Regulatory framework

The deployment of FF-ICE and its related requirements falls under the umbrella of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 116/2021 (CP1) that replaced (EU) No 716/2014 of 27 June 2014, known as the “Pilot Common Project (PCP)”. FF-ICE R1 Services are to be deployed in a timely, coordinated and synchronised way, such as all ATM functionalities that are mature for implementation and that contribute to the achievement of the essential operational changes identified in the European ATM Master Plan.

Geographical scope &

Affected stakeholders

Panel
borderColor grey title Geographical Scope
For FF-ICE/R1 Services, the geographical scope is the EATMN (European Air Traffic Management Route Network

(EATMN

)

, with

which in the

exception of airports, must deploy FF-ICE service. This includes the Network Manager, AUs and ANSPs.Clarification of the term EATMN

context of CP1 means the 27 EU Member States + Norway and Switzerland + SOTA and NOTA of Shanwick FIR.

The EATMN is defined in (EU) 549/2004 as follows:

‘European air traffic management network’ (EATMN) means the collection of systems listed in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 552/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2004 on the interoperability of the European air traffic management network (the interoperability Regulation) enabling air navigation services in the Community to be provided, including the interfaces at boundaries with third countries;

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 552/2004 further clarifies that

For the purpose of this Regulation the EATMN is subdivided into eight systems.
1.    Systems and procedures for airspace management.
2.    Systems and procedures for air traffic flow management.
3.    Systems and procedures for air traffic services, in particular flight data processing systems, surveillance data processing systems and human-machine interface systems.
4.    Communications systems and procedures for ground-to-ground, air-to-ground and air-to-air communications.
5.    Navigation systems and procedures.
6.    Surveillance systems and procedures.
7.    Systems and procedures for aeronautical information services.
8.    Systems and procedures for the use of meteorological information

Panel
borderColor grey title Affected Airspace Users

CP1 mandates all Airspace Users operating in the EATMN Airspace – including overflights – to adopt FF-ICE. In other terms, all Airspace Users operating in the EATMN Airspace must start filling eFPL by 31/12/2025 at the latest.

• This understanding of the implementation requirement has been clarified and agreed with the European Commission in a bilateral meeting EC-SDM on October 6th 2022.

CP1 also applies to military when they fly GAT, but does NOT apply to OAT:

• Clarified by the European Commission on February 28th 2023.

Affected Air Navigation Service Providers

The European Commission confirmed that CP1 applies for the EATMN, so for the entire EU airspace plus two states (Switzerland and Norway).

Expected operational benefits in Europe

TODO

Supporting materials

Browse the presentation "Introduction to the FF-ICE requirements in CP1 and in the SESAR Deployment Programme" to the NDOP/NDTECH Joint Session on FF-ICE on 01-Mar-2023:

Clarification of the CP1 mandate

The CP1 regulation states that:

These statements in CP1 context means:

1. routes generation and validation: “routes generation” relates to the Expanded Route as described in the FF-ICE/R1 Manual, Appendix E-3. (An expanded route contains every significant point that is in the route. While a Route has only the entry and exit point from each ATS route traversed, the expanded route contains each significant point traversed along each ATS route.). “validation” relates to the outcome of the flight plan validation and is an aspect covered in bullet point 4) Flight Status below.
2. 4D trajectory: this relates to the Trajectory information provided as part of the Route/Trajectory Group, as explained in the FF-ICE/R1 Manual, Appendix E-3.
3. flight performance data: this relates to the Route/Trajectory Specific Performance Data as described in the FF-ICE/R1 Manual, Chapter 10.3, table 2. It comprises the Aircraft Take-Off Mass, the Performance climb and descent profile and the Climb and descent speed schedule.
4. Flight status: this relates to the Operator Flight Plan Version and the Filing Status value that are specified in the FF-ICE/R1 Manual, Appendix B-2.14 and B-2.23.2. Note: The term "Flight Status” used in CP1 does NOT refer to Field 18 STS, sometimes called status field, which captures the Reason for special handling by ATS. In FF-ICE, this piece of information is explicitly represented by the Data Item “Special Handling” in Data Category “Flight Characteristics”.
5. flights lists: the notion of "Flights Lists" is not described in the FF-ICE/R1 Manual. It is therefore considered that this particular wording relates to the use of the GUFI to assist in associating a message to the correct flight and to help in distinguishing between similar flights, as explained in the FF-ICE/R1 Manual, chapter 3.7.1;
6. detailed flight data: This relates to the eFPL content that is not new compared to what is currently exchanged, i.e. this relates to the flight plan data items already exchanged in FPL 2012 format.

Expected operational benefits in Europe

Browse the presentation "Expected FF-ICE Short/Medium/Long term operational benefits" to the NDOP/NDTECH Joint Session on FF-ICE on 01-Mar-2023:

Browse the "Note on Airspace Users CP1 mandate to implement FF-ICE Release 1", published by SDM on October 18th, 2022: