The SESAR2020 Program consists of 19 projects. SEAC member airports are actively involved in
topics related to airport design, infrastructure
and operations management. The goal of the ATM process is safe and efficient handling of the
entire flight from the parking position at the
origin airport until arrival at the gate of the destination airport including the complete
turnaround process.
The consortium is specifically focused on one of four key areas which is ‘High Performing
Airport Operations’. In that area SEAC is leading the
'Total Airport Management' project which further develops the findings from SESAR1 regarding
Airport Operations Plan (AOP) as well as Airport
Operations Centre (APOC). TAM is concerned with taking a ‘holistic’ view of airport
operations, including all of the key processes (aircraft,
passengers, baggage, etc.) and importantly, the interaction between them to support better
and faster decision-making, as it is the degree of
coordination between these different processes which constitutes a significant contributory
factor to improve predictability, punctuality and
resilience of airport operations and ultimately therefore passenger satisfaction.
SEAC also contributes to 8 other SESAR2020 projects addressing important challenges such as
increasing the Runway and Airport throughput, surface
management, airport safety nets or remote towers for multiple airports.
In addition, 'Environment' is another key area in which SEAC partners are actively involved.
Because environmental sustainability and performance
are vital concerns of airport policy, they are more often brought into the Demand Capacity
balancing decision making process.
Furthermore, the joint initiative AIRE (Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce
Emissions) fits in with the Memorandum of Cooperation
signed by the European Union and the USA to coordinate two major programmes on Air Traffic
Management (ATM) infrastructure modernisation, SESAR
in Europe and NEXTGEN in the United States. The aim of AIRE is to capitalise on present
aircraft technologies and to enhance operational procedures
that have a direct impact in the short and medium term on greenhouse gas emissions. Under
this initiative, SEAC member airports with other ATM
stakeholders were working collaboratively to validate solutions for the reduction of CO2
emissions during all phases of flight.