ENAIRE is taking part in the air control of the Air Force's Ocean Sky 2021 manoeuvres in the Atlantic Ocean

ENAIRE, Spain's national air traffic manager, is actively engaged in air control of the Ocean Sky 2021 military manoeuvres that, between now and 29 October, are being conducted in the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of the Canary Islands.

Ocean Sky is a military exercise carried out annually by Air Force fighter pilots in the area called Delta 79, south of the Islands, either in the entire area or in its eastern and western sectors, separate from civil traffic. ENAIRE's professionals at its Control Centre in the Canary Islands and at the Control Tower of Gran Canaria Airport contribute to the success of the exercise by coordinating the management of commercial and general flights with military operations, in concert with the Las Palmas ECAO (Operational Air Traffic Squadron) of the Spanish Air Force.

The professionals of Spain's national air traffic manager are coordinating civil and military flights

To carry out this exercise, the Combat Air Command (MACOM) will deploy its fighter units at the Gando Air Base, and auxiliary units at the Lanzarote Military Aerodrome, today and tomorrow. In addition, these units will be joined by squadrons from the Greek Air Force (equipped with F-16 aircraft), along with an AWACS (Airbone Early Warning and Control System) command and control system and other support units. In all, there will be between 35 and 40 aircraft.

The goal of the exercise is to develop the capabilities of the Command and Control Centre of the Air Combat Command in an aerial superiority campaign in order to enhance the level of air-to-air combat preparation of all the units involved.

Tower, approach and en route controllers

This exercise also serves to ensure that all the stakeholders involved (ENAIRE's tower, approach and en route air traffic controllers, ECAO, PAPAYO) improve the flow of departures and recoveries of military traffic with the least possible impact on civil traffic operating at the airports of Gran Canaria and Lanzarote.

Vigilant of the volcano

In addition, due to the volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma, on those days when the ash cloud has the potential to significantly affect the exercise area and/or operations in the Canary Islands, MACON/ENAIRE will jointly analyse the possibility of limiting and even suspending the planned operating windows for the manoeuvres.

About ENAIRE

ENAIRE is the company of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda that manages air navigation in Spain. It renders aerodrome control services at 21 airports, including the busiest in terms of air traffic, plus en-route and approach control, from five control centres: Barcelona, Madrid, Gran Canaria, Palma and Seville. In addition, ENAIRE provides communications, navigation and surveillance services to 45 air control towers.

In 2019, ENAIRE handled 2.1 million flights to and from four continents (Europe, America, Asia and Africa), transporting 320 million passengers.

ENAIRE is the fourth most important European air navigation service provider, and, in a clear commitment to the Single Sky initiative, belongs to international partnerships such as SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) Joint Undertaking, SESAR Deployment Manager, A6, iTEC, CANSO (Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation) and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).