EUROCONTROL, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air
Navigation, hosted a telephone conference on 19th April between the
European Commission, several European states, air navigation service
providers and technical experts.
The conference concluded that, while the initial reaction by the states
was prudent and reduced risk to an absolute minimum, it was now time
to move towards a harmonized European approach (set out below) that
permitted flights – but only where safety was not compromised.

CANSO calls for co-ordinated airspace safety assessment

The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), the global voice of Air Traffic Management, has stressed that its members are eager to help with a resumption of flights across Europe as soon as possible. But it has also warned that air traffic control had to take advice from aviation safety experts in each country before flights could resume.

The Eyjafjallajökull volcano is still erupting, and possibly intensifying, with the ash plume rising to 30,000 feet. Evidence of ash dust over the UK is being detected by Met Office observations and there are reports of dust reaching the ground. The Met Office commissioned NERC (National Environment Research Council) research flight flew over the North Sea on Friday afternoon (16th April) and detected three distinct layers of ash, from fine particles at low levels to large particles around 8,000 feet.

15 April 2010 – This image, acquired today by ESA’s Envisat satellite, shows the vast cloud of volcanic ash sweeping across the UK from the eruption in Iceland, more than 1000 km away.

Carried by winds high up in the atmosphere, the cloud of ash from the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull glacier in southwest Iceland has led to the closure of airports throughout the UK and Scandinavia, with further disruption in northern Europe expected later today. The ash, which can be seen as the large grey streak in the image, is drifting from west to east at a height of about 11 km above the surface of the Earth. It poses a serious danger to aircraft engines; hence the airspace shut down.

The volcano erupted, for the first time since 1821, on 20 March and started erupting for a second time on Wednesday. The volcano, under the glacier ice, has caused ice melt and subsequent flooding and damage locally.

This image was acquired on 15 April 2010, at 13.25 (CEST) by Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) while working in Full Resolution Mode to provide a spatial resolution of 300 metres.

On 2nd April Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will begin implementing new enhanced security measures for all air carriers with international flights to the United States to strengthen the safety and security of all passengers?superseding the emergency measures put in place immediately following the attempted terrorist attack on 25th December 2009.

There are few books on South African lighthouses although PORTNET produced a slim publication in 1991 and Harold Williams, a former senior Engineer there wrote Lighthouses of Southern Africa.
Now comes Lighthouses of South Africa, a profusely illustrated book by a master photographer with more than 500 splendid and frequently dramatic photographs showing the 45 operational lighthouses, other aids to navigation and the flora and fauns associated with these stations as well as their history. The text is supported by 47 maps and a rich anthology of nautical quotations and poems.

The 17th IALA Conference with the theme Aids to Navigation ? A global approach, all waters, all risks, all solutions, was successfully held from 22nd to 27th March 2010 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, co-hosted by the Transnet National Ports Authority of South Africa.
The Conference was attended by more than 400 delegates and many staff from the host country. Delegates represented 59 countries of which 45 were IALA national members.

On 31st March it was announced from IATA HQ in Montreal that the Association along with three governmental aviation safety organizations, took the first step to creating a global information exchange to improve aviation safety.
IATA, together with ICAO, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Commission of the European Union (EU), signed a Declaration of Intent to exchange safety data. The signing took place during the ICAO High-Level Safety Conference in Montreal.

On 31st March South Africa’s Transnet Limited marked the scheduled completion of one of its key projects in its rolling five-year ZAR93 billion capital investment programme, Durban Harbour Entrance Widening and Deepening. The ZAR 3 billion project was completed on time (in fact, a month ahead of schedule) and under the forecasted cost to completion.

Queen Mary 2 entering Cape Town

Since 10th March EU Member States have had access to a new, userfriendly web service for tracking shipping in European waters. For the first time, EMSA’s new SafeSeaNet tracking module, called STIRES, allows authorities to see all commercial vessels in and around EU waters in a single view. This will be closely followed by the picture for the whole world. The information has been available to Member States in the SafeSeaNet system for some time, but this is the first time that users will be able to see it in a fully interactive, multi-functional display.

Since 10th March, EU Member States have had access to a new, user friendly web service for tracking shipping in European waters. Now for the first time, EMSA’s new SafeSeaNet tracking module ? called STIRES ? allows authorities to see all commercial vessels in and around EU waters in a single view. This will be closely followed by the picture for the whole world. The information has been available to Member States in the SafeSeaNet system for some time, but this is understood to be the first time that users will be able to see it in a fully interactive, multi-functional display.

In February the Gibraltar Port Authority (GPA) commenced a renewal of its VTS system and developed an agreement with Transas to facilitate the supply, development and commissioning of a VTS including all necessary hardware, software, sensors, communication systems, training and support.

Also in February it was announced that Transas China and the Ministry
of Transport of the People’s Republic of China had signed a contract for
the supply, installation and commissioning of a Navi-Monitor system.

Transas is currently working on two VTS projects in Morocco, in the
ports of Agadir and Nador with Agence National des Ports (ANP), in
partnership with SOREMAR Group.

The British Secretary of State for Transport, Andrew Adonis, has approved the selection of Keith Conradi to be the next Chief Inspector of Air Accidents, the head of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), it was announced from London on 15th February. He will take up the post later this year, when the current Chief Inspector, David King, retires after more than thirty years with the AAIB, the last five as Chief Inspector.

It was reported from Hampshire, UK, on 15th February that the marine GIS company SeaZone is collaborating with hydrographic offices and other organisations in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden and UK on a three year European funded project (Interreg IVB North Sea Programme) to improve marine reference information for the North Sea.

It was announced from London on 15th February that Transport Secretary Lord Adonis had appointed Steve Clinch as the new Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents, the head of the Marine Accidents Investigation Branch (MAIB). He will take up the post later this year, when the current Chief Inspector, Stephen Meyer, retires after more than eight years of distinguished service.

As the car navigation industry has grown so has incompatibility between navigation systems and the databases that store important location information. Additionally, there is a need to more easily develop navigation system applications. ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is contributing solutions to those issues with an International Standard for a navigation system application programming interface (API).

Northrop Grumman Corporation announced on 10th February that it had received a full-rate production contract from the US Naval Sea Systems Command for its AN/SPQ-9B shipboard radar systems, which will enhance detection and tracking of high-speed threats such as sea-skimming anti-ship missiles.

The Netherlands’ Rijkswaterstaat has chosen Tideland’s SeaBeacon 2 System 6
dual-band racon for installation on buoys as an aid to navigation and to mark
special locations in the Dutch sector of the North Sea.

US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Janet Napolitano, will travel to Mexico City from 16th to 18th February at the invitation of her Mexican colleague, Interior Secretary Fernando Francisco Gómez-Mont, to meet with her North, Central and South American and Caribbean counterparts and officials from ICAO to discuss ways to bolster global aviation security.

2009: Worst Demand Decline in History

Encouraging Year-end Improvements

From Geneva IATA has reported December and full-year 2009 demand statistics for international scheduled air traffic that showed the industry ending the year with the largest ever post-war decline. Passenger demand for the full year was down 3.5% with an average load factor of 75.6%. Freight showed a full-year decline of 10.1% with an average load factor of 49.1%.

“In terms of demand, 2009 goes into the history books as the worst year the industry has ever seen. We have permanently lost 2.5 years of growth in passenger markets and 3.5 years of growth in the freight business,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

Shortly before the end of 2009 the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) offered its congratulations to Boeing on a successful first flight of the 787 on 15th December. Commenting on the flight IFALPA President Captain Carlos Limon commented, “We welcome the introduction of new technologies and materials and support the responsible way in which Boeing is bringing this aircraft to service as a mature product.”

CANSO, the Global Voice of Air Traffic Management, has welcomed the Royal Decree from the Spanish government in respect of the set-up of a new legal framework for the provision of air navigation services in Spain.

In CANSO’s view, this Decree provides a foundation for the delivery of ATM services that are better aligned to the needs of passengers and business both in Spain and elsewhere.

The Institute of Navigation (ION) presented its Annual Awards during the ION International Technical Meeting (ITM) 2010 in San Diego, California, January 25-27, 2010.

CANSO, the global voice of air traffic management, announced on 26th January its Middle East Declaration, a statement committing the members of its Middle East Office and other aviation stakeholders in the region to work together to improve Air Traffic Management across the Middle East.

The Declaration was endorsed on 25th January by all the organisations attending the CANSO Middle East High Level meeting. Representatives included all the members of the CANSO Middle East Region, key civil aviation organisations and ANSPs, airlines, IATA, ICAO, and several important industry suppliers.

On 26th January, René Oosterlinck, ESA’s Director of the Galileo Programme and Navigation-related Activities, signed the first three contracts for the Galileo full operational capability phase. This event marks the start of building the Galileo operational infrastructure. The signing ceremony took place at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre at Noordwijk in The Netherlands in the presence of Matthias Ruete, Director General Energy and Transport of the European Commission (EC) and Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director General.

These contracts cover system, satellites and launch activities.