ENAIRE, the first organisation to be certified to design flight procedures
ENAIRE, Spain's air navigation service provider, has been certified as a Flight Procedure Design (FPD) provider.
"This FPD service, which ENAIRE was already providing, is now certified to be in compliance with the new European law, EU Regulation 2017/373, as laid out in ENAIRE's Strategic Plan, Flight Plan 2025", says Marta Hernandez, head of ENAIRE's Airspace and Obstacle Management Division.
The process of adapting to this new regulation began in 2020, and the main activities aimed at certifying this FPD service were carried out over the course of 2021. The formal process began in June 2021 when ENAIRE submitted the documentation to the National Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which identified the means of complying with the common requirements of the aforementioned Regulation and provided compliance with the technical requirements of the new service.
All the actions that were being carried out by ENAIRE when it applied for certification have been implemented over the past few months, resulting in AESA's issuing the new FPD certificate to ENAIRE, which thus becomes the first organisation in Spain to be certified to provide this service in the country.
According to ENAIRE's Head of Quality Management and Airspace Certification, Vanesa Martín, "FPD is a service to design, document, validate, maintain and periodically review the flight procedures needed for safe, regular and efficient air navigation; the service includes both the design and the validation on land and in flight".
The contents of each part considered in the definition of the FPD service for which AESA certified ENAIRE are detailed below:
- Design of flight procedures and/or airspace structures. Includes data acquisition, validation and verification, user consultation, formal design and design review.
- Continuous upkeep and periodic review of the procedures. Consists of ensuring that significant changes involving obstacles, airports, aeronautical data and navaids are constantly evaluated.
- Assessment of all changes to the criteria, user requirements and drawing standards.
- Documentation of every internal procedure involving the management of the FPD service.
Through the FDP certificate, ENAIRE is now certified by AESA to provide six air navigation services. The others are ATS (air traffic), AIS (aeronautical information), CNS (communications, navigation and surveillance), ATFM (air traffic flow management) and ASM (airspace management) Level 3 provider.
About ENAIRE
ENAIRE is the air navigation service provider in Spain.
As a company of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, it provides en route control services for all flights and overflights from five control centres in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Gran Canaria and Palma, as well as approach services to every airport in the country.
In addition, 45 control towers receive ENAIRE's communication, navigation and surveillance services, and 21 airports, including the country's busiest, rely on its aerodrome control services.
ENAIRE is Europe's fourth largest air traffic manager. Since 1 January 2022, it has chaired the A6 Alliance, a coalition of air navigation providers responsible for over 80% of European air traffic, and which is seeking to modernise the air traffic management system. It is also a member of other international alliances promoting the Single European sky, such as SESAR Joint Undertaking, SESAR Deployment Manager, iTEC, CANSO and ICAO.
ENAIRE has received the highest score in Europe on the aviation safety key performance indicator. It has also been awarded the EFQM 500 Seal for its safe, efficient, innovative and sustainable management of air navigation services.
Number of the Department of communication +34 912 967 551
Communication department email address comunicacion@enaire.es