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2. transports
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4. airports

February 2015
EUROCONTROL
Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre
For several years running, MUAC’s performance has been
acknowledged as best in class in independent benchmarks
For more than 40 years, EUROCONTROL’s Maastricht
Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) has enjoyed a
leading position in the core area of Europe thanks to its
provision of seamless air navigation services to the upper
airspace of Belgium, north-west Germany, Luxembourg
and the Netherlands. In order to maintain this position,
it continuously strives to deliver safe, efficient and
cost-effective cross-border air navigation services in a
dynamic air transport marketplace. Not only is it a leading
provider of air navigation services, it is also Europe’s
first multinational, cross-border air navigation service
provider. Today, such large-scale international airspace
is still unique in Europe. MUAC has played a pivotal role
in integrating European airspace on a functional basis,
driven not by national boundaries, but by the operational
requirements of international traffic flows.
MUAC Airspace
The MUAC airspace covers 260,000 km2 over
Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and
north-west Germany.
With more than 100 major customers, MUAC’s
share of air traffic represents 17% of all flights
across the European region.
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More than 1.6 million flights pass
Fast facts
through MUAC’s airspace each year,
Total flights per annum: 1.6 million
making it the third busiest air traffic
All time peak day: 5,272 (June 2014)
control facility in Europe in terms of
Flights on time 2013: 98.9 %
traffic volume.
Average delay 2013: 0.17 min / flight
Cross-border sectors
Three main sector groups: the Brussels, Hannover
and DECO Sector Groups, cover the Brussels Upper
Information Region (UIR), the Hannover Upper Information
Region (UIR) and the Amsterdam Flight Information
Region (FIR) from flight level 245 to flight level 660.
The lower airspace is managed by the national air traffic
control agencies Belgocontrol, Luchtverkeersleiding
Nederland (LVNL) and Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS)
respectively.
The sectors have been
designed for maximum
efficiency and transcend
national borders.
FACT Sheet February 2015
2
EUROCONTROL
Environment
Just as aircraft manufacturers and operators are making
considerable advances in reducing their environmental
impact, the air traffic management sector is also introducing new concepts and procedures to improve its own environmental credentials. At MUAC, the implementation of
Free Route Airspace allows airline operators to fly direct
routes thus reducing fuel carriage, engine running time
and gas emissions and vastly improving flight efficiency.
Other initiatives such as Arrival Management and the use
of direct routes at tactical level also contribute to alleviate
the environmental footprint of aviation.
In 2013, the total route extension improvement in the
MUAC airspace was 3.6%, equating to over 7 million NM.
This resulted in 42,000 t of fuel and therefore 140,000 t of
CO2 saved.
Safety
A number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are used
to measure safety performance. Additionally, in order to
ensure continuous safety improvement, the annual safety
KPI is revised each year on the basis of the performance of
the preceding five years.
infringements in which a MUAC contribution was found,
either direct or shared.
Since its first mention in Commission Regulation 681/2010,
MUAC has worked hard to bring a Just Culture to its work
environment. In order to further this concept, a project has
been launched to implement Just Culture principles in the
day-to-day working environment.
In 2014, a year in which more than 1.6 million flights
were handled, there were no severity A (serious) separation infringement and 2 severity B (major) separation
Total employees
Figures are on 1 January 2014
642 employees, of which:
Total employees
management & support
air traffic controllers
Figures are on 1 January 2015
618 employees, of which:
engineers
304 are air traffic controllers
104 are other operational staff
151 are engineers and
59 are members of management
and support staff
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
3
0
other operational staff
Minutes delay
Movements
3,000,000
1,600,000
2,500,000
1,500,000
1,450,200
1,535,737
1,609,749
1,608,454
1,484,804
1,522,410
1,607,817
1,605,505
1,631,895
1,671,353
2,000,000
1,400,000
1,500,000
1,300,000
174,386
446,585
968,720
778,238
74,211
73,136
62,886
59,006
116,872
277,798
1,000,000
1,200,000
500,000
1,100,000
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Traffic and delay trend 2005 - 2014
Punctuality
ser
IR
ls U
sse
95
Bru 05,4 ts
ni
1,6
eu
vic 4%
FIR
m 2
a
98.9% of the flights using MUAC’s services currently travel ewithout
any air traffic control related
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9
delay. The average delay per flight is 0.17 minutes. Since
2005,
overall
traffic has grown by
,
A
1 ce u
%
i
v
1
r
. 3.6% in real terms (€ 2014).
15%, whilst the total economic cost per flight-hour decreased
se 30by
25.
2013
Cost- effectiveness
Controller productivity
In May 2014, the ATM Cost-Effectiveness (ACE) 2012
Benchmarking Report was released once again confirming MUAC’s ranking among the top-performing ANSPs in
Europe. The economic gate-to-gate cost-effectiveness
indicator for MUAC amounted to €261 (2012) per composite flight-hour while the European system average
stood at €492, ranging from €163-€771. High levels of
performance are predominantly driven by high air traffic
controller productivity, cutting-edge technology as well
as efficient management of resources and operational
procedures.
With 1.94 composite flight-hours per air traffic controller
annhighest
hour, MUAC has Hthe
over U levels of air traffic controller
IR
2,816,3
productivity in Europe.
The
48 productivity of an air navigation
service
service provider is
a keyuparameter
which contributes directnits
4
4
.5
%
ly to its overall performance. In spite of high traffic density
and airspace complexity MUAC has the highest controller
productivity of all European air navigation service providers.
Service units in 2013
Productivity improvements can be achieved by optimising
Breakdown of service units in the Amsterdam
air traffic management and human resources and by using
FIR, the Brussels UIR and the Hannover UIR
advanced technology to support these processes.
FACT Sheet February 2015
respectively. Service units increased by 4.1% over
2012.
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EUROCONTROL
Civil/ military partnership
By co-locating a Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) unit
(Lippe Radar) which controls military operations over
north-west Germany on MUAC’s premises, the States
have ensured the highest levels of cooperation and coordination between civil and military air traffic. In addition,
there is an automatic exchange of flight plan and radar
data between MUAC and Belgium’s Belga Radar Air Traffic Control Centre at Semmerzake and, to further improve
safety and efficiency, the MUAC air traffic control system
has been deployed across the different Royal Netherlands
Air Force sites. The Shared ATS System (SAS) aims to ensure that all parties have a clear and up-to-date picture
of the air situation in the Netherlands, and that synergies
are exploited to the maximum extent to improve safety
and efficiency. The Shared ATS System marks the first time
that an ATC System has been operated by a user at another location. It is the first step towards the concept of
‘data centres’ or ‘virtual centres’.
Engaging with the customer
In order to assess customer satisfaction and identify areas
where service quality can be enhanced on a continuous
basis, MUAC engages with aircraft operators at the airspace design, operational and strategic levels. This collaboration involves customers at the beginning of service
enhancement projects as well as facilitating the promotion of ATM initiatives which will benefit them. Furthermore regular meetings are held with a selection of key
account customers in order to review detailed reports
which include the results of wide-ranging analyses of
cost-efficiency, delays, direct routes, flight efficiency and
new activities. The process of sharing information with
aircraft operators is supported by the eurSky collaborative platform which enables operators to share a live desk
with MUAC Operations.
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New technologies for enhanced performance
MUAC’s long tradition of being at the forefront of technology has contributed to introducing some of the industry’s
most innovative technological solutions.
ASM systems as well as more data exchange with Network Manager systems via B2B services.
The MUAC Flight Data Processing System harnesses
technology to work better and faster. The system is trajectory-based, as opposed to classical route-based systems.
Each trajectory is continuously updated ensuring that
controllers have the most accurate flight information at
all times.
Every day, MUAC uses Controller-Pilot Data-Link Communications (CPDLC) to communicate with aircraft.
CPDLC is an air/ground data-link application, which enables the exchange of text messages between controllers
and pilots. CPDLC offers reduced voice-channel congestion, less chance of misunderstanding, greater efficiency
and increased capacity. On top of the clear operational
benefits offered each day by CPDLC, the technology also
offers great potential for future ground breaking technologies such as 4D operations.
The introduction of Enhanced Mode S (EHS) in the MUAC
system has offered controllers better situational awareness, the ability to detect level busts early and has freed
up additional radio frequency time. Enhanced Mode S
consists of the extraction of downlinked aircraft parameters or DAPs (e.g. magnetic heading, airspeed, selected
altitude) for use in ground-based air traffic management
systems. It is the first stage in making use of air-derived
data, presented directly to the controller and/or used in
their input-menus for speed, heading, and recently also
in MUAC’s Short Term Conflict Alert (STCA).
In the area of ATFCM, specifically complexity, workload
prediction and traffic management, one of the most
promising technical developments is the integrated
Flow Management Position (iFMP). Using trajectory
predictions from both the Network Manager’s system
and the local flight data processing system, the iFMP anticipates the traffic situation according to occupancy and
entry rates as well as complexity counts up to 10 hours in
advance. It contains a sector optimiser that can identify
the best sectorisation whilst investigating alternatives.
To maximise efficiency it is fully integrated with the manpower planning tool developed at MUAC - TimeZone. The
user-friendly interface offers bar graphs which are fully
configurable and integrated with a geographical display
of expected traffic flows and flight lists. The tool also displays an overview of the weather situation at major airports and is capable of accessing real-time information
(EAUP / EUUP and Regulations) available in the Network
Manager’s systems via B2B web services. The iFMP integrates new ideas and concepts being explored under the
SESAR programme in the area of Flow and Complexity
Management serving as MUAC’s validation platform in
these areas. Future developments encompass an integration with the ATC system to feed it with planned sectorisation and STAM requests, a connection to the tactical
FACT Sheet February 2015
vDFL increases airspace
efficiency
In order to more efficiently manage air traffic, a Variable
Division Flight Level (vDFL) was introduced in most of
the MUAC airspace. This concept allows a flexible distribution of traffic between upper and lower sectors, for example by lowering or raising the division flight level in order
to match changing traffic patterns throughout the day.
vDFL is the first step towards the introduction of the dynamic sectorisation concept for Single European Sky ATM
Research (SESAR). With vDFL it is now possible to tactically
and dynamically make the sector size fit with the traffic
load predictions – and better distribution of traffic means
airlines can be offered the option to fly at their optimum
level as less traffic is restricted to a level below the high
sectors.
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EUROCONTROL
International cooperation
FABEC Functional Airspace Block Europe Central
In 2010, Belgium, France, Germany,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands and
Switzerland signed the FABEC Treaty,
which aims to create the Functional Airspace Block Europe Central, with a view to
increasing efficiency. This airspace is one
of the busiest and most complex in the
world. Most major European airports, major civil airways and military training areas
are located in this area. Owing to its size
and central position in Europe, FABEC is a
cornerstone of the Single European Sky.
FABEC airspace covers 1.7 million km²,
equalling 9% of the surface area of the
European continent: the FABEC airspace
has the dimensions of 960 NM (1,780 km)
from north to south and 990 NM (1,835
km) from east to west. The airspace includes around 400 military/special areas,
some 370 control sectors and 240 airports
equipped for instrument flights.
The 14 area control centres (Brussels, Bordeaux, Brest,
Marseille, Paris, Reims, Bremen, Munich, Karlsruhe, Langen, Maastricht, Amsterdam, Geneva and Zurich) handle
about 5.5 million flights per year – 55% of European air
traffic.
The six civil FABEC air navigation service providers are:
ANA (Luxembourg), Belgocontrol (Belgium), DFS (Germany), DSNA (France), LVNL (Netherlands), MUAC and
skyguide (Switzerland). The military air navigation service providers are skyguide (CH); DFS and the German Air
Force (D); the Royal Netherlands Air Force (NL); the Belgian Defence (B and LUX) and DIRCAM (FR).
For more information, visit www.fabec.eu
SESAR- Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research
One of MUAC’s flagship activities is the development and
implementation of leading-edge infrastructure and technological solutions to ensure that customers and stakeholders benefit from the highest levels of performance.
MUAC’s active involvement in SESAR projects is instrumental in meeting this objective. The focus is in areas where
MUAC has know-how and added value; e.g. air/ground
interoperability, ground/ground interoperability, flow
& complexity management and the integration with
AMAN/XMAN. SESAR activities are one of the tracks used
to further improve MUAC operational concepts and technical infrastructure through early deployment by using
SESAR2020 Very Large scale Demonstrations (VLDs).
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MUAC management
Director General, EUROCONTROL
Frank Brenner
MUAC Management Board
Director
Jac Jansen
Head of Stakeholder Management
Robin Hickson
Head of Strategy and Priority
To be nominated
Head of Performance Management
Flemming Nyrup
Head of Support and Services Delivery
Onno Reitsma
Head of Engineering Domain
Peter Naets
Head of Change Management
Bart Vandersmissen
Head of Operations Domain
Ian Middleton
Head of ATM Services Delivery
Chris Stadler
In line with Single European Sky legislation, MUAC holds the certificate for
the provision of air navigation services in the European Community. MUAC
also holds ISO 9001:2008 certification for the provision of air traffic services,
the procurement and maintenance of technical systems and the provision of
professional training.
For more information, please contact:
Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre
Communications
Horsterweg 11
6199 AC Maastricht-Airport
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 43 366 1352 / 1234
[email protected]
www.eurocontrol.int/muac
© February 2015 - European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL)
This document is published by EUROCONTROL for information purposes. It may be copied in whole or in part, provided that EUROCONTROL is mentioned
as the source and it is not used for commercial purposes (i.e. for financial gain). The information in this document may not be modified without prior written
EUROCONTROL
permission from EUROCONTROL.
www.eurocontrol.int/muac
FACT Sheet February 2015
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