SESAR deployment ongoing journey

Today, SESAR deployment has reached its 200th completed project! A big THANK YOU to all involved stakeholders for making ATM modernisation and digitalisation a reality for EU passengers, citizens & economies through their ongoing commitment. This milestone would not have been reached without the true commitment of the operational stakeholders who have, despite the Covid crisis, managed to complete 60 SESAR deployment projects since 2020.

EUROCONTROL and SESAR Deployment Manager, with the support of the A6 Alliance, organised a webinar focused on the Met SWIM service implementation and the availability of new Met products in support of ATM. The webinar aimed to create awareness of the new Met products and to share implementation experiences from both providers and consumers of the services. You can watch the recording here:

The SESAR Deployment Manager held its Annual Meeting on the 17th of November, with an introduction from the General Manager Nicolas Warinsko and keynote speeches from Marco De Sciscio (DG MOVE) and Cristobal Millan de la Lastra (CINEA). We thank our stakeholders for attending this event and showcasing their continuous support to SESAR deployment as well as for their efforts in making European ATM more modern, digital and sustainable. Let's keep on delivering together.

On the 16th of November, the SESAR Deployment Manager organised a webinar on the Monitoring View 2021 exercice. The SESAR Deployment Programme Monitoring View represents the single point of reference for reporting the most detailed information on the status of the CP1 Regulation, enhanced with data from the 341 Implementation Projects coordinated by the SESAR Deployment Manager. With the adoption of the Common Project 1, the elaboration of the new SESAR Deployment Programme 2021 and the intense cooperation between EUROCONTROL and the SDM, the need for operational stakeholders to participate to multiple reporting cycles has finally been overcome. From this year, there is a single entry point for all ground data referred to ATM modernisation on the LSSIP+ tool. CP1 monitoring activities will be complemented with additional data gathering from civil and military Airspace Users as well as the Network Manager.

On that day, the European Commission has published on its website the Call for the next SESAR Deployment Manager and Framework Partnership Agreement Coordinator. It is great news for all aviation stakeholders involved in SESAR deployment, learning that they will be able to continue delivering ATM modernization together under the coordination of a new SESAR deployment mandate holder, ensuring a smooth continuation after the end of the current mandate by end May 2022. Our objective is to make this transition as seamless as possible for the nearly 100 implementing partners involved in SESAR deployment and relying daily on SESAR Deployment Managers’ support. By the end of this year, we will have 200 ATM modernization and digitalization projects that will be completed and deliver tangible benefits to the European passengers, citizens and economy, ensuring a solid legacy for our successor.

Congratulations to the Italian Air Navigation Service Provider ENAV for the completion of their SESAR deployment Implementation Project 2016_120_AF1, which introduces RNP1+RF procedures at the airports of Milan Malpensa and Rome Fiumicino. On top of decreasing the environmental footprint of Air Traffic Management, these procedures also enhance operational efficiency.

SESAR Deployment Manager’s Chief Strategy & Programme Manager Mariagrazia La Piscopia recently spoke as a guest on the episode 13 of Fox ATM’s podcast to discuss the specifics of SESAR Deployment. On this occasion, Mariagrazia La Piscopia discussed, among many other topics, how SESAR deployment contributes to the modernisation and digitalisation of Europe’s Air Traffic Management with the contribution of all involved stakeholders, as well as the future of SESAR deployment through a smooth continuation of operations.

The ongoing journey for the modernisation and digitalisation of Europe’s Air Traffic Management continues through the deployment of SESAR! Despite the challenges faced since 2020, the ATM sector is still eager for positive evolutions through the deployment of SESAR solutions to support the CP1 goals of modernisation, digitalisation and sustainability for the aviation industry. In this article, our General Manager Nicolas Warinsko underlines the strong commitment to SESAR deployment of all involved stakeholders.

On the 6th and 7th of October 2021, the seventh meeting of the Data Link Support Group (DSG) was organised by EUROCONTROL NM with the support of SESAR Deployment Manager. This online meeting was an occasion for the DSG to meet and confer on Datalink Services-related matters, providing updates on pending matters from the previous DSG meetings and addressing further actions to be discussed and taken by the group during this sixth meeting. DSG7 was attended by a wide variety of stakeholders, counting civil and military airspace users, ANSPs, aviation manufacturers, CSPs, institutional partners and airports, with over 100 attendees.

Did You Know That… SESAR modernisation & digitalisation projects increase airside operation safety? Thanks to the deployment of the implementation project “Deploying Airport Safety Nets across the Largest European Airports”, which allows the detection of potential conflicts as well as the prevention of hazards, the safety of EU passengers is enhanced across 13 European airports. This project is also bringing environmental benefits thanks to the upgrade of ATM systems which reduces CO2 and noise emissions.

Did you know that the deployment of SESAR projects supports Datalink Services in Europe? Thanks to the ongoing coordination of Air Traffic Management modernisation and digitalisation projects, 77% of flights in Europe are now equipped with DLS, compared to 40% in 2018, bringing tangible benefits to European Air Traffic Management.

Did you know that the deployment of SESAR projects benefits nearly 100 action beneficiaries? 343 modernisation and digitalisation projects are bringing tangible benefits and positive impact to 93 Air Traffic Management stakeholders through the coordination of 7 actions by SESAR Deployment Manager & supported by the EU, saving trees, fuel, money and time.

Congratulations to BULATSA for the completion of their SESAR deployment Implementation Project 2015_217_AF4, which materialises in the deployment of a Traffic Complexity Assessment Tool (tCAT) in the Sofia Air Control Center. tCAT is a decision support tool that predicts the complexity of operations, thus allowing accurate planning of ATC resources. The completion of this project will improve capacity with delay reduction, and is expected to save 63,4 million euros until 2030. The project is framed within the SESAR Deployment Programme Family 4.3.1 “Automated Support for Traffic Complexity Assessment and Flight Planning interfaces”. SESAR Deployment Manager performs a Cost-Benefit Analysis for all completed projects after 1 year in operation in order to evaluate their contribution to the network performance and the benefits delivered against the original expectations. The same process will apply to project 2015_217_AF4 in 2022 and confirm its positive impact.

Congratulations to the Hungarian Air Nagivation Service Provider HungaroControl for the completion of IP 2017_074_AF3, supporting cross-border free route operations, thanks to the management of real-time airspace data, exchange airspace reservation messages, support dynamic airspace configuration & interface to NM systems. This SESAR deployment Implementation Project is framed in 4 Families of the SESAR Deployment Programme developed for CP1, namely Reg.: 3.1.1 “ASM and A-FUA”, 3.1.2 “Management of pre-defined Airspace configuration”, 3.2.2 “Enhanced FRA operations” & 4.3.1 “Automated Support for Traffic Complexity Assessment”. This Project is the last of a group of 3 interrelated implementation initiatives coordinated by SDM. Air Traffic Management system upgrades in favour of Free Route Airspace in Hungary will improve operational efficiency & reduce environmental footprint. This group of Projects is expected to save 43,3M € by 2030. SDM performs CBA of Completed IPS after 1 year in operation to evaluate their contribution to the network performance and the benefits delivered against the original expectations. The same process will apply to IP 2017_074_AF3 in 2022, hoping to confirm the expected positive impact from the completion of this project.

The biweekly newsletters to Implementing Partners contains a to-do list per CEF call. This supporting tool used by SDM aims to guide IPPs through the 2021 Amendment Exercise with a customised to-do list according to the activities to be performed every two weeks, in order to ensure the timely 2021 Amendment(s) signature in time for the second Monitoring Gate for 2021.

On the 27th of July, the SESAR Deployment Programme 2021 (SDP2021) was released to the European Commission after wide consultation with all involved SESAR deployment stakeholders. The SESAR Deployment Manager wants to thank all involved stakeholders for their commitment to modernising, digitalising and making European Air Traffic Management more sustainable.

From the 343 SESAR deployment modernisation and digitalisation projects, implementation projects such as ENAV’s Free Route Airspace support the environmental sustainability of the European sky by reducing the environmental footprint thanks to shorter flight paths, and thus reducing fuel consumption! The resulting reduction in CO2 emissions support the European Commission’s goals of becoming carbon neutral by 2030, in line with the EU Green Deal as well as the targets set by the CP1 regulation.

Congratulations to Dublin Airport for ensuring the exchange of A-CDM data with the Network Manager Operations Centre (NMOC) via a new SWIM platform and infrastructure compliant with SWIM Yellow Profile. This was achieved thanks to the completion of two SESAR deployment Implementation Project, 2016_033_AF5 “Use SWIM methods to replace AFTN feeds for A-CDM” and 2016_034_AF5 “Upgrade/Replace Infrastructure to facilitate SWIM”, which aim to ensure the exchange of A-CDM data with the Network Manager Operations Centre (NMOC) via a new SWIM platform and infrastructure compliant with SWIM Yellow Profile.

The SESAR deployment Manager and EUROCONTROL NM, with the support of the A6 Alliance, were very pleased to welcome stakeholders to the first edition of a series of webinars on SWIM, with 238 participants in attendance. This successful webinar will lead to more discussions on topics presented during the event, following the interest of all involved stakeholders and the enthusiasm shown for the SWIM topic for which SDM will continue to disseminate information and raise awareness in future editions of the SWIM Webinar series.

The Single European Sky Partners, also known as the "Europe For Aviation" stakeholders, will not participate to the World ATM Congress (WAC) 2021. The decision has been jointly taken amongst all of the Europe For Aviation partners, coordinated by the European Commission, EUROCONTROL and SESAR (SJU/SDM).

Single European Sky Partners, also known as the Europe For Aviation stakeholders, will unfortunately not be able to participate to this year’s World ATM Congress organised in Madrid in October 2021. The decision has been jointly taken amongst all of the Europe For Aviation partners, coordinated by the European Commission, EUROCONTROL and SESAR (SJU/SDM).

Did you know that SESAR deployment improves air traffic flow and capacity management? Since 2019, the Spanish Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) ENAIRE is able to avoid bottlenecks and network congestion thanks to Short Term Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management (ATFCM) measures, which result in less delays and shorter flight paths to the benefit of almost 250 million passengers on a yearly basis.

Did you know that SESAR deployment improves weather information sharing? Meteo service providers (METSPs) are deploying cross-border harmonised Weather Hazard SWIM services through Access Points to allow all Air Traffic Management (ATM) stakeholders to retrieve relevant MET information available on the European SWIM Registry, which will support them in improving their planning, reducing potential delays due to poor weather conditions and reduce the use of fuel. The implementation of this SESAR deployment modernisation and digitalisation project offers a single harmonized view of weather phenomena for the whole of Europe and helps mitigate the impact of poor weather on aviation operations.

The biweekly newsletters to Implementing Partners contains a to-do list per CEF call. This supporting tool used by SDM aims to guide IPPs through the 2021 Amendment Exercise with a customised to-do list according to the activities to be performed every two weeks, in order to ensure the timely 2021 Amendment(s) signature in time for the second Monitoring Gate for 2021.

SESAR Deployment Manager set up an overview of the deliverables developed over the years by the SDM, now on the Partner Area, to ensure continuity and archive key documents and deliverables on the same platform.

SESAR Deployment Manager is facilitating a series of visits from the European Commission and CINEA representatives to Implementing Partners of SESAR deployment, with the aim to assess the deployment projects that are operational in Europe. Due to travel restrictions and safety measures, the visits are currently being organised fully online together with experts from SDM, CINEA, the European Commission and representatives of the Member State. The third virtual site visit of 2021 was at Air France.

The implementation of Datalink in Europe is a key enabler for the rollout of the Initial Trajectory Information Sharing as defined by the CP1 regulation (IR 116/2021). Thanks to the work accomplished together with 25 Air Traffic Management organisations and the support of EUROCONTROL, SESAR Deployment Manager ensures the wide use of #DLS in European #aviation.

After the closure of the first Cycle of consultations for the SESAR Deployment Programme 2021, followed by the start of Cycle 2, SESAR Deployment Manager replied to the comments shared in this second cycle of consultations through the Stakeholder Consultation Platform.

Did you know that European aviation players are building a sustainable sky together for you? Since 2015, SESAR Deployment Manager coordinates the synchronised deployment of nearly 350 SESAR implementation projects in close collaboration with 93 partners in 33 countries in order to achieve more sustainability in Europe’s Air Traffic Management through the modernisation and digitalisation of the European sky. Together with operational stakeholders, SDM turns modernisation solutions into an operational reality on the ground and in the air for a more sustainable and resilient European aviation and to create a Single Digital European Sky.

The biweekly newsletters to Implementing Partners contains a to-do list per CEF call. This supporting tool used by SDM aims to guide IPPs through the 2021 Amendment Exercise with a customised to-do list according to the activities to be performed every two weeks, in order to ensure the timely 2021 Amendment(s) signature in time for the second Monitoring Gate for 2021.

SESAR Deployment Manager is facilitating a series of visits from the European Commission and CINEA representatives to Implementing Partners of SESAR deployment, with the aim to assess the deployment projects that are operational in Europe. Due to travel restrictions and safety measures, the visits are currently being organised fully online together with experts from SDM, CINEA, the European Commission and representatives of the Member State. The second virtual site visit of 2021 was held at the French Air Navigation Service Provider DSNA and the French Ministry of Defence.

Out of the 343 modernisation and digitalisation projects, SESAR deployment implementation projects such as the Borealis Alliance’s Free Route Airspace support a more sustainable European sky by allowing more direct routes, and thus less fuel used! This reduction in CO2 emissions support the European Commission’s sustainability goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030, in line with the EU Green Deal as well as the targets of the CP1 regulation.

On the 26th and 27th of May 2021, the sixth meeting of the Data Link Support Group (DSG) was organised by EUROCONTROL NM with the support of SESAR Deployment Manager. This online meeting was an occasion for the DSG to meet and confer on Datalink Services-related matters, providing updates on pending matters from the previous DSG meetings and addressing further actions to be discussed and taken by the group during this sixth meeting. It was attended by a wide variety of stakeholders, counting civil and military airspace users, ANSPs, aviation manufacturers, CSPs, institutional partners and airports, with over 100 attendees.

The 3rd edition of the SDM Newsletter in 2021 presented the ongoing communication campaign called “Did You Know That?”, which is a series of publications on the ongoing efforts for the modernisation and digitalisation of Air Traffic Management in Europe through the deployment of SESAR. This edition also announced the start of a series of webinars on SWIM in collaboration with EUROCONTROL NM and with the support of the A6 Alliance, with the first edition held on 22 June 2021.

Did you know that a digitalised sky means a greener sky? 190 Air Traffic Management modernisation and digitalisation projects are currently completed, with a number of them accelerating Europe’s flight towards a greener and more sustainable sky thanks to the digitalisation of ATM in Europe. The deployment of these modernisation and digitalisation projects showcase our commitment to the European Commission’s sustainability goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050, within the EU Green Deal.

The exercise in re-assessing all the Performance Benefits from SESAR deployment started in June and will remain in a continuous process until the next Execution Progress Report in November 2021.

Did you know that the deployment of SESAR projects saves time? 190 out of 343 Air Traffic Management modernisation and digitalisation projects are bringing tangible benefits to passengers and the EU by saving 27,3 million minutes on passengers’ time by 2030.

Together with our stakeholders, SESAR Deployment Manager delivers benefits for European passengers, citizens and economies with the completion of 190 out of 343 SESAR deployment implementation projects.

Did you know that… 190 Air Traffic Management modernisation and digitalisation projects are bringing benefits to European passengers, citizens, environment & economy? Check our video on SESAR deployment below and find out how we deliver together with our stakeholders, with the support of the European Commission and CINEA.

With the SESAR initiative - a continuous cycle of innovation, development, validation and deployment of Air Traffic Management (ATM) modernisation projects - the European Union aims to achieve a modern, digitalised Single European Sky. SESAR Deployment Manager is the coordinator behind the deployment of nearly 350 modernisation projects, all key enablers for more sustainability within European aviation. We are delivering concrete benefits to the environment, European passengers, citizens and economy together with the entire ATM industry and aviation stakeholders since 2015.

The Consultation Campaign for the new SESAR Deployment Programme 2021 was launched in March 2021, with the first cycle of Consultation involving the distribution of the Initial Drafts of the SDP and Planning View 2021. In this second cycle of Consultation, the Final Drafts of the SDP and Planning View 2021 were distributed.

SESAR Deployment Manager is facilitating a series of visits from the European Commission and CINEA representatives to Implementing Partners of SESAR deployment, with the aim to assess the deployment projects that are operational in Europe. Due to travel restrictions and safety measures, the visits are currently being organised fully online together with experts from SDM, CINEA, the European Commission and representatives of the Member State. In 2021, the first virtual site visit was held at the Air Navigation Service Provider HungaroControl.

The biweekly newsletters to Implementing Partners contains a to-do list per CEF call. This supporting tool used by SDM aims to guide IPPs through the 2021 Amendment Exercise with a customised to-do list according to the activities to be performed every two weeks, in order to ensure the timely 2021 Amendment(s) signature in time for the second Monitoring Gate for 2021.

The SDM Bi-monthly Newsletter aims to update Action beneficiaries of the different Action execution phases every two months. This edition updated recipients on the launch of the 2021 Amendment Exercise based on the submission of the 2021 Action Status Reports, in parallel to the activities carried out for the elaboration of the 2021 Interim and Balance Payment requests. The newsletter also informed readers of the change of INEA into CINEA in April as well as of the migration of SDM-coordinated Implementation Projects into the CP1 framework.

SESAR Deployment Manager participated to the CNS Advisory Group Workshop on the 7th of May 2021. The new report sets the road for CNS evolution in Europe, and the document includes key elements brought forward by SDM itself: the need for an industry-inclusive Programme Management layer built on the example of DLS and ADS-B, and the need to link the future CNS evolution plan to the SESAR Deployment Programme.

In the context of the first cycle of consultations for the SESAR Deployment Programme 2021, the Thematic Sub-Group held a meeting.

SESAR Deployment Manager hosted the second training session for the 2021 Amendment Exercise. Once again, SDM presented some informational material in an interactive setting to stakeholders, with a focus on both the process and the technical (STAR tool) side.

The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) closed the assessment for the 2015 CEF Call Cluster 1 final report as well as the Payment of the Balance.

The SESAR Deployment Facts & Figures factsheet showcasing the benefits delivered for European passengers, citizens and economies was updated and released in May 2021 to show the performance benefits of the first 190 completed SESAR implementation projects, with a strong increase in benefits from the previous version.

The biweekly newsletters to Implementing Partners contains a to-do list per CEF call. This supporting tool used by SDM aims to guide IPPs through the 2021 Amendment Exercise with a customised to-do list according to the activities to be performed every two weeks, in order to ensure the timely 2021 Amendment(s) signature in time for the second Monitoring Gate for 2021.

SESAR Deployment Manager hosted the first training session for the 2021 Amendment Exercise. In the first of these two interactive workshops, SDM presented some informational material in an interactive setting, with a focus on both the process and the technical (STAR tool) side.

Congratulations to ENAIRE for completing the operational validation towards the implementation of Electronic Flight-Strips (EFS). EFS will bring improvements, amongst other elements, on the enhancement of information integration with advanced tools and facilitate data input. This was achieved thanks to the completion of SESAR deployment implementation project 2015_212_AF2, delivering PCP elements for the three Spanish Airports in PCP scope under SDP Family 2.1.2 “Electronic Flight Strips (EFS)”. This Implementation Project is the successor of another SESAR Deployment Manager coordinated IP from ENAIRE already concluded in 2017, namely the IP #057AF2a “Fulfilment of the prerequisite EFS for the PCP AF2 Subfunctionality: Airport Integration and Throughput (2014-2016)”. Both projects are expected to provide 15 million euros of savings by 2030, thanks to the reduction of time, fuel and CO2 emissions.

The “Performance part” of the SESAR Deployment Programme 2021 draft was released for consultation on the Stakeholder Consultation Platform to highlight the impact on performance by the Common Project 1 regulation.

Congratulations to the Portuguese ANSP NAV Portugal for the implementation and entry into operation of the LARA tool at Lisbon ACC, with its information being continuously provided to the Network Manager. This has been achieved thanks to the completion of the SESAR deployment Implementation Project #122AF3. This Project has delivered PCP elements related to Airspace Management and Advanced Flexible Use of Airspace, improving flight efficiency and reducing environmental footprint, expecting to save 8,8 Million € until 2030. SESAR Deployment Manager will perform the Cost-Benefit Analysis of this project after 1 year in operation.

The 2nd edition of the SDM Newsletter in 2021 focused on the kick-off of consultations for the SESAR Deployment Programme 2021, which aims to ensure the optimisation and synchronisation of ATM modernisation and digitalisation through SESAR deployment and accelerating Europe towards a greener sky in the context of CP1 and the EU Green Deal. Readers were also informed that the Stakeholder Consultation Platform was moved to the Partner Area and that SDM delivered the 6 Action Status Reports to CINEA.

The Stakeholder Consultation Platform (SCP) has been moved to the Partner Area and is now facilitating the entire consultation of the SESAR Deployment Programme 2021 (#SDP2021). The Partner Area was itself launched end 2020 to facilitate exchanges between SESAR Deployment Manager and all involved stakeholders. The implementation of the SCP on the Partner Area aims to optimise the consultation of the #SDP2021 by facilitating the tracking of documents, interactions, and so on for involved stakeholders.

The 2021 Action Status Report was successfully and smoothly submitted to CINEA on the 29th of March 2021, covering the reporting period 1st of January 2020 – 31st of December 2020, 29th of March 2021, despite the remote working conditions and the impact of COVID-19 on different stakeholders together with all collected Member States certifications through the TENtec tool. It should be highlighted that the preliminary lists for the 2021 Amendment Exercise were elaborated and submitted to CINEA together with the ASR 2021.

Congratulations to Groupe ADP and Air France for the implementation of airborne safety enablers in the A320 and A330 Family, and the definition of business and operational needs of airborne enablers for surface movements. This has been achieved thanks to the completion of the project 2016_150_AF2_AIR. The completion of this SESAR deployment Implementation Project brings benefits to European aviation, delivering PCP elements in Fraport AG under SDP Family 2.5.2 “Aircraft and vehicle systems contributing to Airport Safety Nets”, coordinated by SESAR Deployment Manager and co-financed by the European Commission and INEA. The improvements on capacity and operational efficiency are expected to save 26 Million € until 2030. SESAR Deployment Manager performs the Cost-Benefit Analysis of Completed Projects after one year in operation, in order to evaluate their contribution to the network performance and the benefits delivered against the original expectations. The same process will apply to this Implementation Project in 2021, hoping to confirm this expected positive impact.

Due to the complexity of the process for the Interim Payment and Balance requests elaboration, SDM will host a dedicated online workshop. This workshop targeted all Action Beneficiaries, in particular Overall and/or Financial point of contacts who is responsible for the interim/balance payment request elaboration within each organization. This event launched both the Interim and Balance Payment request elaboration and provided attendees with detailed information on the process, timeline as well as all mandatory documents which need to be provided.

The Consultation Campaign for the new SESAR Deployment Programme 2021 was launched, with the first cycle of Consultation involving the distribution of the Initial Drafts of the SDP and Planning View 2021. Consultation of stakeholders is key to ensure a widely supported implementation plan for European Air Traffic Management modernization. Nearly 750 comments have been managed up to now, supporting the delivery of a new common implementation plan for all impacted stakeholders.

The SDM Bi-monthly Newsletter aims to update Action beneficiaries of the different Action execution phases every two months. This newsletter aimed to inform recipients on the entry into force of the Common Project One Regulation, the SESAR Deployment Programme 2021, SDM cyber security, the 2021 Action Status Report, and so forth.

While 2020 was extremely challenging for the aviation industry due to the COVID-19, the SESAR Deployment Annual Report was delivered to the European Commission, showcasing the resilience of SESAR deployment despite the difficult times with the number of completed projects jumping to 181 by the end of 2020, and the focus of the SDA on its core activities in the usual cooperative spirit with the stakeholders.

The Risk Assessment 2021 is the only reliable document that reports on risks, delays and mitigation measured associated with the European Commission Implementing Regulation (IR) 116/2021, namely Common Project One (CP1). This document is also the first document that takes into account the updated deadlines from the CP1 regulation.

European Commission Implementing Regulation no. 2021/116, Common Project 1 (CP1), amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 409/2013 and repealing Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 716/2014 known as the Pilot Common Project (PCP) enters into force today, on the 22nd of February, 20 days after its publication into the EU Official Journal. SDM is currently working on the SESAR Deployment Programme 2021, a concrete manual for EU operational stakeholders breaking down the regulation on what has to be done, how, where, when and by whom ensuring the optimisation and synchronisation of ATM modernisation and digitalisation through SESAR deployment and accelerating Europe towards a greener aviation industry.

The 1st edition of the SDM Newsletter in 2021 celebrated a key regulatory milestone securing further sustainable modernisation of European Air Traffic Management, namely the European Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 116/2021, Common Project One (CP1), which was published on the 2nd of February 2021 and entered into force on the 22nd February 2021.

On the 4th and 5th of February 2021, the fifth meeting of the Data Link Support Group (DSG) was organised by EUROCONTROL NM with the support of SESAR Deployment Manager. This online meeting was an occasion for the DSG to meet and confer on Datalink Services-related matters, providing updates on pending matters from the previous DSG meetings and addressing further actions to be discussed and taken by the group during this fifth meeting. It was attended by a wide variety of stakeholders, counting civil and military airspace users, ANSPs, aviation manufacturers, institutional partners and airports, with over 100 attendees.

Congratulations to Rome Airport for increasing their cybersecurity defences, integrating current and future cybersecurity policies and providing an initial alignment to SWIM service architecture with a high degree of security, protecting the overall IT airport systems thanks to the completion of the SESAR deployment Implementation Project 2017_020_AF5. This Implementation Project, which delivers SDP elements for Rome Fiumicino in Family 5.2.3 “Stakeholders SWIM PKI and cybersecurity”, was coordinated by SESAR Deployment Manager and co-financed by the European Commission and INEA.

Congratulations to ENAIRE for upgrading their aeronautical data network (REDAN), delivering complementary activities aimed at satisfying additional connectivity users requirements, to ensure an agreed level of Ground-Ground interconnectivity between Air Traffic Service Units and stakeholders. This achievement was attained thanks to the completion of the SESAR deployment Implementation Project 2016_038_AF5, which delivers SDP elements for Spain in Family 5.2.1 “Stakeholders Internet Protocol Compliance”, coordinated by SDM and co-financed by the European Commission and INEA. This IP is part of a thread of two initiatives. They are facilitators of additional SWIM-related initiatives which already decrease communication costs, expecting to save 25 Million € until 2030. We will perform the Cost-Benefit Analysis after one year in operation, positive that we will confirm this expected impact.

Congratulations to the Swedish ANSP LFV for the implementation of two additional WAN services, ensuring that the communication systems meet SWIM requirements and strengthening communication capabilities to continue to operate communication and surveillance services for ATS/ATM purposes. This achievement was attained thanks to the completion of the #SESAR deployment Implementation Project 2015_098_AF5, delivering SDP elements within Family 5.2.1 “Stakeholders Internet Protocol” in Sweden, coordinated by SESAR Deployment Manager and co-financed by the European Commission and INEA.

Congratulations to the Dutch ANSP LVNL for the publication of PBN procedures to Runways 18C, 36R and 22 in the AIP, ending with the procedure evaluation, through the completion of Implementation Project #107AF1. This publication was preceded by the safety assessment, flight validations and ATCO training. The completion of this SESAR deployment IP delivers #PCP elements in Amsterdam Schiphol under Deployment Programme Families related to the Enhanced Terminal Airspace using RNP-Based Operations, coordinated by SDM and co-financed by the European Commission and INEA. This IP is part of a group of 3 interrelated implementation initiatives, which are expected to conclude in July 2021, saving 4.8 Million € until 2030 thanks to improvements in operational efficiency and on the environment. SDM performs the Cost-Benefit Analysis of Completed group of Projects after one year in operation in order to evaluate their contribution to the network performance and the benefits delivered against the original expectations. The same process will apply to IP #107AF1 in 2022, after the whole group is completed, hoping to confirm this expected positive impact.

SESAR Deployment Manager was present at the EUROCONTROL NM's User Week "Scalability and resilience to move the network forward". SDM's Chief Strategy and Programme Management Mariagrazia La Piscopia spoke at the session "ATM infrastructure - Plan, deploy and monitor together" on Friday 12 February, alongside Paul Bosman (EUROCONTROL), Jörg Pikolin (Lufthansa), Patrick Mana (EUROCONTROL and Nikos Fistas (EUROCONTROL). Civil and military ATM infrastructure is the technical enabler for pilots and controllers to maintain the safe separation of aircraft. This infrastructure needs to further embrace digitalisation to boost performance, resilience & scalability.

European Commission Implementing Regulation no. 2021/116, Common Project 1 (CP1), amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 409/2013 and repealing Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 716/2014 known as the Pilot Common Project was published today into the EU Official Journal. CP1 aims to steer Air Traffic Management (ATM) modernisation in Europe. The SESAR Deployment Manager will break down the CP1 into a brand new SESAR Deployment Programme 2021, turning the regulation into a concrete manual to guide operational stakeholders on what has to be done, how, where and by when, with the aim to accelerate the digitalisation of the European ATM towards a greener aviation.

Congratulations to the Italian ANSP ENAV for the completion of the SESAR deployment implementation project 2015_202_AF3 "ASM Tool Implementation", bringing benefits to European aviation and delivering PCP elements under the SDM Family 3.1.1 "ASM Tool to support AFUA" and Famil 3.1.2 "ASM management of real time airspace data". The installation and entry into operation of the LARA system allows ENAV and the Italian Air Force to begin to walk together the path towards the automation of the negotiation process. ASM and LARA provide seamless coordination between systems and states, improving operational efficiency and saving passenger's time as well. This Project is part of a group of interrelated implementation initiatives, expected to conclude in December 2021. This group of Projects is expected to save 13 Million euros by 2030. SDM will perform the Cost-Benefit Analysis after 1 year in operation, positive that the expected impact will be confirmed. (Photo taken in 2019, pre-COVID crisis)

Congratulations to the Spanish ANSP ENAIRE for the successful implementation and operation of an Internet Protocol-based Ground-Ground data communication network, ensuring the interconnectivity between ENAIRE Air Traffic Services Units and stakeholders, according to SWIM principles. The completion of this SESAR deployment implementation project brings benefits to European aviation, delivering PCP elements under the SDP Family 5.2.1 - Stakeholder Internet Protocol Compliance. The implementation project is part of a thread of two initiatives coordinated by SDM. They are facilitators of additional SWIM-related initiatives, which already decrease communication costs, expecting to save 25 million euros until 2030. SDM will perform the Cost-Benefit Analysis after one year in operation, positive that the expected impact will be confirmed.

The SDM Bi-monthly Newsletter aims to update Action beneficiaries of the different Action execution phases every two months. This newsletter aimed to inform recipients that the content of the Bimonthly Newsletter was now entirely available on the Partner Area, with specific subsections for each CEF call.

The Datalink Service (DLS) status report was released, showcasing the benefits on digitalisation delivered by SESAR Deployment Manager through bringing DLS in operations in 24 countries after more than a decade of delays and long-standing issues.

The 2021 Amendment Exercise was launched on the 15th of January. This exercise is the first of its kind that fully encompasses the delays and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis, which has greatly impacted aviation.

Congratulations to the Italian ANSP ENAV and all involved partners for the completion of the project “DLS Implementation Project - Path 2”, which aims to define the technical aspects of the future DLS infrastructure target solution. This Implementation Project involved most European ANSPs, the two main Communication Services Providers, as well as the Airspace Users and manufacturing industries. It is one of the three IPs coordinated by DMS building the Data Link Services Recovery Plan. The completion of this SESAR deployment project brings benefits to European aviation, delivering an essential prerequisite towards business trajectory under SDP Family 6.1.3 - A.G. and G.G. Multi Frequency Data Link Network in defined European Service Areas.

For the past 6 years, SESAR Deployment Manager has successfully translated stakeholder commitment supported by European funding into tangible ATM modernisation. 2020 has been challenging for all stakeholders, with an unprecedented crisis that has greatly affected the aviation sector and is unfortunately still ongoing. However, over 150 Air Traffic Management modernisation projects have been completed and will continue bringing benefits to the European passengers, citizens and economy.

Let’s keep on delivering together! This was the big takeaway of our SESAR Deployment Manager Annual Meeting, which gathered over 300 participants from the European ATM community. Introduced by our General Manager Nicolas Warinsko, this event was attended by our keynote speaker Mr. Henrik Hololei, Director-General of the European Commission Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (MOVE), and the concluding remarks were delivered by Mr. Dirk Beckers, Director of the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency. Round-Table Session speakers from DG MOVE, INEA, European Defence Agency, EUROCONTROL and SESAR Joint Undertaking shared their perspective and their commitment to SESAR deployment. You can find the recordings below:

The mandate of the SESAR Deployment Alliance is coming to an end, after demonstrating the added value of the SESAR Deployment Manager function since 2014. Several key operational stakeholders are joining forces to set up a new partnership, which could become a candidate for the next SDM at the occasion of the forthcoming call for proposals by the European Commission, ensuring the continuity of the function as well as the smooth transition of all specific competences and assets.

Congratulations to DSNA and partners for the completion of the project “AMAN upgrade for extended horizon at DSNA airports”, providing additional capabilities of traffic sequencing and coordination for arrivals into the Paris and Côte d’Azur airports. The system also improves the flight plan trajectory prediction to facilitate the extension of arrival sequence management, and export the sequence across-borders.

Congratulations to Air France for the completion of the project “Air France Group Datalink Upgrade to best in class avionics” both on the ground and airborne domain, achieving the deployment of ATN B1 capability to “best-in-class” avionics configuration on the Transavia’s B737 and training of Air France Group pilots, thus ensuring the compliance with Datalink Regulation to operate the datalink service above FL285.

Congratulations to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the Danish Meteorological Institute and the Swedish Meteorological & Hydrological Institute for the completion of the project “Sub-Regional SWIM NET deployment to support NEFRA (part A)”, a first step towards full Meteorological SWIM information exchange in Finland, Sweden and Denmark, aiming to implement a flexible and cost-efficient interoperable production and exchange of MET information.

Congratulations to Aéroport Nice Côte d’Azur and DSNA for the completion of the project “DMAN and Pre-departure sequence (PDS) implementations for the CDM implementation” which improves operations predictability, optimizes resources management and increases capacity through an upgrade of the Departure Management System.

Congratulations to DSNA for completing the project “4-Flight Deployment in PARIS Area – Phase 1”, which aims to deploy 4-Flight, a new-generation system for en-route control. The implementation of the 4-Flight hardware and software development for the training facility required for its operation in Paris ACC will increase DSNA performance.

SESAR Deployment Manager has launched a new website as part of its ongoing support to Air Traffic Management modernisation in Europe. The new website aims to consolidate all deployment realisations so far and the ongoing efforts being translated into benefits and supporting the ongoing journey of ATM modernisation under coordination of the Deployment Manager. The new portal showcases completed, ongoing and planned modernisation projects and their benefits and includes a private platform set up in light of continuously improving the interaction with deployment stakeholders.

SDM is facilitating visits from the European Commission and INEA representatives to Implementing Partners of SESAR deployment. The first corona-proof edition was a visit to the Swedish Air Navigation Service Provider LFV. On this occasion, LFV and SDM presented 10 SESAR deployment projects. These visits aim to assess the deployment projects operational in Europe. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions and safety measures, this visit was organised fully online together with SDM experts, INEA, the European Commission and representatives of the Member State.

The 4th Data Link Support Group (DSG) was organized by EUROCONTROL NM, with the support of SDM. This online meeting, chaired by Luc Chevalley (Skyguide) and Klauspeter Hauf (DFS), was an occasion for the DSG to meet and confer on Datalink Services-related matters, providing updates on pending matters from the previous DSG meetings and addressing further actions to be discussed and taken by the group during this fourth meeting. It was attended by a wide variety of stakeholders, counting civil and military airspace users, ANSPs, aviation manufacturers, institutional partners and airports, with over 100 attendees.

Congratulations to the Dutch ANSP LVNL and all partners involved for the completion of the project “RNP approaches to three main landing runways Amsterdam Schiphol” which aims to implement Required Navigation Performance with vertical approach as a part of PBN implementation.

On 17 August 2020, the European Commission launched the public consultation on the Common Project 1 (CP1) proposal, inviting EU stakeholders and citizens to express their views. This public consultation is the last opportunity for stakeholders and EU citizens to give their opinions, which will guide the future of common project implementation and influence SESAR’s impact on Europe’s ATM modernisation.

On 31 July 2020, the final deliverables « SWIM Governance » Project were delivered to the SESAR Deployment Manager (SDM), thus concluding more than 3 years of collaborative work involving 20 partners as diverse as airports, airlines, air navigation service providers, meteorological service providers, military organizations and Eurocontrol.

Congratulations to Frankfurt Airport for completing the project “Initial Airport Operations Plan @ FRA”, which aims to set the iAOP in order to improve predictability and resilience of airport operations. This project supports the decision-making process of stakeholders by providing a common picture of the actual flight operation at Frankfurt Airport via the airport community application, offering common parameters for monitoring and examining the real-time operation.

The SESAR Deployment Manager (SDM) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the 17th of July. Standards are key to ensure that this modernisation is safe, and robust. As ETSI, together with other standardisation bodies, plays an instrumental role in developing those standards, the relations between ETSI and SDM have been naturally and smoothly established already some years ago. This MoU comes timely to capture our joint experience and cooperation.

Congratulations to the Estonian Environment Agency (ESTEA) for the completion of the project “Sub-regional SWIM NET deployment to support NEFRA (part B)”, which aims to support the exchange of meteo information in compliance with SWIM principles, as a part of the digitalization shift contained in the PCP.

At the beginning of the year, the COVID-19 crisis swept the world and severely impacted many industries, including the air transport sector, with ongoing repercussions that could drastically change the aviation landscape for years to come. We are glad to announce that we have agreed with the European Commission and INEA on a set of measures that will already support SESAR deployment Implementing Partners in resuming the activities related to their SESAR ATM modernisation projects through and benefitting from a reduction of the administrative tasks for SESAR Implementing Partners.

On 10th June 2020, DSNA completed the migration to NewPENS of its operational data exchanges with partners Air Navigation Service Providers and EUROCONTROL. NewPENS is the new Pan-European Network Services (PENS) interconnection network, now aiming at supporting new challenges in the modernisation of ATM, including safety, system interoperability and cybersecurity requirements.

Born out of the necessity to resolve the technical and operational issues around Data Link Services (DLS) in Europe and the need to identify the root cause(s) of reported data link issues, SDM, EASA and EUROCONTROL NM established the Data Link Support Group (DSG) that bring together all the relevant stakeholders. SDM, in collaboration with EUROCONTROL NM, will continue to raise awareness and promote the DSG activity in order to attract active participation from different stakeholders.

SESAR Deployment Manager launched its survey to Implementing Partners in March to garner a more precise picture, in the current context, of the challenges faced by the European ATM Community as well as the efforts made towards the delivery of a modern, more performant, environmental-friendly and scalable ATM system. Moreover, this survey also aimed at identifying key practical solutions to mitigate, as much as possible, the impact of this crisis on implementation projects. Based on these findings, we have identified a number of mitigation opportunities to be elaborated in close collaboration with INEA and DG MOVE in order to draw a common set of exceptional practices that could come as an effective support to our partners.

The long-awaited draft amendment of the SPI IR regulation 1207/2011 has received a positive vote in the EASA Committee and is on the path to adoption. The same is true for 1206/2011 (ACID IR).

Congratulations to the Portuguese Air Force for the completion of the project “Implement a PT Air Force IP Backbone connected into NewPENS”, which allows the integration of the Portuguese Air Force Communications, Navigation and Surveillance for ATM into the NewPENS network, increasing the interoperability between civil and military Air Traffic Services.

SESAR Deployment Manager launched its survey to Implementing Partners to garner a more precise picture, in the current context, of the challenges faced by the European ATM Community as well as the efforts made towards the delivery of a modern, more performant, environmental-friendly and scalable ATM system. Moreover, this survey also aims at identifying key practical solutions to mitigate, as much as possible, the impact of this crisis on implementation projects.

Congratulations to Swedavia for the completion of projects “Initial AOP” and “DMAN Stockholm Arlanda Airport”, which aim to improve the Airport Operations Plan and A-CDM. These projects are part of four interrelated implementation initiatives, which contribute to better predictability and increased airport capacity.

SESAR Deployment Manager was slated to participated to the World ATM Congress, taking place from the 10th to the 12th March 2020, as a part of the Europe for Aviation team. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WAC2020 was canceled.

Congratulations to the Swedish ANSP LFV and the Danish ANSP Naviair for completing the project “DK-SE Aeronautical Data Quality (ADQ)”, which aims to improve Aeronautical Information Exchange in the Denmark-Sweden FAB, enhance security, data integrity and capacity, and promote ATM automation.