Spanish Air Traffic Manager ENAIRE showcases technological advances to EU agency INEA

The Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) of the European Commission (EC), responsible for managing the technical and financial implementation of different European Union (EU) programmes, including Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), has visited ENAIRE headquarters in Madrid, Spain, to see how the EU funding has supported the deployment and the evolution of the ENAIRE’s aeronautical data network (REDAN).

This official visit on 27th April was focused on the project “Implementing an IP-based ground-ground data communication network in ENAIRE”, which is one of the five projects ENAIRE co-financed under the Call 2014 of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme, a key EU funding instrument to facilitate targeted ATM infrastructure investment at European level.

The delegation was accompanied by a representative of the Spanish Ministry of Transport and SESAR Deployment Manager (SDM), the industrial partnership that synchronises and coordinates the modernisation of Europe’s air traffic management system under the political oversight of the European Commission.

"I am happy to see that CEF funding helps to achieve ambitious implementation goals. The modernisation of ENAIRE's Communication and ATM system will enable deployment of further SESAR solutions to harmonise the European sky. This will bring direct benefits to passengers by increasing safety and decreasing air travel costs," said Andreas Boschen, Head of CEF Department, INEA.

“Achieving the Single European Sky (SES) performance objectives, as well as the overall economic benefits expected from the ATM modernisation, is linked to the timely, coordinated and synchronised deployment of SESAR”, said Ángel Luis Arias, Director General at ENAIRE.

“ENAIRE is fully committed to delivering SESAR operational capabilities into Spanish airspace and today we are very pleased to welcome INEA and the European Commission and showcase the progress and tangible benefits our implementation projects bring to our customers and the entire European ATM network."

“ENAIRE's efforts to continue to modernise the Spanish ATM were clearly demonstrated during the visit. I am happy that co-funded modernisation projects, under the coordination of SESAR Deployment Manager, are initiated and implemented. I am also proud of the effective and actual cooperation with ENAIRE, as well as the other involved industries, which are contributing to the achievement of SES goals," said Massimo Garbini, Managing Director SESAR Deployment Manager.

The objective of the project is the modernisation of the existing ENAIRE’s aeronautical data network, called REDAN, in order to align its technology with the current and future state-of-the-art facilities. The nodes of this network are located in the control centres and towers and in communication centres supporting all data communications involved in the provision of CNS/ATM services offered by ENAIRE.

REDAN ensures an agreed level of ground-ground interconnectivity between ENAIRE air traffic service units and airspace users with the highest levels of availability and security. This deployment will facilitate information exchange with the communication requirements of new applications, voice and data integration and the reduction of maintenance and operation costs.

During the visit to Madrid, Spain delegates were guided through the ENAIRE ATM centralised systems, the Madrid Air Traffic Control Centre (ACC) and the Spanish ATM system test platform in ENAIRE headquarters. The visitors had the opportunity to see a live demonstration, one of the multiple applications of the network, the Electronic Flight Strips (EFS), also co-financed by the European Commission in CEF Call 2014 and 2015. 

Source: @enaire