Uneven equipage and modernisation has held back regional capacity but new developments promise to resolve the issue.
The use of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) has allowed a significant reduction in longitudinal and lateral separation between flights.
The Asia Pacific Seamless ANS Plan identifies 16 priority items, but implementation is a mixed bag according to ICAO reports. Despite ICAO trying to harmonise ATM practices, including Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) equipage, significant implementation disparities exist in the region.
Poh Theen Soh, CANSO’s Director of Asia Pacific Affairs
Asia Pacific has a region-specific version of ICAO’s Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP) known as the Asia Pacific Seamless Air Navigation Services (ANS) Plan. Like the GANP, the Asia Pacific version is updated periodically.
Separation standards highlight the issue. “In performance-based navigation, for example, the use of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) has allowed a significant reduction in longitudinal and lateral separation between flights,” says Poh Theen Soh, CANSO’s Director of Asia Pacific Affairs. “Depending on the capability of the aircraft, this has gone from more than 50 nautical miles (nm) to just 20nm.”
In most regional airspace, aircraft can achieve 30nm separation although there are sections where this isn’t achievable and some routes still use more than 50nm separation.
One ICAO report states that “despite available capabilities, some States still apply more conservative separation standards than available, contributing to the growing congestion”. A 2023 ICAO survey further reports that only 34% of Asia Pacific States have minimum separation compliant with the Asia Pacific Seamless ANS Plan.
In the South China Sea area, meanwhile, the reduced lateral separation from available navigation precision would allow more parallel routes to be created. This will increase much needed capacity.
Another indication is in the separation minimums at Transfer of Control (TOC) points. The 2023 ICAO survey examined 1091 TOC points and found only 388 were in compliance with recommended separation minima in Asia Pacific Seamless ANS Plan.
Technology could make a massive difference if the wide range in implementation and usage is reduced.
One example is ATS Inter-facility Data Communications (AIDC), a well-established technology. AIDC replaces voice communication with an automatic message exchange. In 2023, 49% of air navigation service providers (ANSP) in the region had implemented AIDC. Of the implemented AIDC links, some 42% were using all the AIDC messages required by the Asia Pacific Seamless ANS Plan.
Economists refer to this as an externality, which is when a third party is affected by a transaction between other parties. In other words, smaller ANSPs may feel they are paying out for benefits that are mostly enjoyed in busier sections of airspace. Nevertheless, they are an important piece of the jigsaw puzzle, and their modernisation is crucial to regional capacity improvements. Dealing with externalities in a multilateral or regional context can therefore be complex and require political consensus.
But you also need to look at motivation...
Soh recognises that cost is an important factor. “But you also need to look at motivation,” he says. “The benefits of reduced aircraft separation and increased capacity may not be equally accrued to the providers of the service. States with vibrant air hubs would be more motivated to achieve high capacity in the airspace as opposed to States without busy airports.”
Close
Poh Theen Soh, CANSO’s Director of Asia Pacific Affairs
The 42ndICAO Assembly has recently endorsed the 8thedition of the GANP and the recommendations of the 14thAir Navigation Conference, which will help Asia Pacific move forward as a whole. These outcomes provide guidance and new impetus for ATM modernisation.
Some of the more immediate follow-ups include replacement of Flight Plan 2012 and improving enroute separation with the ICAO 30/10 guidance. Of significance, the Assembly also concluded that ICAO should develop a roadmap of minimum capabilities necessary for ATM’s evolution, with specific timelines for implementation.
We can modernise the entire region...
Such efforts mean Soh is optimistic for the future. “We can modernise the entire region through the consideration of a broader balance of benefits,” he says. “A framework of accountability can then be built from the consensus to ensure the larger interest is served.”
There are also emerging efforts to take a collective regional approach to the challenges that CANSO has been championing. The CANSO white paper on Asia Pacific ATM was published in 2024 after a one-year study involving regional ANSPs and the aviation ecosystem. This follows on from the 57thConference of Directors General Civil Aviation for the APAC region which established a new Asia Pacific ANSP Committee (AAC) to accelerate cross-border ATM developments in the region. These action-oriented efforts complement the works of the various ICAO initiatives.
Uneven equipage and modernisation has held back regional capacity but new developments promise to resolve the issue.
The use of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) has allowed a significant reduction in longitudinal and lateral separation between flights.
Poh Theen Soh, CANSO’s Director of Asia Pacific Affairs
The Asia Pacific Seamless ANS Plan identifies 16 priority items, but implementation is a mixed bag according to ICAO reports. Despite ICAO trying to harmonise ATM practices, including Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) equipage, significant implementation disparities exist in the region.
Asia Pacific has a region-specific version of ICAO’s Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP) known as the Asia Pacific Seamless Air Navigation Services (ANS) Plan. Like the GANP, the Asia Pacific version is updated periodically.
One ICAO report states that “despite available capabilities, some States still apply more conservative separation standards than available, contributing to the growing congestion”. A 2023 ICAO survey further reports that only 34% of Asia Pacific States have minimum separation compliant with the Asia Pacific Seamless ANS Plan.
In the South China Sea area, meanwhile, the reduced lateral separation from available navigation precision would allow more parallel routes to be created. This will increase much needed capacity.
Another indication is in the separation minimums at Transfer of Control (TOC) points. The 2023 ICAO survey examined 1091 TOC points and found only 388 were in compliance with recommended separation minima in Asia Pacific Seamless ANS Plan.
Separation standards highlight the issue. “In performance-based navigation, for example, the use of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) has allowed a significant reduction in longitudinal and lateral separation between flights,” says Poh Theen Soh, CANSO’s Director of Asia Pacific Affairs. “Depending on the capability of the aircraft, this has gone from more than 50 nautical miles (nm) to just 20nm.”
In most regional airspace, aircraft can achieve 30nm separation although there are sections where this isn’t achievable and some routes still use more than 50nm separation.
But you also need to look at motivation...
Economists refer to this as an externality, which is when a third party is affected by a transaction between other parties. In other words, smaller ANSPs may feel they are paying out for benefits that are mostly enjoyed in busier sections of airspace. Nevertheless, they are an important piece of the jigsaw puzzle, and their modernisation is crucial to regional capacity improvements. Dealing with externalities in a multilateral or regional context can therefore be complex and require political consensus.
Soh recognises that cost is an important factor. “But you also need to look at motivation,” he says. “The benefits of reduced aircraft separation and increased capacity may not be equally accrued to the providers of the service. States with vibrant air hubs would be more motivated to achieve high capacity in the airspace as opposed to States without busy airports.”
Technology could make a massive difference if the wide range in implementation and usage is reduced.
One example is ATS Inter-facility Data Communications (AIDC), a well-established technology. AIDC replaces voice communication with an automatic message exchange. In 2023, 49% of air navigation service providers (ANSP) in the region had implemented AIDC. Of the implemented AIDC links, some 42% were using all the AIDC messages required by the Asia Pacific Seamless ANS Plan.
We can modernise the entire region...
Poh Theen Soh, CANSO’s Director of Asia Pacific Affairs
Such efforts mean Soh is optimistic for the future. “We can modernise the entire region through the consideration of a broader balance of benefits,” he says. “A framework of accountability can then be built from the consensus to ensure the larger interest is served.”
There are also emerging efforts to take a collective regional approach to the challenges that CANSO has been championing. The CANSO white paper on Asia Pacific ATM was published in 2024 after a one-year study involving regional ANSPs and the aviation ecosystem. This follows on from the 57thConference of Directors General Civil Aviation for the APAC region which established a new Asia Pacific ANSP Committee (AAC) to accelerate cross-border ATM developments in the region. These action-oriented efforts complement the works of the various ICAO initiatives.
The 42ndICAO Assembly has recently endorsed the 8thedition of the GANP and the recommendations of the 14thAir Navigation Conference, which will help Asia Pacific move forward as a whole. These outcomes provide guidance and new impetus for ATM modernisation.
Some of the more immediate follow-ups include replacement of Flight Plan 2012 and improving enroute separation with the ICAO 30/10 guidance. Of significance, the Assembly also concluded that ICAO should develop a roadmap of minimum capabilities necessary for ATM’s evolution, with specific timelines for implementation.