFM), B0-TBO (ADS-C/CPDLC), B0-APTA (PBN approaches) and B0-FICE (AIDC)

– generally not on target for B0-ASUR (ground-based surveillance) and B0-AIM (Aeronautical Information Management)

Civil/Military Cooperation • Update of Circular 330 (Civil Military Cooperation)

• Conflict Zone Information Repository • New Asia/Pacific Ballistic Launch/Space Re-entry element • APAC CIV/MIL Workshop, location and format TBA • States are still reporting major ATM delays related to China:

– these issues largely stem poor civil/military cooperation issues that have been discussed in previous years at the ATM/SG

Civil/Military Cooperation Below are images of the theoretical city pair operations in East Asia on the left, compared to the route network available for international operations on the right – indicating high levels of military restrictions in some parts compared to others.

AKARA Corridor – dense crossing air traffic; – offset procedures not always utilised; – three ATC units using the same airspace; – Shanghai-Incheon FIRs communication?; – incomplete AIDC implementation; – common severe turbulence; and – lack of emergency descent procedures

AKARA Corridor • The AKARA corridor has been the subject of concern for several

years, and is likely to be discussed at RASMAG/22 (10-13 July 2017) and ATM/SG/5 (31 July – 4 August 2017) – airlines are seeking alternative routes but this doesn’t solve the core

problem of a major latent safety issue.

ATC Separation Standards • ROK using 5NM, but:

– Use of a FLAS; and – Transfer of Control 17-60 NM.

• No reports from other East Asian States, one from Hong Kong, China SAR

ATC Separation Standards • The PBNICG has developed an important ‘equivalence’

approach for RNP 2, thanks to Australia, which: – will assist airlines with

mandates; and – deliver ATM efficiency benefits

(15 NM separation, etc.)

Trans-Regional Proposals • PBN Highways are long distance high density PBN route

systems to take advantage of RNP 2 in the 2020+ timeframe: – based on EMARSSH principles of end-to-end CNS/ATM planning; – endorsed by the EUR/NAT, MID and APAC ICAO Offices; and – designed with multiple routes, seasonal winds, and traffic priority

Trans-Regional Proposals • The PBN Highways concept is synonymous with the Silk Road

Economic Belt (丝绸之路经济带) being constructed by China; three of the four priority pathways connect China with Europe.

Trans-Regional Proposals • At the First Advanced Inter-Regional ATS Route Development

Task Force meeting (AIRARD/TF/1, 17 October 2016, Tbilisi, Georgia), China strongly supported the concept of PBN Highways, as did Armenia, Sweden and IATA.

• Turkey supported the concept but noted implementation issues. – AIRARD/TF/2 was scheduled for Kazakhstan 26-27 October 2017.

Trans-Regional Proposals • At the Route Development Group East (RDGE/25) meeting in

Tbilisi, Georgia, the Russian Federation requested progress on: – increasing the number of entry waypoints to Chinese airspace; and – reducing complexity of trans-regional operations (FLOS transition,

specified routes per destination, uni-directional routes; • The DPRK also requested progress on their route proposals:

– concerning the Russian Federation, Japan and the ROK.

ATFM • APAC ATFM development is currently focused on the multi-nodal (‘virtual ATFM’) concept, and developments in China (some regions), India (C-ATFM), and NARAHG: – Some progress in the exchange of NARAHG Daily ATFM Plan and

the in-principle agreement on ATFM information exchange; – Need political support for the operationalization of an ATFM system,

as traffic in the area concerned is very high density and thus there is a need for urgent implementation.