Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay today reaffirmed their commitment to continue working together toward higher operational safety, quality and efficiency standards in their air navigation services. Representatives from the four countrie"™ Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) gathered in Buenos Aires to hold the Second Regional Integration and Cooperation ANSP Meeting, within the framework of the Latin American & Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) Leader"™ Forum.
The meeting was co-organised by Empresa Argentina de Navegación Aérea (EANA) and Brazil"™s Departamento de Controle do Espaço Aéreo (DECEA) and joined by Dirección Nacional de Aviación Civil del Paraguay (DINAC) and Dirección Nacional de Infraestructura Aeronáutica del Uruguay (DINACIA). Leaders of the four ANSPs, including Agustín Rodríguez Grellet (EANA), Jeferson Domingues de Freitas (DECEA), Roque Díaz Estigarribia (DINACIA) and Gaetano Battagliese (DINACIA), looked into the results achieved after the first Regional ANSP Meeting (Puerto Iguazú, April 2017) and set the guidelines for further joint work.
The process of integration and cooperation between the four ANSPs is already bearing fruit. Cooperation with DECEA has enabled EANA to speed up the establishment of its own Airspace Design Department and embark on an ambitious programme of airspace capacity assessment and redesign, plus runway capacity assessment.
DECEA"™s contribution has been invaluable to EANA and helped it to expedite design, submittal and implementation of dozens of PBN charts, many of which have been published already, with more coming up in the short and mid-term. EANA was also able to optimize many air routes due to become operational next year.
DECEA"™s support also enabled EANA to save sizeable resources. Conversely, collaboration also benefitted DECEA, thanks to the intense cultural exchange between the two ANSPs, with both parties learning from each other. The fresh views expressed by EANA design staff were highly appreciated by their Brazilian counterparts, who factored in those views to review their own established methods and processes. In addition, both ANSPs are moving toward a regional concept of air traffic management, ultimately setting the stage for larger integration at the continental level. During the 20th Meeting & Workshop of the SAM (SAM/IG/20) Implementation Group, held in Lima, Peru 16-20 October, EANA and DECEA were commended for their cooperation scheme.
Meanwhile, cooperation between Argentina and Paraguay has had another significant outcome, with the enlargement of the Posadas terminal area, in Misiones Province, NE Argentina. The enlarged TMA in Posadas benefits Encarnación airport, located across the border with Paraguay. Thanks to agreements between EANA and DINAC, Encarnación can now implement an instrument approach chart using VOR signals from Posadas. The matter was first discussed at the Puerto Iguazú meeting. A few months later, two days of joint work in Buenos Aires were enough to resolve a technical issue predating the creation of EANA in 2016.
EANA, for its part, is now in talks with Uruguay"™s DINACIA, regarding the latter"™s potential input in the projected redesign of the terminal area around Buenos Aires. BAIRES is Argentina"™s most important terminal area, including Ezeiza International airport, Aeroparque Jorge Newbery Metropolitan airport, El Palomar Air Force Base (which has the potential to handle low cost traffic), and San Fernando (general & business aviation). It also includes a number of aerodromes. BAIRES borders with Uruguayan airspace to the NE, E and SE and handles most of the regional as well as international air traffic flying into or out of Buenos Aires.
"The results achieved in the aftermath of the First Regional ANSP Integration and Cooperation Meeting encourage us to continue to move forward together. We work hard to increase our operational safety "“ our air navigation systems are safe indeed "“ and provide uniform, excellent service beyond our individual borders. We also aim to become more efficient and contribute to the overall efficiency of air transport. This transformation takes on a new meaning while our countries continue to post strong air traffic growth figures, enhancing connectivity and advancing socio-economic development. We are following the example set by many of the best air navigation systems in the world: Integrate and cooperate. Our achievements are re-writing the history of aviation in the region" "“ Agustín Rodríguez Grellet, President & CEO, EANA.
