In 2013 both Baltic FAB ANSPs – ORO NAVIGACIJA and PANSA - become founding members of GATE ONE, one of the largest regional ANSP platforms in Europe.
GATE ONE comprises the airspace between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea and it is one of the most important gateways of the European continent: this region handles air traffic in the directions of North and South, East and West, sustaining links between the central and Nordic countries of the European Union as well as with the continent of Asia and the region of the Middle East.
GATE ONE members seek to promote efficiency of the European Air Traffic Management through a more intensive regional cooperation in the coordination of strategic and operational issues being meaningful at the regional level as well as to represent their common interest at all relevant European fora.
GATE ONE added value:
- Obtaining up to date information;
- Sharing resources and information;
- Representing common views;
- Counterbalancing strong lobbies;
- Influencing decisions;
- Improving the region’s strategic position;
- Creating a level playing field.
Today the GATE ONE comprises ANSPs of 13 countries: Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia. GATE ONE covers 3 existing Functional Airspace Blocks – FABs (Baltic FAB, Danube FAB and FAB CE) and 2 non-EU Flight Information regions (Belgrade and Skopje). Collectively the GATE ONE members handles about 35% of the total number of European Air Traffic.
Recently GATE ONE Members agreed to conduct GATE ONE Free Route Airspace (GO FRA) Operational Framework Study to define the operational high level criteria required for a future implementation of Free Route Airspace in the GATE ONE area. As the GO FRA area includes a large portion of the core European airspace, the joint GO FRA initiative can be seen as a step towards Pan-European FRA application and sets a precedent in inter-FAB collaboration for other areas of Europe. The development of the GO FRA Operational Framework Study shall:
- analyse the potential benefits for the Airspace Users;
- contrast the potential benefits with effort estimation on the ANSP side;
- evaluate the operationally, technically and economically most feasible solution;
- focus on the main elements of the pan European FRA deployment as defined by PCP requirements;
- provide an enabling framework for the discussion with all involved stakeholders from adjacent FAB’s, non-EU FIR’s, BOREALIS and the NM;
- sketch a roadmap for future implementation of GO FRA (not to develop actual implementation plan).
Once the GO FRA implemented, the expected benefits to stakeholders are:
- Lower fuel carriage;
- Less engine running time;
- Improved network and flight predictability;
- Improved flight efficiency;
- Increased airspace capacity;
- Greater cost-effectiveness;
- Reduced environmental footprint;
- Improved overall ATM performance through more accurate traffic prediction and optimized sector workload.
For more information about GATE ONE, visit the GATE ONE website at
www.gateone.aero/.
