Article 3 Provision of ATM/ANS and design of airspace structures

AIRSPACE STRUCTURE Airspace structure refers to a specific volume of airspace designed to ensure the safe and optimal operation of aircraft. Airspace structures may consist of:

(a)controlled airspace, namely control zones and control areas, including terminal control areas and airways or free route airspace;

(b)airspace restrictions, namely danger, restricted, prohibited areas, temporary segregated areas and temporary reserved areas; and

(c)other volumes of airspace as specified by the competent authority when defining the airspace change process, such as e.g. flight information zones, aerodrome traffic zone, RMZ/TMZ (XXX).

AERONAUTICAL INFORMATION — DATA ORIGINATION

(a)In order to ensure that parties originating aeronautical data and aeronautical information that are neither subject to the applicable requirements in Regulation (EU) 2017/373 nor to the data quality requirements in Regulation (EU) No 139/2014, comply with the provisions relevant to them, Member States may consider establishment of measures, at national level, that such parties meet the aeronautical data quality management requirements laid down in point ATM/ANS.OR.A.085 of Annex III, except those in points (c), (d), (f)(1) and (i) thereof, and that their working methods and operating procedures comply with the requirements laid down in ATM/ANS.OR.A.090.

(b)The objectives in point (a) may be achieved through continuous oversight by the competent authorities on the basis of which measures, at national level, a certificate or approval has been issued or a declaration by these parties has been made.

(c)When a contract is agreed between the services provider and the parties originating aeronautical data and aeronautical information, it should clearly define the contracted activities and the applicable requirements, including the necessary certificate, approval or declaration as required.

DESIGNATION The designation of the particular portions of the airspace should be as follows:

(a)flight information regions;

(b)control areas and control zones; and

(c)flight information zones.

AERODROMES The designation of the particular aerodromes should be as follows:

(a)controlled aerodromes; and

(b)aerodrome flight information services (AFIS) aerodromes.

AIRSPACE Those portions of the airspace where it is determined that ATC service will be provided to IFR flights should be designated as control areas or control zones.

DESIGNATION — GENERAL

(a)The airspace where air traffic services are provided is classified and designated in accordance with requirements found in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 923/2012, SERA.6001 ‘Classification of airspaces’ and Appendix 4 ‘ATS airspace classes — services provided and flight requirements’, and in the associated Acceptable Means of Compliance and Guidance Material.

(b)The delineation of airspace, wherein air traffic services are to be provided, should be related to the nature of the route structure and the need for efficient service rather than to national boundaries.

(c)In the context of the provision of air traffic services across national boundaries:

(1)agreements to permit the delineation of airspace lying across national boundaries are advisable, when such action will facilitate the provision of air traffic services; agreements, which permit delineation of airspace boundaries by straight lines, will, for example, be most convenient where data processing techniques are used by air traffic services units.

(2)where delineation of airspace is made by reference to national boundaries, there is a need for suitably sited transfer points to be mutually agreed upon.

GENERAL — PROCESS DESIGN OF AIRSPACE STRUCTURES AND FLIGHT PROCEDURES CONTAINED THEREIN

(a)An airspace change is a change to an airspace structure.

(b)The process for the airspace change should include the following elements:

(1)Initiation for an airspace change, including briefing by an initiator

DRIVERS FOR AIRSPACE CHANGES Drivers for airspace changes include, but are not limited to, business, technological, legal and social aspects, such as:

(i)enhancing operational safety and/or efficiency;

(ii)meeting airspace capacity requirements;

(iii)reducing the environmental impacts of aircraft operations;

(iv)enabling changes to the CNS infrastructure; or

(v)correcting identified deficiencies.

INITIATION Initiator may be, but is not limited to, any of the following:

(i)the Member State;

(ii)the competent authority;

(iii)an aerodrome operator;

(iv)an ATM/ANS provider; or

(v)an airspace user. In undertaking an airspace change, the initiator:

(i)proposes an airspace modification whilst ensuring that the airspace change satisfies and/or enhances safety, improves capacity and mitigates, as far as practicable, any environmental impacts in line with the applicable requirements and design criteria;

(ii)follows the national airspace change processes, where specified; and

(iii)identifies relevant stakeholders and conducts consultation(s).

(2)Data collection

(3)Initial proposal development

(4)Consultation with affected stakeholders Affected stakeholders should be considered to be, but not limited to:

(i)ATM/ANS providers;

(ii)airspace users (including military);

(iii)aerodrome operators;

(iv)State’s authorities;

(v)other groups affected by the airspace change (e.g. local municipalities, environmental organisations, adjacent States, etc.). The initiator should ensure that an assessment is carried out before deploying the airspace change. If a change to the airspace results in a change to the functional system(s) of the ATS providers serving the affected airspace, those affected ATS providers need to perform a safety assessment as per ATS.OR.205 of this Regulation.

(5)Design and documentation

(6)Validation The airspace change may be validated using one or more of the following methodologies:

(i)airspace modelling;

(ii)ATC simulation;

(iii)live trials;

(iv)flight simulation;

(v)data analytical tools;

(vi)statistical analysis;

(vii)collision risk modelling; and

(viii)noise and emissions modelling.

(7)State’s approval, The airspace change proposal should be submitted to the State’s authority for assessment addressing the following, as applicable:

(i)Operational requirements

(A)Justification for the change;

(B)Technical description of the change:

(a)airspace description;

(b)traffic forecasts;

(c)supporting infrastructure/resources;

(d)operational impact;

(e)supporting maps, charts and diagrams; and

(f)airspace and infrastructure requirements; and

(C)Validation report.

(ii)Assessment report

(iii)Environmental report

(iv)Consultation report

(v)Implementation plan

(A)Target implementation date and alternative date (or dates), taking due account of the predetermined agreed AIRAC dates in addition to the time needed by the AIS provider for the preparation, production and issuance of relevant material for promulgation; and

(B)Planned awareness and education activities.

(vi)Economic impact.

(8)Implementation of the airspace change The initiator should implement those aspects of the airspace change that are under its remit; however, the implementation of the airspace change may require other stakeholders implementing changes in their services. The implementation of the airspace change could include amendment in the aeronautical information publication (AIP), changes in the procedures of the ATS providers, etc.

(9)Post implementation review

(10)Maintenance and periodic review

GENERAL — INTERACTIONS BETWEEN AIRSPACE CHANGE PROCESS AND FLIGHT PROCEDURE DESIGN PROCESS When an airspace change includes the design of a new flight procedure or the modification of an existing flight procedure and the initiator is at the same time the flight procedure design service provider, both processes might run in parallel. When the initiator is a different organisation than the flight procedure design service provider, this flight procedure design process can be regarded as a sub-process of the wider process as depicted in Figure 1. Figure 1 shows the interactions between the airspace change process and the flight procedure design process.

Figure 1: Interactions between airspace change process and flight procedure design process [Figure or form omitted from this preview — available in the Avioverse workspace library.]

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PERIODIC REVIEW Periodic review should be conducted at an interval not exceeding 5 years.