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Air traffic management (ATM) aims at ensuring the safe and efficient flow of air traffic.
It encompasses three types of services:
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air traffic services (ATS) including
air traffic control
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...
(ATC), air traffic advisory services,
flight information services and alerting services,
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airspace management (ASM), the purpose of which is to allocate
air routes, zones,
flight levels to different
airspace users and the airspace structure, and
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air traffic flow and capacity management (ATFCM) (or Air Traffic Flow Management, ATFM)
consisting in regulating the flow of aircraft as efficiently as possible in order to avoid congestion in airspace and
airports
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface such ...
.
The
Chicago Convention
The Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, established the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations charged with coordinating international air trav ...
1944 (52 signatory states) required each state to provide air navigation services for their own state and early
air navigation service provider
An air navigation service provider (ANSP) is a public or a private legal entity providing Air Navigation Services. It manages air traffic on behalf of a company, region or country. Depending on the specific mandate, an ANSP provides one or more ...
s (ANSPs) were state-controlled monopolies.
[ En-route navigation is still offered by state-run monopolies although in Europe since 1997 they were under a performance review framework and since 2009 and 2013, under performance and risk-sharing charging regulations.]ENAV
ENAV S.p.A. is an Italian government-controlled joint-stock company which operates as an exclusive supplier of civil air navigation services in the Italian airspace. As an air navigation service provider (ANSP) it is responsible for the provisio ...
in Italy and NATS in the UK) bearing 60% of total European gate-to-gate service provision costs and operating 54% of European traffic, the remaining 40% of gate-to-gate traffic (airport towers and approach services) costs are borne by 32 smaller ANSPs.[ Such fragmentation leads to delays][ and costs EUR 4 bn a year.][ The ]Single European Sky
The Single European Sky (SES) is a European Commission initiative that seeks to reform the European air traffic management system through a series of actions carried out in four different levels (institutional, operational, technological and cont ...
programme was due to be delivered in 2020 but despite extensive collaboration (such as Functional Airspace Blocks transcending national borders) and research, this has not yet been successful.[
ATM encompasses both airspace and ground airport operations. Since the rise of computer sciences, risk management and decision-making are software-assisted. Recent system developments balance interests of airspace and runways on one side, and capacity overloads for taxiway network and terminals on the other.]
References
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