New Business Models

The one-size-fits-all operating model of air navigation service (ANS) provision is not sufficient to achieve the industry’s environmental goals, according to Paul Ravenhill of Think Research, one of the authors of the European Airspace Architecture Study (AAS). As air traffic management (ATM) services become more networked and digitally connected the idea that an air navigation service provider (ANSP) should provide services in a particular area based solely on the location of local assets will be challenged. But new operating models will have to consider the need to combine mandated national services with integration of services in international networks.

Throughout Europe, discussions are under way on rationalising communications, navigation and surveillance (CNS) assets and the formation of new ATM Data Service Providers (ADSP), location independent operations which could lead to more market-oriented efficiencies and effectiveness. What’s behind these trends?

It has become clear that we need new types of business models based on providing services rather than infrastructure. ADSPs should be based on a collaboration between industry and ANSPs, so you have innovation, rationalisation and efficiency, but also ensure retention of national ownership of key CNS/ATM assets. ADSPs will work if they adopt service models that work for both partners. This is more collaboration than competition.

The starting point for the Airspace Architecture Study was a reimagining of the way ANS is provided. Historically ANS has been solely a national concern with systems designed to support national airspace requirements. Interoperability was achieved via “letters of agreement” and voice communications. As new concepts and technologies have been developed, they were bolted onto national systems but this has created a range of complex monolithic systems and limited interoperability.

That’s the high-level view – what will it mean for ANSPs?

It will change the way services are provided, allowing allows ANSPs to specialise and collaborate. Currently ATM systems are designed around the airspace controlled by an air traffic control centre and the hardware is normally located in the centre. ANSPs and their industry partners, via the ADSP, will be able to provide data to multiple centres, increasing interoperability and enabling flexible resource allocation.

How does that solve the capacity problem?

We will need to coordinate resource use to improve Demand Capacity Balancing and reduce delays and flight extensions. Part of the solution is a CNS infrastructure based on delivering network services rather than national airspace needs as this will allow for capacity enhancement to be delivered much more swiftly and affordably to areas where the demand is the greatest.

In most cases CNS assets have been put in place to meet national requirements of airlines, the military and general aviation. We are not expecting an immediate large-scale rationalisation of these systems but we might see ANSPs start to specialise in wide area provision of CNS digital services, such as satellite surveillance.

Should these new CNS services be delivered through competition or collaboration?

Competition is useful where it can drive value and innovation. We are beginning to see this happen in Tower ATS and digital tower services. But competition for en-route services seems a step too far. What we need first is much deeper collaboration. With the current system, when an ANSP invests in additional capacity it is taking a risk that long term traffic forecasts are accurate – if we can use virtualisation to move capacity to where it is needed that risk is shared by all the collaborating ANSPs.

But through all this we have to remember that ATM is a relatively small market, we don’t want to rely on competition that requires too much duplication of infrastructure – and this makes competition for CNS services more problematic.

For CNS we are still going to have a mixture of national providers and regional providers. The critical success factor is the ease with which new systems can be deployed.

With its Virtual Centre programme Skyguide has been a first mover when it comes to introducing concepts such as distributed architecture.

Part of what Skyguide has done is to create this new market and given other ANSPs choices with Coflight Cloud Services. Rather than buying an entire flight data processing system (FDPS) – which for many small ANSPs will be too costly for the next generation – ANSPs can now subscribe to the services they actually need. That is the start of the right evolution.