The UK CAA have published their draft ‘Airspace Modernisation Strategy’ for stakeholder feedback, and are seeking comments by Monday, 10 September 2018.
The CAA say that in its current state, the design and operation of UK airspace is constraining the growth of commercial aviation and causing delays to passengers. Any constraint on growth should come from the number of runways on the ground, or the restrictions imposed on the use of those runways by the Government or planning authorities as a condition of their use.
The Government and the CAA therefore have a shared objective to ensure that airspace is not a constraint on the growth of commercial aviation. We are, however, very clear that this growth has to be managed to ensure that noise and other environmental impacts are managed in alignment with policy and law, and that other airspace users maintain appropriate access to airspace.
To this end, the Government has tasked the CAA with preparing and maintaining a co-ordinated strategy and plan for the use of UK airspace up to 2040, including its modernisation. This strategy will supersede the existing Future Airspace Strategy, although many of its technical elements are incorporated into the draft strategy.
The Airspace Modernisation Strategy will set out ways in which our shared objective will be achieved. This includes the need for a new structural design in some areas of airspace, new operational concepts that govern how aircraft are flown, and what technology is needed to achieve these concepts.
The CAA stress that this strategy does not propose any specific airspace changes, but suggests that a roadmap of changes that will be necessary for modernisation should be developed.
Any individual airspace changes that are developed either in response to this strategy or for any other reasons will go through the CAA’s airspace change process (as set out in CAP 1616), to include consultation with affected stakeholders which, depending on the circumstances, includes communities on the ground and other airspace users.
The strategy will be finalised and delivered to the Secretary of State in December 2018.