Blue Med FAB and Aireon collaborate to optimize air traffic safety between Europe and Africa

MADRID, 12 March 2015. Officials at Blue Med Functional Airspace Block (FAB), a cooperative of air navigation service providers (ANSPs) in Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and Malta, have entered into an agreement with Aireon LLC, developer of a space-based global air traffic surveillance system in McLean, Va., to better streamline the flow of airspace over the Mediterranean area in compliance with the Single European Sky 2 (SESII) regulatory framework.

The two organizations signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) enabling Blue Med FAB ANSPs to evaluate the implementation of space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) capabilities and determine how those capabilities could improve air traffic surveillance over the Mediterranean airspace.

“Aireon has an incredible network of partners in the European region. With a global constellation, they are furthering their network of collaboration within Europe and beyond,” says Benedetto Marasa, Deputy Director General, ENAC (the Italian Civil Aviation Authority). “Their space-based ADS-B technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we perform surveillance and bring us to the forefront of safety and efficiency.”

“Blue Med is already establishing an efficient platform for the harmonization of surveillance throughout the Mediterranean Area,” affirms Aireon President and CEO Don Thoma. “By introducing a satellite-based surveillance system, Blue Med will reinforce their efforts to increase flight safety and flight efficiency, while driving the international harmonization of ADS-B standards with neighboring ANSPs in the region.”

Aireon -- in partnership with leading ANSPs and investors from around the world, NAV CANADA, ENAV, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), and Naviair, as well as Iridium Communications Inc. -- plans to provide the first opportunity for global air traffic surveillance as early as 2017.

The Aireon space-based ADS-B service will complement ground-based air traffic surveillance systems currently in use, by relaying position and status information of aircraft flying over oceans, poles and remote regions to air traffic controllers on the ground. This new capability is a quantum leap for remote surveillance, extending air traffic surveillance to the entire planet and unlocking operational efficiencies, reducing fuel costs and enhancing safety in remote and oceanic airspace.

Headquartered in McLean, Va., Aireon LLC was formed to provide air navigation service providers with the capability to track aircraft anywhere in the world in real time, including the only coverage over oceanic, polar and remote regions. Aireon will harness the best of aviation surveillance advancements already underway and extend them globally in order to significantly improve the business of air operations through increased efficiency, expanded safety, worldwide integration, reduced GHG emissions and significant cost savings to airlines and ANSPs alike.