Germany Integrates Civil, Military Air Traffic Management In Its Airspace

Germany has integrated the civil and military air traffic management in its airspace upper airspace of the north-west region of the country.

The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, EUROCONTROL announced Sunday that its Air traffic controllers in Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) will be providing integrated civil and military air navigation services in the above 24,500 feet Hannover Upper Information Region (UIR).

The overarching objectives of the integration are to improve the air traffic management system for the benefit of both civil and military airspace users and to achieve economies of scale for all parties involved.

Airspace being a finite resource, an integrated civil-military system will also generate positive effects for the European network.

Gerd Hoofe, State Secretary for Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany said, “The civil-military integration of air navigation services has been a feature of operations in the Federal Republic of Germany for more than 20 years.

The integration of operational air traffic in the Hannover Upper Area Information Region continues the tradition of jointly managed air navigation services within Germany.

Now the last portion of German airspace has been incorporated into this undertaking. I am convinced that this project will achieve substantial efficiency gains not only for German military aviation and operational air traffic in general, but also for civil aviation across Europe.

The implementation of this step concludes the successful civil-military integration project in the entire German airspace, the Director General of Civil Aviation in the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Gerold Reichle added.

This strategic alliance between civil and military air traffic control is a partnership which will secure mutual benefits by sharing scarce resources and enhancing service quality, said Frank Brenner, Director General of EUROCONTROL.

“The next significant step for MUAC will be to achieve civil and military integration in the upper airspace of the Amsterdam FIR in the first half of 2017. This is in line with the principles set out in the National Airspace Vision of the Netherlands and is another major step towards full civil and military integration in MUAC airspace,” said Brenner.

Following the terms of the Agreement relating to the provision by EUROCONTROL of Air Traffic Services to Operational Air Traffic in the Hannover UIR, signed in 2016 by the Ministry of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany and EUROCONTOL.

The cost of military service provision in the Hannover UIR will be borne entirely by the German Ministry of Defence.