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| The European Parliament’s hemicycle (debating chamber) during a plenary session in Strasbourg. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. |
[Avionics Today 11-02-2015] The European Parliament has adopted a resolution to enhance aviation safety and efficiency through global flight tracking systems. The resolution supports the assignment of primary radio spectrum allocation for satellite-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). European Parliament’s Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, called on all EU member states to welcome this resolution in order to ensure the objective of global flight tracking is supported in negotiations during the World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC) happening in Geneva, Switzerland, through November 27.
Space-based ADS-B will allow for real-time air traffic monitoring, and provide performance-based enhancements in safety and efficiency, consistent with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) objectives, according to Aireon.
“A primary spectrum allocation will ensure that the world’s aviation community has access to the next-generation air traffic surveillance capability of space-based ADS-B to improve global safety and efficiency. It is imperative that we make safety a priority and it is encouraging that Parliament has made this critical issue a key objective during the WRC,” said Roberta Neri, chief executive officer of Italy’s Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP), ENAV.