Photo courtesy of Eurocontrol
Eurocontrol’s slot-swapping tool has been deployed by the Network Manager system under the latest release at the end of May, Euroncontrol said. It is available to all European airspace users via the flight list on the protected Network Operations Portal.
Developed under Single European Sky ATM Research, the tool should enhance operational flexibility. Swapping air traffic flow management slots decreases the number of missed transfers and connections, Eurocontrol said. It also provides more stability and resilience to daily flight schedules in the face of deteriorating conditions.
“The enhanced slot swapping process is part of the user-driven prioritization process, which aims to give more flexibility to airspace users in their operations in the event of capacity constraints in the planning phase and in congested en-route and arrival areas,” Eurocontrol said. “It has extended the rules for swapping flights and also set out a swap identification tool to support the decisions made by airspace users.”