Performance Based Navigation and a Harmonised Sky

This article describes how air traffic is expected to nearly double during the next two decades, which raises public concern over not only the environmental impact but also on how airspace capacity around airports will need to increase. This latter aspect also raises concerns over increased noise pollution and emissions around airports. In addition, the airline industry has its concerns too. The industry is concerned that current air traffic control (ATC) systems will not be able to accommodate the projected increase in air traffic. Thankfully, all of the above issues are being addressed by two programs that are in the process of revamping countries current air traffic management (ATM), or modernizing the skies. These programs are, in the United States (U.S.), the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Next Generation (NextGen) Air Transport System and, in Europe, the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) program. Both programs are discussed in detail in the article.