Aviation Context
As highlighted on the radio recently, any casual observer unfamiliar with aviation operations who glances at Flight Radar 24 on their PC or app will be astounded by the numbers of aircraft operating across the globe. The concentration of air traffic across European and UK skies obliterates the land mass; but of course, scale is all important here as this is not the picture you see when glancing out of the office window! However, the Flight Radar 24 presentation does serve to highlight the global aviation hotspots that are clearly Europe (including the UK), North America and the stream of traffic that operates between the Asia-Pacific region, across the middle east, and into Europe. Growth in air traffic volumes has increased steadily since 1 January 1914 when the first scheduled passenger service flew from St Petersburg to Tampa in Florida. Since then, in just over a Century, across the world there are approximately 24,000[1] passenger aircraft serving more than 17,500 destinations across the globe. In terms of growth in numbers, that equates to approximately 230 additional passenger aircraft each year since the barnstormer Tony Jannus piloted that inaugural 1914 Florida service.
Despite the recent constraint on air transport growth cause by the worldwide COVID Pandemic of 2020/2021, the demand for air transportation remains destined to grow over the foreseeable future. As your Flight Radar 24 snapshot demonstrates so well, in the future the airspace above these busier areas must therefore retain a capacity to handle the projected future demand. Further capacity will also be required to service additional users of the same volumes of airspace. These will come in the form of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) platforms. In the future, these exciting and flexible forms of travel and transportation will fulfil a very broad variety of tasks from delivering parcels and people to fighting fires and conducting aerial surveys. For the UK to continue to support an increasing demand for aviation it must safely modernise its airspace structures, giving due regard to the impact of aviation on climate change. In this article we explore the roles that of Modernisation and Safety, Structural Modernisation and Environmental Imperative associated with Airspace change and how Osprey supports the aviation industry.
Modernisation and Safety
The predominant consideration within aviation and with airspace modernisation will always be safety. The increasing use of air travel and the integration of new systems within the available airspace will necessitate a heightened degree of scrutiny from a safety perspective.
Effective regulation will always be necessary to ensure standards and practices are appropriately maintained. An appropriate level of detailed oversight will provide the required assurance that all airborne and ground-based entities are introduced and operated to acceptable safety standards. Such oversight is not limited to just aircraft operations; it must also encompass the safety of fare paying passengers, those involved in recreational flying and the military. Safety and effective regulation must also consider the maintenance of aircraft and air traffic management systems as well as those responsible for the planning and operation of airspace and its published structures.
Alongside regulatory oversight, the creation of any new design options must be accompanied by appropriate safety assessments that identify new or changing hazards and associated risks. Osprey has a wealth of experience dealing with design change and, across our large client base, we provide a detailed level of support to help identify any safety issues or concerns and address these by devising appropriate mitigations in accordance with existing regulatory guidance.
Strutural Modernisation
The anticipated increase in demand for air travel, as well as the integration of UAS and AAM will place even greater demands on airspace as a limited resource.
The current core airspace structures have existed since the 1950s and have largely been defined around the more traditional use of ground-based navigation aids. To ensure appropriate levels of deconfliction between aircraft navigating similar routes, airspace structures were designed to take account of the positional and height keeping accuracy in use at the time; this required the use or airways of prescribed dimensions (normally 10nm wide) and of varying heights. These traditional airspace structures have, over time, constrained the capacity of our airspace to handle the increasing and projected air traffic demand. Over the years new structures have been added and modifications made, partly to overcome this constraint whilst maintaining or improving the high levels of safety across the industry. These changes have added more complexity within an already crowded volume or airspace, adding further constraints on the volume and overall capacity of the system.
A programme of airspace modernisation is currently underway in the UK led by the Airspace Change Organising Group, established in 2019 by the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). NATS, the UK’s main air navigation service provider (ANSP) is largely responsible for changes above 7,000 feet and the main airports are responsible for changes from surface to 7,000 feet. The changes are being conducted in line with priorities detailed in the Governments Flightpath to the Future document released by the DfT in 2022, and in accordance with the CAA Airspace Modernisation Strategy (AMS) 2018, updated in 2023[2].
Osprey maintains a significant role helping airports to restructure and redesign their operations below 7,000 feet in line with the CAA guidance published in CAP 1616[3]. As a CAA Approved Procedure Design Organisation (APDO) we provide procedure and airspace design services, conduct the assessments required by CAP 1616 and support airport consultation activity in order to make final choices about the new structures submitted to the CAA for final approval and subsequent implementation.
Environmental Imperative
Aviation in the UK and around the globe must respond to the threat of global warming by doing its part to reduce aviation emissions.
Many people take the view that the current focus on environmental concerns will eventually lead to a reduced demand for air travel and the consequent elimination of the aviation-related carbon emissions problem. Apparent congestion in the skies overhead the geographic areas highlighted earlier is taken by many as the only evidence required to support the often-cited view that in the future travellers must travel by train or seek alternative forms of transport with much greener credentials. Government states it does not believe aviation must decline to meet UK climate change targets. Rather, its Jet Zero programme[4] aims to deliver net zero flying by 2050.
Fortunately, the continued demand for both traditional and new forms of air travel provide a key incentive for research and development in areas that will help deliver on the Government’s Jet Zero pledge; principally, these areas are technological improvements in propulsion systems, the use of sustainable fuels and more efficient Air Traffic Management (ATM). If all goes according to plan demand for air travel will increase as predicted, reinforcing the case for airspace modernisation to maximise available system capacity.
As well as CO2 emissions, the effects of aviation noise must be fully considered, particularly where densely populated areas are close to airports and to departure and arrival routes. Any change must consider and, where at all possible, protect our open spaces, National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It is important that these locations remain tranquil areas for future generations. The potential effects of aviation activity on the biodiversity of local ecosystems is another key consideration when planning any airspace change.
Osprey has a wealth of experience dealing with environmental assessments in support of airspace change projects. Once the baseline data has been provided by the airport we provide environmental assessments of each design option that are fully complaint with CAP 1616 requirements. We will ensure a clear, easy to comprehend assessment is prepared ahead of public consultation that will ensure provision of an adequate level of detail against which key stakeholders are able to make informed choices in response to consultation.
Conclusion
The justification for airspace modernisation has been signposted in the publications referenced within this document. The actions we take now to progress the airspace modernisation programme will ensure that future generations can once again enjoy the many benefits of ‘guilt-free’ air travel without concern for the long-term viability of our planet. Osprey remains eager to support any airport’s modernisation programme.
[1] Source: CAPA – Centre for Aviation, ICAO, IATA.
[2] CAA CAP 2547 A guide to the Airspace Modernisation Strategy (Refers to CAP 1711, AMS Part 1, 2 and 3).
[3] Airspace Change. Guidance on the regulatory process for changing the notified airspace design and planned and permanent redistribution of air traffic and on providing airspace information. Fourth edition, March 2021 (due for change shortly).
[4] Jet Zero strategy: delivering net zero aviation by 2050, DfT 2022.
