In preparation for its 12th Air Navigation Conference (ANC) this month, ICAO has proposed that to ensure international compatibility and performance improvements, individual member states base their future air traffic management (ATM) systems on a phased program of common aviation system block upgrades, implemented over consecutive five-year periods. ICAO estimated that the necessary transformation of the world’s air transportation system would cost $120 billion over the next 10 years, and felt it essential that such an investment be made in accordance with the most effective guidelines available. The organization views the airspace block concept–discussed at a Global Air Navigation Symposium at ICAO’s Montreal headquarters in September–as the most efficient way of defining the steps required to achieve standardized world ATM performance.
The blocks were developed over many months of consultations across a multinational expert technical team drawn primarily from operational providers and users–including IBAC–whose recommendations will be submitted, after industry review, to next year’s ANC. Currently, the recommendations are based to a large extent on operational concepts generally similar to those being implemented or planned for the FAA’s NextGen, Europe’s Sesar and Japan’s Collaborative Actions for Renovation of Air Traffic Systems (Carats), each of which is being developed with an emphasis on compatibility with future international systems.
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