Media

12 August 2008: The UK and Ireland held the first meeting of the Functional Airspace Block (FAB) Supervisory Committee on Wednesday 6 August in London. The Committee was established to oversee the arrangements for the Functional Airspace Block* that has been set up covering the two countries, and to ensure that safety and performance criteria and targets are harmonised and achieved in practice by the two national air traffic control service providers. 

The UK and Ireland Governments announced the formation of a Functional Airspace Block (FAB) on 13 June in line with the European Commission's Single European Sky (SES) legislative package.  The announcement followed intensive negotiations between the respective States (Department for Transport in the UK and the Department of Transport in Ireland), the two National Supervisory Authorities (NSAs) (the Irish and UK Civil Aviation Authorities) and the two air navigation service providers (the Irish Aviation Authority and NATS).

The Supervisory Committee aims to work toward closer co-operation in the regulation of the rules and procedures emanating from the Single European Sky legislative package and to further enhance co-operation between the two authorities.

Co-chair of the Committee and UK Director of Airspace Policy in the CAA, John Arscott, said: "The creation of this group is another important step in delivering the benefits that will flow from the UK/Ireland Functional Airspace Block.  Building on our close relationship, we plan to improve the regulatory environment for the benefit of Air Navigation Service Providers and all airspace users." 

Fellow co-chair, Kevin Humphreys, Director of Safety Regulation in the Irish Aviation Authority, said: "The Functional Airspace Block provides the catalyst for even more co-operation between the two National Supervisory Authorities in terms of sharing knowledge, experience and best practice.  This is good for users of the airspace and enables us to make the most efficient use of our respective resources."

ENDS

For more information please contact Nic Stevenson (CAA) on 020 7453 6026 or Lilian Cassin (IAA) on 00353 (61) 366 226

Notes for Editors:

*What is a FAB?

A Functional Airspace Block as defined in the EC Regulation 549/2004 (the Framework Regulation) is an ‘airspace block based operational requirements reflecting the need to ensure more integrated management of the airspace regardless of existing boundaries'. The objective is to ensure that national airspace boundaries do not artificially inhibit flows of air traffic through European airspace.

To date only the UK/Ireland FAB is actually in existence although all other EU Member States are actively involved in negotiations of some sort with neighbouring countries.  These are at varying stages of maturity.  In its SES II proposals the European Commission has proposed that all States should have FABs established by 2012.  The largest grouping, is the FAB Europe Central block which consists of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.

2. What is the SES?

The Single European Sky is an ambitious initiative to modernise European Air Traffic Management (ATM).  Launched in April 2004 when four top-level regulations - framework; airspace; provision of air navigation services; and interoperability - came into force, its objectives are to enhance safety, efficiency and performance for the benefit of General Air Traffic, and to optimise capacity while reducing delays.  One of the measures aims to reconfigure airspace into Functional Airspace Blocks (FAB) to maximise efficiency and encourage closer cooperation between air navigation service providers.  Now the second package of Single Sky is in progress.  It seeks to accelerate the delivery of the benefits, bring greater urgency to the implementation of FABs, to ensure ATM plays its part in minimising the impact of aviation on the environment and to reform the architecture of the European ATM system.