ATC Showcases

How to make the best out of a crisis – ATM training at MUAC during the pandemic

In the first year of its operations in 1972, exactly 50 years ago, EUROCONTROL’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) already controlled nearly 200,000 flights in just the Belgian and Luxembourg upper airspace. These numbers have continued to grow over the past five decades together with the expansion of MUAC's area of responsibility, which now includes the Netherlands and north-west Germany as well. In pre-pandemic times, MUAC handled 1.9 million flights a year, with the highest controller productivity on the continent (2.

COVID-19 Update on effects on ATC training and recovery.

by Chris Wade, ATC Network. We published the first article on COVID effects on training, which you can find here COVID-19 Effects on ATC Training in October 2020 and the answers to the various questions were provided during the summer of that year. A time when the industry was experiencing a long drawn out downturn the like of which we hope never to experience again. Now 2 years later the industry is showing signs of an almost complete recovery to pre-pandemic levels.

Learning & Training

By Hendrik (Rik) Dermont, EUROCONTROL Aviation Learning Centre. A new start as the EUROCONTROL Aviation Learning Centre In early 2022, as part of the EUROCONTROL strategy to support European aviation, the EUROCONTROL Luxembourg based site rebranded as the EUROCONTROL Aviation Learning Centre (ALC). This rebranding is the result of the on-going modernisation of the EUROCONTROL Agency as well as the evolution of the training centre over the last two years.

Onwards and upwards with U-space research and innovation

By Florian Guillermet, SESAR JU. As the drone service market continues to grow and take shape in Europe, the pressure is on to deliver the services and technologies necessary for these air vehicles to operate safely and securely in the airspace, writes Florian Guillermet, Executive Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking. Drones represent a rapidly growing sector of aviation in Europe and worldwide but these air vehicles are placing new demands on the airspace above us.

Drone Integration: SWIMming in the same direction?

The drone industry has made much progress in the last two years; something I experienced for myself when researching the regulatory situation on drone communication standards. Over the 11-month duration of the study, the “current situation” changed no less than five times! It’s not surprising that the industry has been likened to the ‘wild west’ by some[1] and that regulatory and standardisation bodies have struggled to keep up.

Does UTM drive ATM?

by Paul Ravenhill, Think Research. I am constantly told that the next generation of Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems is going to be defined by UAS Traffic Management (UTM) and other advances required to accommodate drones and electric planes (eVTOL). This makes me wonder if this brave new world can be informed by the history of ATM R&D? I’ve been working on ATM modernisation for thirty years, and I wonder if past successes and even mistakes may yet prove useful? Let’s start by thinking about how current methods of Air Traffic Control (ATC) came about.