Austro Control

Austro Control, one of Europe's leading air traffic control organisations, controls the flight movements of up to 4,000 aircraft per day.

During their visit, the Club for Trade Delegates members had the opportunity to get a good insight into the ground activities necessary for managing air traffic.

Markus Pohanka, Head of External Relations at Austro Control - and former ORF anchorman at "Wien heute" ("Vienna today") - welcomed the club members to the Area Control Centre in Vienna's 3rd district, and then gave a presentation of the company, and it's duties and challenges in the "Single European Sky Project".  Afterwards the CdH members were given a very informative guided tour of the Area Control Centre operations room by Mr Thomas Hofbauer, Supervisor of Air Traffic Control Operations, where they could watch how the flow of air traffic is handled with the assistance of state-of-the-art equipment and systems.

1.1 million flight movements per year

There are as many as 4,000 controlled flights in Austrian airspace per day, at altitudes up to 10,000 metres or more. Few would appreciate what demanding work on the ground is necessary for managing these traffic flows safely and efficiently - from the moment an aircraft's engines are started up, through to the time when it leaves Austrian airspace. Aided by the state-of-the-art technology, the air traffic controllers bring planes into the right flight paths and ensure that they maintain their separation distances. "In 2012, more than 1.1 million flight movements in Austrian airspace were handled by Austro Control, along with 209.442 landings at Austrian airports", Mr. Pohanka told the trade delegates.

New air traffic control system - modern and fit for the future

With one of the world's most up-to-date air traffic control systems, Austro Control handles air traffic safely and efficiently. "The recent changeover to a new system has boosted capacity by 30%", Mr. Pohanka proudly stated. The system is a joint development by Austrian, Croatian, Danish, Irish and Swedish air navigation service providers. "Thanks to international cooperation on system development, Austro Control will not only save money, but will also contribute to the harmonisation of European air traffic control systems under the Single European Sky initiative", said Mr. Pohanka.

Single European Sky

The European Commission's Single European Sky (SES) initiative provides for the unification of European airspace. Today, the sectorisation of this airspace is still generally based on national borders, meaning that the sky above Europe is very fragmented.  SES is aimed at creating a common European airspace, independent of national frontiers, which will be organised exclusively in accordance with operational requirements and will thus help to make aviation safer, more efficient and cheaper. The main goal is the creation of  functional airspace blocks (FAB's), making the flow of air traffic over Europe more efficient with less emissions. Austrian airspace is part of FAB-CE, the functional airspace block designated as "Central Europe", which includes seven countries, and which went operational at the end of the year 2012.