NLR and LVNL join SESAR

At the recently held ATC Global Exhibition and Conference,  NLR  signed a contract with DSNA, the French directorate in charge of air traffic control services. NLR also signed a contract with DFS, Germany’s air traffic control directorate and ENAV, the Italian air traffic control directorate. ENAV, DFS and DSNA are members of the SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) Joint Undertaking. The SESAR programme is the largest European air traffic control modernisation programme. In signing this accord, NLR will for the first time participate in SESAR as a fully autonomous member.

SESAR is the premier European Air Traffic Management (ATM) research programme. It supports the EU’s ATM master plan for creating a new, harmonised European ATM system that includes support procedures. The programme is managed by the SESAR Joint Undertaking, which is a public-private partnership between the European Commission, Eurocontrol and industry.

Prior to this signing, NLR had joined LVNL in forming the ‘Consortium LVNL’. But now by signing this contracts NLR becomes an associate partner of DSNA (Direction des Services de la Navigation Aérienne) and DFS (Deutsche Flugsicherung). And shortly also of ENAV (Ente Nazionale per l’ assistenza al volo). The consortium’s activities for DSNA relate to CDM (Collaborative Decision Making) and involve studying ways to improve and strengthen airport operations through collaborative efforts. One example of this would be to coordinate the scheduling of arriving and departing aircraft.

For ENAV, the Consortium LVNL will focus on applying ‘trajectory based operations’ (TBO) in the process of controlling air traffic that is approaching Schiphol airport. TBO is one of the pillars of the new European ATM concept, which serves as the basis for far-reaching agreements about the routes to be flown in these so-called ‘4D-Trajecotries’. These trajectories render new procedures, like Continuous Descent Approaches (CDAs), possible. The Consortium LVNL will conduct real-time simulations, lend its considerable expertise and develop new concepts, thus making a vital contribution to developments in Europe.

In signing this contract, NLR commits to working in SESAR for the next six years.

The signing with DSNA was held ATC Global, the largest exhibition for ATM (Air Traffic Management) and ATC (Air Traffic Control). ATC Global was held from March 8 to 10 at the RAI in Amsterdam.