The EU has granted funding of €65.3 million to support the ongoing evolution of the Borealis Free Route Airspace programme, Part 2, extending the number of countries in which Free Route Airspace is available and joining those areas of Free Route Airspace together. As part of this, the financial support to the EU air navigation service providers in NEFAB will constitute €17.6 million.
The Borealis FRA programme builds on Free Route Airspace initiatives in three Functional Airspace Blocks – the Danish-Swedish, UK-Ireland and NEFAB – and Iceland.
NEFAB Programme, which is comprised of 4 of the Borealis Alliance's 9 members – Avinor, EANS, Finavia, and LGS, implemented Free Route Airspace in November 2015. In June 2016, further progress towards a seamless FRA area was made by removing most of the coordination points on the FRA borders. A seamless cross-border FRA between NEFAB and the existing FRA in Danish-Swedish FAB will see its full implementation next year.
These accomplishments form a major stepping stone towards the Borealis FRA which will create seamless Free Route Airspace enabling airlines to plan and fly their preferred routes cost-efficiently across the whole of Northern Europe.
The recipients of the EU financial support under the 2015's calls for proposals of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) were formally approved on July 8. The Borealis Free Route Airspace programme has been supported as part of SESAR–related activities contributing to a sustainable and efficient ATM network in Europe, in line with the European Commission’s Single European Sky (SES) initiative.
An overview of the Borealis FRA programme can be found @ www.borealis.aero.
Picture: Borealis Free Route Airspace vision by 2021, courtesy of Borealis Alliance
