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Aviation History
1985
1985 - 0686.PDF
TRANSFER CONDITIONS BETWEEN MAASTRICHT UPPER AIRSPACE CENTRE AND ADJACENT CENTRES COPENHAGEN REV 5 RLS RHO AMSTERDAM REV 5 RLS :15NM LONDON REV 3 RLS :15NM PARIS REV 5 RLS :10NM RHEIN REV 5 RLS :10NM FRANKFURT REV 3 RLS RHO REIMS REV 5 RLS :10NM REV 5: REVISION IF CHANGE OF EST> 5' REDUCED LONGIT. SEPARATION IF NO RADAR >5\ NEVER <30 NM .15 NM: WITH RADAR NEVER <15NM RHO: RADAR HAND OVER NO VERBAL TRANSFER Transfer conditions between Maastricht and adjacent upper air centres as parts of the route networks were frequently overloaded. In 1980 Icao, convinced that the long-term interests of airlines demanded it, asked Eurocontrol to set up a CDB for the region, to prepare advance data on all proposed flights across the region to the best possible level of completeness. In the CDB building, near the Brussels HQ, I stood in a room full of CRTs, print ers, and documentation. CDB head Cornelius Dieben explained how the CDB was completed, housed, equipped and organised in little over two years from the December 1981 start date. Initial software was ready in less than a year, and the installation was completed in June 1984. The CDB base contains planned flight data provided by operators, and also airspace data provided by states. It compares demand and capacity at all times, for any part of the total ATC system. Critical situations and general flow levels can be notified promptly to states who, in turn, will establish Air Traf fic Flow Management (ATFM) units to handle his information and, by co ordinating between centres, alleviate situ ations. The CDB also provides informa tion on alternate routings, and advises ATFM units whether corrective actions in their area will improve overall flow in the region. The ATFM network will finally extend broadly from Finland in the north to Turkey in the east, with the other boundaries through Sicily and Crete and out west to the Canaries. Flight information Flight information from airline sched uling departments is supplemented for scheduled flight by data from agencies that prepare international timetables. Unscheduled flight data is in standard or semi-standard form from major airlines, but much is still sent on paper, to be inter preted and entered into the computer manually. Repetitive flight plans make up only 50 per cent of the total. There are over 35,000 pages of pub lished and 25,000 pages of non-published flight data. Each page holds a flight route between two points, at whatever frequency; differing weekend routings, or operators' declared preferences on their prepared logs, are held on separate pages. The operating environment and its geography includes airfields, reporting points, and routes, with availability. Descent points and transition procedures from upper to lower airspace are checked. Data comes from states' Aeronautical Information Publications, Notams and by enquiry. Current CDB content is 18,000 standard routes and over 40,000 city pairs, with duplication. 1,500 aerodromes and 3,000 reporting points are named. Nomi nal aircraft performance gives climb and descent profiles at sector entry/exit points and typical crossing altitudes. Peak region throughput is 10,000 flights per day, with, surprisingly, only 5 per cent entry from the North Atlantic. Printed output was first available in August 1984, when the Benelux ATFM unit was brought on line. An evaluation was carried out during that September, when the French and UK terminals became active—also using the public package switch network. The unit in Portugal is expected to operate next, but using a more expensive leased phone line. Some states, including France, Germany, and the UK, are setting up sub data banks to interface with the CDB, for their own tactical changes. The UK, for example, wishes to tell its own operators individu ally and promptly of likely delays. A bigger, faster model of computer—the IBM4381 Model 2, installed over Christ mas, is replacing the 1982IBM4341 Model 1. This will also meet initial criticism of route catalogue content. Trials continue until October 1985, with exercises in January, April, and July. At the end of this year results will be evaluated by the in- house Air Traffic Management Group and the EANPG. Later exercises will take account of the criticisms. The overall reac tion of individual airlines has been posi tive, but they are awaiting the conclusion of the trial phases. Strategic planning Phase 1 serves strategic planning by states and Maastricht, based on a whole season's data—and some tactical plan ning, since the CDB daily updates are fed computer to computer overnight. Flight changes are small for most operators between seasons, but tour operators "can be quite erratic". It is never possible to ensure 100 per cent data and accuracy, but the CDB works well with 85-90 per cent of data. Even so, the target is much higher. Extra facilities at the CDB centre include graphic presentation of routes, sectors, and elements at various scales. This facilitates detection of geographical error in data supplied or in staff input. Shortly, software will be introduced for ad hoc alteration of single flights; the present update is airline by airline. Phase 2 devel opment will extend simulation capability to evaluate all the effects of any change to the ATC environment, taking about one year from the operational requirement. The CDB is run by 40 employees, plus extra software staff under contract. It now works from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day, but the objective is a 16hr operation with 20hr watchkeeping. There will be four watches per "chair", of which there are two oper ational and two technical locations. Eurocontrol developments will, of course, cost money. But this must be set against the cost of delays and loss of aircraft utilisation in any less evolved system. Eurocontrol argues that the sophisticated system has paid off. The fact that most national authorities retain responsibility for their own ATC means that money spent in co-ordination, compatibility, and the avoidance of exces sive duplication can at least keep total costs closer to that for a completely inte grated system. Q 24 FLIGHT International, 9 March 1985
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