PRESS RELEASE COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE
For immediate release, 9 July 2009
EUROCONTROL releases revised Guidelines for Contingency Planning of Air Navigation Services
Brussels, Belgium – EUROCONTROL, the European Organisation for the safety of air navigation has officially released revised Guidelines to help States and Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) identify and decide their contingency strategies and operational practices best suited to their needs in various circumstances. The States and ANSPs are primarily responsible in the event of failure and or disruption of their Air Navigation Services. The Guidelines provide them with additional information and processes for contingency planning. In particular, the revised edition provides more detailed advice on how ANSPs can ensure ‘service continuity’ during contingency situations, i.e. how they can sustain the provision of their services for protracted periods following activation of contingency arrangements. The revised Guidelines also provide enhanced information on the economic aspects of ANS contingency as well as on policy, operational concept, security and safety related issues. They also describe the key roles and responsibilities of the different bodies including the State, ANSP and airspace users, and set out the essential consultations that need to take place within the ANS contingency planning process. The Guidelines recognise that many States already have contingency plans in place. Therefore, as well as catering for those who wish to conceive and develop contingency plans further, there is also an accompanying Contingency Planning Reference Guide (RG) which is aimed at those institutions who are more familiar with the subject. The RG provides a menu of checklists and graphics and, along with the main Guidelines, may be used by ANSPs and States to validate their own processes and existing plans against the advice provided. “In putting together these Guidelines, EUROCONTROL’s objective is to help ANSPs and State authorities fulfil their international obligations concerning ANS Contingency Planning set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the European Commission,” said Bo Redeborn, Director Cooperative Network Design at EUROCONTROL. “The Guidelines provide States and ANSPs with guidance on the strategic and tactical measures they could employ to provide the greatest resilience to unpredictable and potentially damaging threats such as natural disasters, fires, security incidents and, as we have seen recently, pandemics”. The Guidelines and Reference Guide are available http://www.eurocontrol.int/ses/public/standard_page/sk_sesis.html at
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation Organisation européenne pour la sécurité de la navigation aérienne
Rue de la Fusée, 96 B-1130 Bruxelles Tel: +32.2.729.90.11 Fax:+32.2.729.90.44
Note to Editors: EUROCONTROL, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation,
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has as its primary objective the development of a seamless, pan-European air traffic management (ATM) system which fully accommodates the growth in air traffic, while maintaining a high level of safety, enhancing cost-efficiency and respecting the environment. EUROCONTROL has 38 Member States: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. On 8 October 2002, the Member States and the European Community signed a Protocol on the Accession of the European Community to the revised EUROCONTROL Convention. Pending its entry into force after ratification by all Parties, certain provisions of the Protocol are already being provisionally applied. For further information, please contact: Kyla Evans/Catherine De Smedt, Tel: +32 2 729 50 95 Email: press@eurocontrol.int For more information via the website: http://www.eurocontrol.int