 |
| The Borealis Alliance’s vision for free route airspace in 2021. Photo: NATS |
[Avionics Today 07-29-2016] The European Union has awarded Borealis Alliance 63.2 million euros ($70 million) in financial support to continue the alliance’s work to deliver Free Route Airspace (FRA) across Northern Europe by 2021. The funding has been granted to support the ongoing evolution of the Borealis Free Route Airspace program, extending the number of countries in which FRA is available and joining those areas of FRA together.
On July 8, EU member states formally approved the recipients of the EU financial support under the 2015’s calls for proposals of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding. The EU has supported the Borealis FRA program as part of Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR)–related activities contributing to a sustainable and efficient Air Traffic Management (ATM) network in Europe, in line with the European Commission’s Single European Sky (SES) initiative. It was one of 195 transport projects awarded funding.
The program involves all nine Borealis members, which aim to build on FRA initiatives in three Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs): the Danish-Swedish, U.K.-Ireland and Northern Europe – Iceland. By 2021, the project aims to create seamless free route airspace, enabling airlines to plan and fly their preferred routes across the whole of Northern Europe, saving significant time and fuel.