From this month, air traffic controllers at
EUROCONTROL’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) will be providing
integrated civil and military air navigation services in the Hannover Upper
Information Region (UIR) – the upper airspace (above 24,500 feet) of the
north-west of Germany.
The overarching objectives of the integration
are to improve the air traffic management system for the benefit of both civil
and military airspace users and to achieve economies of scale for all parties
involved. Airspace being a finite resource, an integrated civil-military system
will also generate positive effects for the European network.
According to
Gerd Hoofe,
State Secretary for Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany: “The
civil-military integration of air navigation services has been a well-known
feature of operations in the Federal Republic of Germany for more than 20 years.
The integration of operational air traffic in the Hannover Upper Area
Information Region continues the tradition of jointly managed air navigation
services within Germany. Now the last portion of German airspace has been
incorporated into this undertaking. I am convinced that this project will
achieve substantial efficiency gains not only for German military aviation and
operational air traffic in general, but also for civil aviation across Europe.
The joint work of all the participants involved has made this outstanding
achievement possible and the project can be regarded as an excellent example of
civil-military cooperation in Europe.”
The Director General of Civil Aviation in the
German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure,
Gerold Reichle
added that the implementation of this step concludes the successful
civil-military integration project in the entire German airspace.
“On the basis of a mandate received by
EUROCONTROL’s 41 Member States, EUROCONTROL is happy to also provide military
air traffic control services in an integrated manner. This strategic alliance
between civil and military air traffic control is a long-term partnership which
will secure mutual benefits by sharing scarce resources and enhancing service
quality. The next significant step for MUAC will be to achieve civil and
military integration in the upper airspace of the Amsterdam FIR in the first
half of 2017. This is in line with the principles set out in the National
Airspace Vision of the Netherlands and is another major step towards full civil
and military integration in MUAC airspace,” said
Frank Brenner,
Director General of EUROCONTROL.
As explained by
Jac Jansen,
Director of MUAC: “Operational air traffic services in the Hannover UIR have
since 1975 been provided from Maastricht by employees of the German Armed
Forces, who in 1993 were integrated into a local Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS)
unit based at MUAC’s premises. Following the terms of the Agreement relating
to the provision by EUROCONTROL of Air Traffic Services to Operational Air
Traffic in the Hannover UIR, signed in 2016 by the Ministry of Defence of
the Federal Republic of Germany and EUROCONTOL, the 48 former DFS employees have
now become an integral part of our staff complement and we extend a warm welcome
to them. The cost of military service provision in the Hannover UIR will be
borne entirely by the German Ministry of Defence. Owing to greater synergies
with civilian air traffic control, these costs will be lower than previously,
and will further decrease over time as the staff complement nears its target
complement of 31 staff in the coming years.”
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