Posted by John McHaleBRUSSELS, Belgium, 21 May 2010 Following an open call for tenders, SESAR Joint Undertaking officials signed a framework contract with the European Low Fares Airlines Association (ELFAA) to include its expertise in the execution of the SESAR work program. For this contract, the association has secured the confirmed participation of three ELFAA airline members -- Ryanair, Jet 2.com, and Flybe. This marks the latest addition of external partners to Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR), the European air traffic management (ATM) modernization program. The mission of the SESAR program is to enhance the capacity, safety, and efficiency of the European ATM network while reducing the environmental impact per flight by 10 percent. To do so, the SESAR Joint Undertaking built an effective partnership between airlines, airports, manufacturing industry and air navigation service providers. Apart from its 15 members and Eurocontrol, the SESAR Joint Undertaking has so far concluded contracts with staff associations, major airlines, business, and general aviation, as well as air transport associations. The academic world is integrated through a dedicated work package and the SESAR Scientific Committee."Having ELFAA on board SESAR is essential. We need the involvement of all air transport actors to ensure applicability and acceptance of the SESAR technologies and procedures. The diversity of our members and partners is the key to success of our program and ELFAA helps us to close one more gap," says Patrick Ky, Executive Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking.ELFAA members currently account for 35 percent of intra-European air traffic. Under the present contract, the associations and its selected partners will contribute to the execution of the SESAR work program by providing technical expertise and by preparing, performing, and analyzing live or simulated flight trials. "ELFAA has for some time already been closely engaged with the SESAR Joint Undertaking and we share the same objectives," says John Hanlon, secretary general of ELFAA. "ELFAA and SESAR are about increasing safety, efficiency, and capacity with reduced impact on the environment. SESAR is what we need, and we will contribute to make SESAR an affordable reality."The SESAR Joint Undertaking seeks support in all airspace users' domains which interact with the air traffic management system. This will include:- flight operations, in particular in the area of fuel conservation;- flight planning processes and supporting systems;- aircraft system specifications (avionics);- production control processes (OCC) and supporting systems;- datalink;- production planning processes (aircraft scheduling, network management) and supporting systems;- crew training (including licensing, recruitment, etc.); and- cost and revenue evaluation.The aim of the SESAR Joint Undertaking is to ensure the modernization of the European air traffic management system by coordinating and concentrating all relevant research and development efforts in the Community. Partnership, sustainability and user-drive are key concepts of the SESAR Joint Undertaking approach. Founded by the European Commission and by Eurocontrol, fifteen companies are members of the SJU: AENA, Airbus, Alenia Aeronautica, the DFS, the DSNA, ENAV, Frequentis, Honeywell, INDRA, NATMIG, NATS (En Route) Ltd., NORACON, SEAC, SELEX Sistemi Integrati, and Thales.
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