| BLUE MED European legislation on Single European Sky-SES foresees the implementation by the member states of the transnational Functional Airspace Blocks, which will be used to obtain a more integrated, efficient and flexible regional level of air traffic management. European legislation on Single European Sky-SES foresees the implementation by the member states of the transnational Functional Airspace Blocks, which will be used to obtain a more integrated, efficient and flexible regional level of air traffic management.
The project partners were the service providers for Cyprus (DCAC), Greece (HCAA), Malta (MATS), Tunisia (OACA) and Egypt (NANSC); also contributing to the research works, EUROCONTROL, SICTA and the Universities of Athens, Trieste and Venezia. In just over a year (October 2006 - June 2008), BLUE MED analysed operational requisites in relation to the current and future traffic flows, as well as any possible improvements in the current system of air traffic management by defining specific FAB scenarios in the South-East of the Mediterranean area. The results of the feasibility study – which were officially presented in Malta during the Stakeholder Forum Moving Closer to Functional Airspace Blocks in the Mediterranean Area – indicate considerable technical advantages brought by the definition of the Mediterranean FAB. The analyses of safety and the related elements highlighted the feasibility of the FAB, by outlining a work plan which would involve all the competent institutional actors in the subsequent phase.
The operative analysis then enabled the identification of a route system for the FAB which was no longer national, but regional, by registering the potential, elevated economic advantages (over 170 million euro in annual savings for users coming from more efficient routes) and allocating the next phase of the project with the definition of cross-border sectors, drafted by SES legislation. The technical analysis of the CNS/ATM systems enabled the identification of interoperability requisites which compose the fundamental elements of the “Virtual Centre”, an integrated centre composed of a group of distant Area Control Centres (ACCs), yet interconnected and operating as a single centre capable of managing traffic more efficiently, improving the information provided to the controller, harmonising area procedures and optimising the existing infrastructures and systems, without any social impact by the FAB.
Lastly, the economic analysis enabled the definition of a “performance target” system which identifies the indicators established by the FABs in a European environment and which offers the ATM community a clear idea of improvements which BLUE MED could bring for an efficient system in the Mediterranean area.
Among the goals reached by the feasibility study, it is also worth mentioning the support for the initiative by non-member, European Union states, such as Egypt and Tunisia since the start of the project and Albania and Jordan during activity development.
The states and organisations involved in the BLUE MED feasibility study are now involved in the formalisation of the next Definition Phase (2009-2011) at institutional level, relating to all the preparatory aspects for the implementation of one or more Mediterranean FABs, to eventually proceed with its implementation starting in 2012. Download the publication “Projects & Activities” containing the project BLUE MED (.pdf)
Go to the News about the signing the "Declaration of the ad hoc meeting of the Blue Med Ministers of Transport"
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