Emma Kelly/LONDON
Eurocontrol will present its council with the master plan and business case for Europe's Link 2000+ programme next month. This is the first stage of an approval process which could pave the way for deployment of operational mobile datalink services for air traffic control (ATC) and airline operational communications (AOC) in Europe from 2002.
The master plan and business case has been developed by air navigation organisation Eurocontrol with airlines, industry associations and air traffic services (ATS) providers. It will be circulated for information to the council in May before a decision in November, says Alex Wandels, Eurocontrol Link 2000+ programme manager.
As the introduction of more sectors and ATC controllers will not lead to capacity enhancement in some European area control centres (ACCs), datalinking is considered vital, promising reductions in communication workload and increased reliability.
Link 2000+ is based on the implementation of operational air/ground datalink services for ATC based on the aeronautical telecommunication network (ATN) over VHF datalink Mode 2 (VDL-2). The schedule calls for initial implementation at airports in 2003, at ACCs in 2005 and datalink services throughout the Link 2000+ region - Ireland, the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Spain and Italy - by 2007.
The plan was presented to Europe's 10 major airlines in January and to ATS providers and communication providers last month. While there is industry support for datalinking, Wandel concedes there is a "chicken and egg" situation - airlines expect ATS providers to upgrade ground networks before the airlines equip aircraft, while ATS providers want to see airlines equip aircraft first.
This summer, Eurocontrol will write to decision makers of airlines, ATS and communication providers to assess their commitment, says Wandels.
The business case was conducted by the Boeing-led airline grouping - the CNS/ATM Focus Team (Flight International, 26 May-1 June, 1999). From 2000-2020, the business case shows a benefit/cost ratio of 4:1. The investment cost is concentrated in the first seven years, with benefits mainly generated by AOC applications, and greatest after 2007 when ATC applications start to contribute.
Upgrading an ACARS-equipped aircraft to VDL-2 is expected to cost €150,000 ($144,000) as a retrofit and €90,000 as a forward-fit, while the Link 2000+ services update cost is estimated to be €100,000 per VDL-2-equipped aircraft. Upgrading ACCs and airports will cost €298 million. Without the Link 2000+ programme, the business case states that delays will increase 25% a year until 2005 and 10% each year from 2005 to 2010.
Source: Flight International
