ANSE: a key role in air traffic management

Air Navigation Services Employees or ANSEs play a key role in ensuring that all air traffic is handled as safely and efficiently as possible. Whether they work in area control centres in supporting air traffic controllers or in the aeronautical information management as central point of contact for skyguide's direct customers, the ANSEs perform varied and demanding tasks.

At skyguide ANSEs work in two main domains: in ATM support and in AIM. On the one hand, they support the company’s air traffic controllers in the area control centres and in tower/approach Zurich and Geneva, processing information received from sources throughout Switzerland and beyond and passing this on to the appropriate further recipient. On the other hand, they serve as specialists for aviation and air navigation safety-related data and constitute the central point of contact for enquiries from aircrews, airline operators and air traffic services.

What does an ANSE do in ATM support?
At their "flow management position", the ANSEs analyse current traffic flows and volumes and ensure that no unreasonable workload is placed on any of the controllers who are managing and monitoring the traffic in their various airspace sectors. The ANSEs also work closely with Europe’s central flow management facility at Eurocontrol in Brussels, and initiate any action necessary to ensure that all the air traffic entrusted to skyguide is handled as safely and efficiently as possible.

The ANSEs are also responsible for ensuring that the radar displays for the airspace under the management of the area control centres and of tower/approach Zurich and Geneva always show all the information available. To do so, they work closely with skyguide’s military controllers, and also integrate any relevant information from other sources such as parachuting or gliding activities. In addition to this, the ANSEs process the flight plans received from the central flight plan facility in Brussels, to ensure that these data are also available to the controllers of the sectors concerned.

What does an ANSE do in AIM?
The ANSEs working in Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) are the specialist for aviation and air navigation safety-related information and constitute the central point of contact for equiries from aircrews, airline operators, air traffic services and other airspace users. The AIM service, which is located in Wangen near Dübendorf, is responsible for the procurement, processing and provision of relevant data such as airspace restrictions, weather information, notices to airmen (NOTAM), landing and overflight permissions which are essential for a safe, regular and efficient conduct of air navigation. AIM is also responsible for the correct transmission and distribution of flight plan data to all air traffc control units along the flight route, especially outside the European airspace. The ANSEs offer their information and support services 24 hours per day / 7 days per week by means of a modern interactive client platform allowing multi-channel communication via telephone, e-mail, fax, letter as well as via the web portal www.homebriefing.com.

The ANSEs working in Data Management, which is a further area within AIM, are responsible for producing and publishing national aeronautical information. This involves analysing requests for changes to aeronautical publications, checking their relevance and plausibility and coordinating such activities. The ANSEs concerned also maintain a central aeronautical database and generate specific data sets from this for export to internal and external customers. These ANSEs are further involved in the publication of manuals (parts of the Integrated Aeronautical Information Package) and charts, for which they decide what form such publication should take (given the requirements, schedules and frequencies concerned) and ensure consistent coordination of the various production steps. They may also handle the corresponding production and distribution, depending on the form of publication selected.

How do you become an ANSE?