Athens International Airport Completes Two ‘Single European Sky’ Projects

Athens International Airport (AIA) on Thursday announced that it has achieved two major milestones of a European Commission co-funded project that concerns the EU’s priority for the creation of the “Single European Sky” (SESAR).

AIA in 2019 initiated a five-year programme to implement the “Evolution into a high-performing node within the European Air Traffic Management (ATM) Network”, an action co-funded by the European Commission under the programme of “Connecting Europe Facility – Transport Sector”. The action concerns EU’s priority to create the “Single European Sky” (SESAR), an initiative that seeks to reform the European air traffic management system through a series of actions carried out in four different levels with the aim of satisfying the needs of the European airspace in terms of capacity, safety, efficiency and environmental impact.

Source: European Parliament / © willypd / Fotolia

After three years of implementation, AIA successfully completed two major parts of the flagship programme – the development of the new Advanced Concept of Airport Operations (ConOps) and the commissioning of the new Collaborative Integrated Airport Information Systems – in collaboration with international industry partners.

The European Commission co-funded programme consists of five interrelated and concurrent projects.

According to AIA Chief Operations Officer Alexandros Aravanis, the full implementation of the European Commission co-funded programme, is fully in line with the strategy decided by the the management of Athens Airport to create sustainable development conditions and for the operation of the airport as a responsible operator and prudent manager and stakeholder.

“The benefits from this programme progress are already significantly enhancing the complex airport operations in terms of efficiency, collaboration and increased operational predictability,” Aravanis said.

The two milestones

The first completed milestone refers to the development of the new Advanced Concept of Airport Operations (ConOps), carried out in collaboration with ALG Globe Infrastructure Advisors SLU and Innovare. Its objective is to develop new and advanced concepts for airport operations and collaborative management, thus enhancing the operational efficiency in accommodating the traffic and optimizing the available capacity on ground and in the air. The new concept is based on a new performance framework, in line with best industry practices, while taking into account the needs of the Airport Users, and also addressing the organizational structure and technological enablers for the core airport operational cell, the Next-generation Airport Services Operations Centre (Next-Gen ASOC), setting the basis for planning of the next steps, regarding its phased implementation.

The second milestone reached in cooperation with SITA Information Networking Computing B.V. is the commissioning of the new Collaborative Integrated Airport Information Systems, called AMS (Airport Management System), which will form the core platform for high-performing airport operations. AMS contributes to the Airport’s Digital Transformation Roadmap, enabling the simplification of functions, the strengthening of collaboration in data exchange and the effective management of processes and resources. It covers a set of airport information systems, such as the Airport Operational Database providing flight-related data consistently and efficiently at a strategic, pre-tactical, tactical and post-operational level, the new Resource Management System for efficient capacity planning and allocation of operational resources, the new Flight Information Display System for real-time and accurate operational information to the travelling public and airport personnel, the Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) platform, serving as the single common set of operational data during aircraft turnarounds, and other complementary modules.

AIA now focusing on implementing three remaining projects

AIA Chief Operations Officer Alexandros Aravanis highlights that the full completion of the Programme is expected to optimize performance through the homogenization and simplification of operational processes of wider groups of operational partners with beneficial results in increasing the overall efficiency of the European Air Traffic Management Network as well.

“Consequently, it will significantly improve the passenger experience and it will reduce the environmental footprint, saving energy and reducing pollution for the benefit of passengers, the Mesogaia region residents and the Hellenic economy more broadly,” he said.