ATFCM OPERATIONS MANUAL

Network Manager

Edition: 26.0
Edition date: 26-04-2022
Classification: White
Reference nr:
 EUROCONTROL Network Management Directorate

DOCUMENT CONTROL

Document Title ATFCM OPERATIONS MANUAL

Document Subtitle Network Manager

Document Reference

Edition Number 26.0

Edition Validity Date 26-04-2022

Classification White

Accessibility Internet

Status Released Issue

Author(s) S. Niarchakou and M. Sfyroeras

Contact Person(s) S. Niarchakou and M. Sfyroeras

APPROVAL TABLE
The following table identifies all management authorities who have successively
approved the present issue of this document.
This table may be replaced by a format document review and approval meeting, with
the meeting details recorded and retained in the edition’s archive folder.
The approval may also be recorded via electronic workflow, where put in place. Where
document approval is made via a meeting or electronic workflow , the details shall be
indicated here in place of the approval table.
Edition publication approval given on 25/03/2022.

Edition Number: 26.0 Edition Validity Date: 26-04-2022 Classification: White Page: I
 EUROCONTROL Network Management Directorate

EDITION HISTORY

Edition No. Validity Date Author(s) Reason

19.0 10 Mar 2015 NIA, SEL First edition
19.1 29 Apr 2015 NIA, SEL Minor updates
NM software release 19.5 and
19.2 20 Oct 2015 NIA, SEL
other updates
Functional role description
19.3 07 Jan 2015 NIA, SEL
updates
NM software release 20.0 and
20.0 05 Apr 2016 NIA, SEL
other updates
NM software release 20.5 and
20.1 16 Nov 2016 NIA, SEL
other updates
NM software release 21.0 and
21.0 03 May 2017 NIA, SEL
other updates
NM software release 21.5 and
21.1 18 Oct 2017 NIA, SEL
other updates
NM software release 22.0 and
22.0 02 May 2018 NIA, SEL
other updates
NM software release 22.5 and
22.1 14 Nov 2018 NIA, MCECH
other updates
NM software release 23.0 and
23.0 01 May 2019 NIA, MCECH
other updates
NM software release 23.5 and
23.1 16 Oct 2019 NIA, MCECH
other updates
NM software release 24.0 and
24.0 23 Jun 2020 NIA, SFY
other updates
24.1 18 Jan 2021 NIA, SFY Various updates

NM software release 25.0 and

25.0 27 Apr 2021 NIA, SFY
other updates

NM software release 26.0 and

26.0 26 Apr 2022 NIA, SFY
other updates

Edition Number: 26.0 Edition Validity Date: 26-04-2022 Classification: White Page: II
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EDITION CHANGE RECORD

Title Amendment notes

1. INTRODUCTION 1.4 Structure; 1.8 Validity

2. ATFCM Overview

3. Partners 3.1 Flow Management Position (FMP)

4.4 Simulations; 4.5.1 Creation and Maintenance

4. Strategic Phase of Operations
of Scenarios

5.1 Updating CACD Data in Predict / ETFMS; 5.1.6

Manual deactivation of PTR 5.2.1 Predict Data
Replacement; 5.3 Traffic Load Monitoring; 5.6.1.3
ANM Remarks Table; 5.6.1.6.3 Modify the
Regulation Reason; 5.7.1.2 Flight Deactivation;
5.7.1.4 Exclude / Include a flight from / in a
Regulation; 5.7.2.3 Manual Sending of SIP and
Assigning a Free Slot; 5.7.2.4 CTOT Improvement
Management; 5.7.2.5 CTOT Extension
Management; 5.7.2.6 Slot Swapping; 5.7.2.7
Managing the REA Status of a Flight; 5.7.2.8
CASA Does Not Push Flights Into Closed
Airspace; 5.8 Flow Management (FM) Helpdesk;
5. Pre-tactical and Tactical
5.8.1 Answering Helpdesk Queries; 5.8.2 e-
Phases of Operations
Helpdesk automatic processing of requests
(New) ; 5.8.3 Flight Criticality Indicator; 5.8.4
Earliest Minimum Take-Off Time; 5.9.5
Regulation and Delay Management for Canarias
ACC; 5.9.7 Manual Suspension for Traffic
overflying Swiss territory 5.9.9 Collaborative
Arrival Regulation Avoidance (CARA) at Vienna
(removed); 5.10.1 Management of the AUP /
EAUP (ASM / ATFCM Procedure 1); 5.10.3 UUP
Requesting Additional Airspace / Route
Segregation (ASM / ATFCM Procedure 3);
5.10.3.1 Management of CDR2 Opportunities
(removed);

6. Procedures in Unusual
6.2.1 Disruption phase
Circumstances

7. Post operations Phase

8. Communication / CDM 8.5.1 Updating the NOP Portal Headline News

Processes

9. ATFCM Contingency
Operations

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10. Dictionary of Abbreviations

11. Contacts 11. Contacts

12. ANNEX A – FLIGHT DATA 12.3 Correlated Position Reports (CPRs)

Annex B: Integrated airports; 13.1 Benefits of

Advanced Network Integrated (ANI) Airports; 13.2
Benefits of A-CDM; 13.3 Benefits of Advanced
ATC TWR Airports; 13.4 Impact on Network
Operations of Integrated Airports 13.5.1 DPI
13. ANNEX B – INTEGRATED Messages; 13.5.2 DPI Types; 13.5.3 Suspended
AIRPORTS Flights; 13.5.4 CDM STATUS in the Flight List;
13.5.5 Message Summary for ANI Airports; 13.5.6
Message Summary for A-CDM and Advanced ATC
TWR Airports; 13.6 Arrival Planning Information
(API); 13.6.1 API Messages; 13.6.2 API Types;
13.6.3 API Message Summary

14. ANNEX C – SLOT ALLOCATION

14.2.2 Pending Rate
PROCESS

15. ANNEX D – TRAFFIC VOLUMES 15.4.3 Traffic Volume Identifier

16. ANNEX E – COUNTS Annex E: Counts; 16.7 Occupancy counts

17.1 The Basis of the FUA Concept; 17.3.4

17. ANNEX F – ASM – ATFCM Conditional Routes; 17.5.2 European Airspace
PROCESS Use Plan (EAUP) / European Updated Airspace
Use Plan (EUUP)

18. ANNEX G – RAD

19. ANNEX H – Regulatory

Reporting Process

20. ANNEX I – ACC Contingency

plan form

21. ANNEX J – ATFCM MESSAGE

Annex J: ATFCM Message Types
TYPES

Abbreviations

Amendments to the ATFCM Operations Manual are indicated in RED with revision bars.
Significant deletions of text are indicated with the symbol 

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TABLE OF CONTENT
DOCUMENT CONTROL .................................................................................................... I
APPROVAL TABLE .......................................................................................................... I
EDITION HISTORY .......................................................................................................... II
EDITION CHANGE RECORD............................................................................................ III
1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 2
1.1 Purpose ........................................................................................................ 2
1.2 Scope ........................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Intended Audience ........................................................................................ 2
1.4 Structure....................................................................................................... 2
1.5 Interpretation of Words ................................................................................. 2
1.6 Procedures ................................................................................................... 2
1.7 Exceptions for FMPs ..................................................................................... 3
1.8 Validity ......................................................................................................... 3
2 ATFCM OVERVIEW........................................................................................ 4
2.1 Governing Principles..................................................................................... 4
2.2 Network Manager (NM) Agreements ............................................................. 5
2.3 Areas Covered .............................................................................................. 5
2.4 ATFCM Phases ............................................................................................. 5
2.5 Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) ........................................................... 6
2.6 ATFCM Solutions to Capacity Shortfalls ........................................................ 7
2.7 NM ATFCM Systems ................................................................................... 10
3 PARTNERS.................................................................................................. 12
3.1 Flow Management Position (FMP)............................................................... 12
3.1.1 General Duties ............................................................................................. 12
3.1.2 FMP Manager.............................................................................................. 13
3.1.3 FMP Controller ............................................................................................ 13
3.2 Network Manager Operations Centre (NMOC) ............................................. 13
3.2.1 NM Pre-Tactical Team ................................................................................. 15
3.2.2 NM Tactical Team ....................................................................................... 15
4 STRATEGIC PHASE OF OPERATIONS .......................................................... 18
4.1 Reporting of Events Impacting ATC / ATFCM .............................................. 18
4.1.1 Provision of Information on events and long-term operational planning ........ 18
4.1.2 Significant Military Events and Exercises...................................................... 19
4.1.3 Events at Airports Impacting Capacity or Demand ........................................ 19
4.2 Creation of the Events List .......................................................................... 20
4.2.1 Event Planning Process ............................................................................... 21
4.3 Notification of Updates to CACD ................................................................. 22
4.4 Simulations................................................................................................. 23

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4.4.1 Simulation Request ..................................................................................... 24

4.5 Scenarios.................................................................................................... 24
4.5.1 Creation and Maintenance of Scenarios ....................................................... 25
4.5.2 Detailed procedure for scenario creation ...................................................... 28
4.5.3 Urgent scenario requests and crisis situation ............................................... 30
4.5.4 Procedure for revalidation of reference scenarios ........................................ 30
4.6 Axis Coordination........................................................................................ 32
5 PRE-TACTICAL AND TACTICAL PHASES OF OPERATIONS ......................... 34
5.1 Updating CACD Data in Predict / ETFMS...................................................... 35
5.1.1 Runway Criteria Update ............................................................................... 37
5.1.2 Ad-hoc Creation of Traffic Volumes ............................................................. 39
5.1.3 ANM Traffic Volume Description Missing ..................................................... 40
5.1.4 Replacement of a Traffic Volume with a Protected Location ......................... 41
5.1.5 RAD ad-hoc Temporary Changes.................................................................. 41
5.1.6 Manual deactivation of PTR ......................................................................... 41
5.2 Predict Flight Data ...................................................................................... 42
5.2.1 PREDICT Data Replacement......................................................................... 42
5.2.2 NAT Traffic Replacement............................................................................. 45
5.2.3 Updating PREDICT with DDR Flight Intentions............................................... 47
5.3 Traffic Load Monitoring .............................................................................. 48
5.4 Management of Simulation Requests during PRE-TACTICAL / TACTICAL
Operations ................................................................................................................... 50
5.5 Management of the ATFCM Daily Plan (ADP) .............................................. 51
5.5.1 D-2 Draft...................................................................................................... 51
5.5.2 D-1 Plan ...................................................................................................... 52
5.5.2.1 Regulations Applied Pre-Tactically as a Precautionary Measure.................... 53
5.5.3 Creation of the Initial Network Plan (INP) ..................................................... 54
5.5.4 Creation of the Network Brief ....................................................................... 55
5.5.5 Transfer of the ADP from PREDICT into the ETFMS ...................................... 56
5.5.6 Tactical Management of the ATFCM Daily Plan (ADP) .................................. 56
5.5.7 Tactical Operations Feedback...................................................................... 56
5.5.8 Severe Weather Assessment ....................................................................... 57
5.6 ATFCM Measures Management .................................................................. 60
5.6.1 ATFM Regulations ....................................................................................... 60
5.6.1.1 Network Impact Assessment of Regulations ................................................ 61
5.6.1.2 Regulations Reason ..................................................................................... 61
5.6.1.3 ANM Remarks Table.................................................................................... 64
5.6.1.4 Apply a Regulation....................................................................................... 66
5.6.1.5 Linking of Regulations ................................................................................. 67
5.6.1.5.1 Splitting Regulated Sectors.......................................................................... 68
5.6.1.5.2 Collapsing Regulated Sectors ...................................................................... 68
5.6.1.5.3 Linking Geographically Distant Regulations .................................................. 69

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5.6.1.5.4 Auto-Linking................................................................................................ 70
5.6.1.6 Modify a Regulation..................................................................................... 71
5.6.1.6.1 Modify the Acceptance rate or Period .......................................................... 71
5.6.1.6.2 Increase the Supplementary Rate................................................................. 72
5.6.1.6.3 Modify the Regulation Reason ..................................................................... 73
5.6.1.7 Cancel a Regulation ..................................................................................... 73
5.6.2 Applying a Mandatory Cherry Pick Regulation............................................... 74
5.6.3 Applying an Airport Cherry Pick Regulation................................................... 75
5.6.4 Regulation Proposals via B2B ...................................................................... 76
5.6.4.1 Implementing periods.................................................................................. 76
5.6.4.2 Procedure ................................................................................................... 77
5.6.4.3 Mandatory Cherry Pick procedure ................................................................ 81
5.6.5 Rerouting Flights in the ETFMS .................................................................... 85
5.6.6 Implementation of Scenarios ....................................................................... 86
5.6.7 Management of EU Restrictions................................................................... 88
5.6.8 ATFM Measures on the ATFCM Adjacent Area ............................................. 89
5.7 Managing a Flight in the ETFMS / PREDICT ................................................. 90
5.7.1 Managing the Filed Tactical Flight Model (FTFM) ......................................... 90
5.7.1.1 Manual Exemptions..................................................................................... 90
5.7.1.2 Flight Deactivation....................................................................................... 92
5.7.1.3 Cancel a Flight in the ETFMS........................................................................ 93
5.7.1.4 Exclude / Include a Flight from / in a Regulation ........................................... 93
5.7.1.5 Last Minute Improvement ............................................................................ 94
5.7.2 Managing the Regulated Tactical Flight Model (RTFM) ................................. 95
5.7.2.1 Manual Creation of a Slot ............................................................................ 95
5.7.2.2 Manual Deletion of a Free Slot ..................................................................... 95
5.7.2.3 Manual Sending of a SIP and Assigning a Free Slot ...................................... 96
5.7.2.4 CTOT Improvement Management ................................................................ 96
5.7.2.5 CTOT Extension Management...................................................................... 98
5.7.2.6 Slot Swapping ........................................................................................... 102
5.7.2.7 Managing the REA Status of a Flight .......................................................... 102
5.7.2.8 CASA Does Not Push Flights Into Closed Airspace ..................................... 104
5.7.3 Flight Activation Monitoring (FAM)............................................................. 106
5.7.3.1 Undo FAM ................................................................................................. 107
5.7.4 FLS Triggered by DPI-Transmitting Aerodromes ......................................... 107
5.7.5 Monitoring of Tactical Delay Savings ......................................................... 108
5.7.6 Flights Pushed Outside Regulations ........................................................... 109
5.8 Flow Management (FM) Helpdesk ............................................................. 109
5.8.1 Answering Helpdesk Queries ..................................................................... 109
5.8.2 e-Helpdesk automatic processing of requests............................................ 110

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5.8.3 Flight Criticality Indicator ........................................................................... 116

5.8.4 Earliest Minimum Take-Off Time ................................................................ 118
5.9 Local Procedures for Participating FMPs .................................................. 118
5.9.1 FMP Tactical ATFCM Measures................................................................. 118
5.9.1.1 Level Capping (Internal) ............................................................................. 118
5.9.1.2 Reroute Scenarios (Internal) ...................................................................... 118
5.9.1.3 Minimum Departure Intervals (MDI) ........................................................... 118
5.9.1.4 Miles in Trail (MIT) .................................................................................... 119
5.9.2 Cross-Wind Exclusions at Amsterdam Schiphol.......................................... 119
5.9.3 Paris Charles de Gaulle Diversion Plan ....................................................... 120
5.9.4 DSNA Traffic Volume Set ........................................................................... 121
5.9.5 Regulation and Delay Management for Canarias ACC ................................. 121
5.9.5.1 Canarias ACC Sector Regulations – Southerly Wind Conditions .................. 121
5.9.6 Regulation Application at Ibiza Airport........................................................ 122
5.9.7 Manual suspension for traffic overflying Swiss territory.............................. 123
5.9.8 Zürich Departure Priority Window ............................................................... 124
5.9.9 Manual Suspension for Traffic to/from Nice Airport (LFMN) and Lyon Airport
(LFLL) ................................................................................................................. 125
5.9.10 LFPB Arrivals Management under Application of RNP APCH Procedures .... 126
5.9.11 Management of bad weather events of short duration at EGLL ................... 130
5.10 ASM / ATFCM Network Impact Assessment.............................................. 131
5.10.1 Management of the AUP / EAUP (ASM / ATFCM Procedure 1).................... 131
5.10.2 Management of the UUP / EUUP (ASM / ATFCM Procedure 2).................... 132
5.10.3 UUP Requesting Additional Airspace / Route Segregation (ASM / ATFCM
Procedure 3)............................................................................................................... 134
6 PROCEDURES IN UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES.......................................... 136
6.1 Adverse Operating Conditions at Aerodromes ........................................... 136
6.1.1 Short-Term ATFCM Solutions .................................................................... 136
6.1.2 Management of Low Visibility Conditions................................................... 139
6.1.2.1 Low Visibility Condition – Without Exceptional Conditions (XCD) ................ 139
6.1.2.2 Low Visibility Conditions – With Exceptional Conditions (XCD) ................... 140
6.1.3 De-Icing..................................................................................................... 142
6.1.4 Interruption of DPI Messages..................................................................... 143
6.2 Management and Recovery of a Disruption ............................................... 145
6.2.1 Disruption Phase ....................................................................................... 145
6.2.2 Recovery Phase......................................................................................... 148
6.2.3 Priority Repositioning of Diverted Aircraft ................................................... 149
6.3 Industrial Actions...................................................................................... 150
6.3.1 General Pre-Tactical Tasks for ANSP Industrial Action ............................... 150
6.3.2 French Industrial Action ............................................................................. 151
6.3.3 Greek Industrial Action .............................................................................. 153
6.3.4 Italian Industrial Action .............................................................................. 155

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7 POST OPERATIONS PHASE....................................................................... 160

7.1 General ..................................................................................................... 160
7.2 Provision of Information............................................................................ 160
7.3 Lessons Learnt ......................................................................................... 161
7.4 Incident Overview...................................................................................... 162
7.5 Support to PFR.......................................................................................... 162
8 COMMUNICATION / CDM PROCESSES...................................................... 164
8.1 Incident Reporting..................................................................................... 164
8.2 Ad-Hoc Internal Tactical Briefings on ATFCM Events ................................ 164
8.3 Teleconferences ....................................................................................... 164
8.3.1 Attendance at FAA National System Review Conference (NSR)................... 165
8.4 NAT CDM Process .................................................................................... 166
8.5 Information and Messages Produced by the NMOC ................................... 167
8.5.1 Updating the NOP Portal Headline News .................................................... 167
8.5.2 Maintaining Pre-Tactical Information on the NOP Portal ............................. 168
8.5.3 ATFCM Information Message (AIM) ........................................................... 168
8.5.3.1 Sending AIMs ............................................................................................ 168
8.5.4 ATFCM Notification Message (ANM) ......................................................... 169
8.6 NOTAM Monitoring on Route Availability .................................................. 169
8.7 Suggestions for Evolution of Systems and Procedures .............................. 170
9 ATFCM CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS ....................................................... 172
9.1 ACC / FMP Contingency............................................................................ 172
9.2 ATFCM Procedural Contingency................................................................ 172
9.3 NOP Portal Contingency............................................................................ 173
10 DEFINITIONS............................................................................................. 174
10.1 Terms and Meanings................................................................................. 174
11 CONTACTS ............................................................................................... 178
12 ANNEX A: FLIGHT DATA ........................................................................... 180
12.1 Flight Data Information ............................................................................. 180
12.2 ATFCM Flight Progress Messages Originated by NM Systems .................. 181
12.2.1 ETFMS Flight Data Message (EFD)............................................................. 181
12.2.2 Flight Update Message (FUM).................................................................... 181
12.3 Correlated Position Reports (CPRs)........................................................... 182
12.3.1 Deviation Monitoring ................................................................................. 182
12.3.1.1 Time ......................................................................................................... 182
12.3.1.2 Level ......................................................................................................... 182
12.3.1.3 Lateral....................................................................................................... 183
12.3.1.4 Diverted Flights from CPR Information ....................................................... 183
12.4 Tactical Flight Models............................................................................... 183
12.4.1 Profile Tuning Restrictions (PTRs) and TFM updates .................................. 184
12.5 Flight Activation Monitoring (FAM)............................................................ 185

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12.5.1 FAM Status ............................................................................................... 186

12.5.2 FAM Control .............................................................................................. 187
13 ANNEX B: INTEGRATED AIRPORTS ........................................................... 190
13.1 Benefits of Advanced Network Integrated (ANI) Airports ........................... 191
13.2 Benefits of A-CDM .................................................................................... 191
13.3 Benefits of Advanced ATC TWR Airports................................................... 191
13.4 Impact on Network Operations of Integrated airports ................................ 191
13.5 Departure Planning Information (DPI)........................................................ 192
13.5.1 DPI Messages ........................................................................................... 192
13.5.2 DPI Types.................................................................................................. 194
13.5.3 Suspended Flights..................................................................................... 197
13.5.4 CDM STATUS in the Flight List ................................................................... 198
13.5.5 Message Summary for ANI airports ........................................................... 198
13.5.6 Message Summary for A-CDM and for Advanced ATC TWR airports ........... 200
13.6 Arrival Planning Information (API)............................................................. 201
13.6.1 API Messages ........................................................................................... 202
13.6.2 API Types.................................................................................................. 202
13.6.3 API Message Summary ............................................................................. 204
14 ANNEX C: SLOT ALLOCATION PROCESS................................................... 206
14.1 Description of the Computer Assisted Slot Allocation (CASA) System....... 206
14.2 Description of the Slot Allocation Process................................................. 206
14.2.1 Pre-allocation Stage .................................................................................. 206
14.2.2 Pending Rate............................................................................................. 207
14.2.3 Slot Amendment Process .......................................................................... 207
14.2.4 Allocation Stage ........................................................................................ 207
14.2.5 Window Width ........................................................................................... 207
14.2.6 Delay Confirmation Threshold.................................................................... 208
14.2.7 Late Reception of Slot Messages ............................................................... 208
14.2.8 Combined Flow Measures for One Flight .................................................... 209
14.3 True Revision Process .............................................................................. 209
14.4 Readiness Status of a Flight ...................................................................... 210
14.4.1 RFI and SWM Status .................................................................................. 210
14.4.2 RFI Message ............................................................................................. 210
14.4.3 Slot Improvement Proposal Message......................................................... 210
15 ANNEX D: TRAFFIC VOLUMES................................................................... 212
15.1 Basic Definitions....................................................................................... 212
15.2 Flows ........................................................................................................ 213
15.2.1 Associated Flows ...................................................................................... 214
15.2.2 Autoshow Flows........................................................................................ 214
15.2.3 Flows Defined Directly in the ETFMS .......................................................... 214
15.2.4 Flows Defined with Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS)
Conditions ................................................................................................................. 215

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15.3 Set of Aerodromes .................................................................................... 215

15.3.1 Set of Aerodromes Identifier ...................................................................... 215
15.3.2 Set of Aerodromes Name .......................................................................... 215
15.3.3 Set of Aerodromes Description .................................................................. 215
15.4 Individual Items Description ...................................................................... 215
15.4.1 Traffic Volume Set Id ................................................................................. 215
15.4.2 Reference Location Identifier ..................................................................... 216
15.4.3 Traffic Volume Identifier ............................................................................ 216
15.4.4 Traffic Volume Name ................................................................................ 217
15.4.5 Skip In and Skip Out parameters ................................................................ 217
15.5 Flows Inside the TFV (Maximum 50 Flows)................................................ 217
15.6 Monitorable TFV (MO)............................................................................... 218
15.6.1 ANM Traffic Volume Description Field ....................................................... 218
15.7 Allocating Delay to Aerodromes ................................................................ 219
15.8 Dynamic Update of Traffic Volume ............................................................ 219
16 ANNEX E: COUNTS.................................................................................... 220
16.1 Count Intervals.......................................................................................... 220
16.2 Flights....................................................................................................... 221
16.3 Demand Counts......................................................................................... 221
16.4 Regulated Demand Counts ........................................................................ 221
16.5 Actual Counts ........................................................................................... 221
16.6 Load Counts.............................................................................................. 222
16.7 Occupancy Counts .................................................................................... 222
16.7.1 Basic Definitions ....................................................................................... 222
16.7.2 Alarms Generation..................................................................................... 223
16.7.3 Occupancy Query Access from the NID ...................................................... 223
16.8 Special Locations...................................................................................... 223
16.9 Segment Counts ....................................................................................... 224
17 ANNEX F: ASM – ATFCM PROCESS .......................................................... 226
17.1 The Basis of the FUA Concept ................................................................... 226
17.2 The ASM Levels ........................................................................................ 226
17.2.1 Area Control Centre (ACC) / Flow Management Position (FMP) – CDR1 / Areas
Requests ................................................................................................................. 227
17.3 The ASM Airspace Structures ................................................................... 227
17.3.1 Temporary Airspace Restriction and Reservation........................................ 227
17.3.2 Cross-Border Areas (CBAs)........................................................................ 227
17.3.3 Reduced Coordination Airspace (RCAs) ..................................................... 227
17.3.4 Conditional Routes .................................................................................... 228
17.4 The ASM Airspace Units............................................................................ 228
17.4.1 Approved Agencies (AAs) .......................................................................... 228
17.4.2 Airspace Management Cell (AMC) ............................................................. 228
17.5 The ASM Process ..................................................................................... 229
17.5.1 National Airspace Use Plan (AUP) / Updated Airspace Use Plan (UUP) ....... 229

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17.5.2 European Airspace Use Plan (EAUP) / European Updated Airspace Use Plan
(EUUP) ................................................................................................................. 229
18 ANNEX G: ROUTE AVAILABILITY DOCUMENT (RAD) ................................. 230
18.1 Basic Principles ........................................................................................ 230
18.2 Structure................................................................................................... 230
18.3 Period of Validity ...................................................................................... 231
18.4 NM Application ......................................................................................... 231
18.5 Permanent Amendments........................................................................... 231
18.6 Flight Planning.......................................................................................... 231
19 ANNEX H: REGULATORY REPORTING PROCESS ....................................... 234
19.1 Reporting Process for ATFM Compliance .................................................. 234
19.2 Non-Compliance to ATFM Departure Slots ................................................ 234
19.3 Granted Exemptions.................................................................................. 235
19.4 Non-Compliance to Flight Plan Suspensions ............................................. 235
19.5 Missing or Multiple Filed Plans ................................................................. 236
19.6 Operations Causing Prejudice to ATFM ..................................................... 237
19.7 Annual Report on the Quality of the ATFM in the ECAC Airspace ............... 238
20 ANNEX I: ACC CONTINGENCY PLAN TEMPLATE ....................................... 240
21 ANNEX J: ATFCM MESSAGE TYPES.......................................................... 242
21.1 Slot Related Messages – Originated by the NM ......................................... 242
21.2 Slot Related Messages – Originated by AOS / ATS .................................... 263
21.3 Primary Field Composition of Tactical ATFCM Messages.......................... 268
ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................ 272

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1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose
The ATFCM Operations Manual is intended to provide Flow Management Positions
(FMPs) and EUROCONTROL’s Network Manager (NM) with common understanding of
their roles in delivering the most effective Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management
(ATFCM) services to Air Traffic Control (ATC) and Aircraft Operators (AOs).

1.2 Scope
The ATFCM Operations Manual is designed to provide guidance and procedures for all
EUROCONTROL NM and FMP staff involved in the delivery of ATFCM services.

1.3 Intended Audience

The ATFCM Operations Manual is intended for all EUROCONTROL NM and FMP staff
involved in operational air traffic flow and capacity management.

1.4 Structure
The ATFCM Operations Manual is made up of 11 chapters and 10 annexes.

1.5 Interpretation of Words

To ensure a common understanding of meaning of words in this document, the
following shall apply:
 ‘Shall’, ‘is to’, ‘are to’, and ‘must’ mean that the instruction is mandatory.
 ‘Will’ is only used for informative or descriptive writing, e.g. ‘AOs will file .....’ is
not an instruction.
 ‘Should’ means that it is strongly advisable that an instruction is carried out; it
is recommended or discretionary. It is applied where the more positive ‘shall’
is unreasonable but nevertheless a controller would have to have a good
reason for not doing so.
 ‘May’ means that the instruction is permissive, optional or alternative, e.g. ‘a
controller may seek assistance ...’ but would not if he / she did not need it.

1.6 Procedures
Within this manual, the procedures covering the operational execution of ATFCM are,
as far as possible, presented in boxed text to aid operational staff to quickly and easily
identify them.

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1.7 Exceptions for FMPs

Special agreements regarding ATFCM procedures between the NM and certain FMPs
may exist in Annex 2 of the concerned NM Agreement; where such exist, they may
allow exemptions from the relevant procedures detailed in this manual.

1.8 Validity
The application of this manual is in line with the operational implementation of the NM
software releases, with edition numbering of the manual reflecting the relevant
software release. Incremental numbering shall be used to indicate interim updates.
This document shall not be used operationally before the date of the NM software
release with which it corresponds. Updated procedures published as Operational
Instructions take precedence over the procedures published in this manual. Updated
procedures are available on the NOP Portal under the Network Operations HANDBOOK
Portlet > Network Operations Procedure Updates
(https://www.nm.eurocontrol.int/STATIC/html/indexProcedureUpdates.html).

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2 ATFCM Overview
Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management (ATFCM) is one of the constituent parts of
Air Traffic Management (ATM). The Network Manager Operations Centre (NMOC)
provides an ATFCM service to airspace users throughout the European Civil Aviation
Conference (ECAC) states. The NMOC is the successor of the Central Flow
Management Unit (CFMU).
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) defines ATM as:
 Airspace Management (ASM).
 Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management (ATFCM).
 Air Traffic Control (ATC).
As with any other commodity, airspace is a valuable resource, particularly when
subject to high demand. Since airspace is a fixed volume, ASM is a vital activity,
involving the planning, sector definition, use and management of airspace to satisfy
the needs of the users in the most efficient and equitable manner. However, economic
activity and the surge in demand during certain periods, mean that the available air
traffic control capacity needs a smoothing and protection mechanism to avoid
overloads and to make the most efficient use of the airspace by providing dynamic
flow management.
In this sense, ATFCM endeavours to make airspace and aerodrome capacity meet
traffic demand and, when the latest capacity opportunities have been exhausted, make
the demand meet the maximum available capacity. The latter part may result in flow
measures which imply the allocation of individual aircraft departure times (slots), as
appropriate, to combat bottlenecks and reduce safety risks as much as possible.
Throughout all this activity, there is continuous communication and exchange of
information with all the European air traffic control units and aircraft operators.

2.1 Governing Principles

ATFCM procedures, roles and responsibilities in this document have been est ablished
in line with:
a) ICAO procedures as defined in the ICAO Doc. 4444, EUR SUPPs Doc 7030 and
ICAO Doc. 7754, vol. II. These procedures are amended following the ICAO
consultation process.
b) Procedures specific to the ATFCM operations according to the policy and
strategy developed and approved by the responsible EUROCONTROL bodies.
c) Commission Implementing Regulation 2019/123 on ATM network functions
(NM Regulation), Article 17 Working arrangements and processes for
operations (applicable as of 1.1.2020).
d) Commission Implementing Regulation 2017/373 laying down common
requirements for providers of air traffic management/air navigation services
and other air traffic management network functions and their oversight
(Common Requirements), ANNEX III COMMON REQUIREMENTS FOR SERVICE
PROVIDERS (Part-ATM/ANS.OR), SUBPART B — MANAGEMENT
(ATM/ANS.OR.B), ATM/ANS.OR.B.035 Operations manuals (applicable as of
1.1.2020).
e) Commission Regulation (EU) 255 / 2010 on air traffic flow management (ATFM
regulation) relevant articles.

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2.2 Network Manager (NM) Agreements

EUROCONTROL concluded NM Agreements (previously known as Letters of
Agreement or LoAs) with the operational stakeholders which address administrative,
legal, technical and operational matters relating to the Network Manager services they
subscribe to. The NM Agreements include annexes which contain references to the
contact points and applicable documentation. There is one particular annex (Annex 2)
detailing the operational arrangements for the specific ACC(s).

2.3 Areas Covered

The NM Central Airspace and Capacity Database (CACD) covers several different
geographical areas that have common and uncommon elements.
The Flight Plan Message (FPM) Distribution Area (FPM DIST) is the area in which the
IFPS is responsible for the distribution of flight plans and associated messages.
The ATFCM Area is the area in which the NM is responsible for the provision of ATFCM.
It comprises the following states:
Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco,
Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Republic of North Macedonia,
Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Certain states are cooperating with the NM by exchanging data with the NM and
participating in the NM ATFCM service. These States are described as cooperating
States and the NM collectively refers them as the ATFCM Adjacent Area. The NM
provides them with limited ATFCM services based on an NM Agreement which details
the service level provision.
Additionally, the FMPs of these FIRs may request to apply ATFCM measures for the
airports within the FIR or for significant points at the interface between the FIR and the
ATFCM Area.
The NM may apply ATFCM measures to flights which:
 Depart from within the ATFCM area.
 Enter the ATFCM area after departing from an adjacent Flight Information
Region (FIR) within the ATFCM Adjacent Area.
The latest update of the list of adjacent FIRs may be found on the website:
http://www.nm.eurocontrol.int/STATIC/NM_AREA/

2.4 ATFCM Phases

The ATFCM provision in the ECAC region is carried out in four phases:
Strategic flow management takes place seven days or more prior to the day of
operations and includes research, planning and coordination activities through a
Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) process. This phase comprises a continuous
data collection with a review of procedures and measures directed towards an early
identification of major demand / capacity imbalances (such as: axis management, air

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shows, major sport events, military exercises, etc.). When imbalances are identified,
and depending on the type of the event, the NM is responsible for the overall
coordination and execution of strategic ATFCM planning to optimise all available
capacity and achieve performance targets. The output of this phase is the Network
Operations Plan (NOP).
Pre-tactical flow management is applied during the six days prior to the day of
operations and consists of planning and coordination activities. This phase studies
the demand for the day of the operation, compares it with the predicted available
capacity on that day, and makes any necessary adjustments to the plan that was
developed during the Strategic phase. The main objective of the pre-tactical phase is
to optimise efficiency and balance demand and capacity through an effective
organisation of resources (e.g., sector configuration management, use of scenarios,
etc.) and the implementation of a wide range of appropriate ATFCM measures. The
work methodology is based on a CDM process between the stakeholders (e.g. the NM,
FMPs, AOs).The output is the ATFCM Daily Plan (ADP) published via ATFCM
Notification Message (ANM) / Initial Network Plan (INP) and via the NOP portal.
Tactical flow management takes place on the day of operations and involves
considering, in real time, those events that affect the ADP and making the necessary
modifications to it. This phase is aimed at ensuring that the measures taken during
the strategic and pre-tactical phases are the minimum required to solve the demand /
capacity imbalances. The need to adjust the original plan may result from disturbances
such as staffing problems, significant meteorological phenomena, crises and special
events, unexpected limitations related to ground or air infrastructure, etc. and taking
advantage of any opportunities that may arise. The provision of accurate information
is of vital importance in this phase, since it permits short-term forecasts, including the
impact of any event and maximises the existing capacity without jeopardising safety.
Post operational analysis is the final step in the ATFCM planning and management
process and takes place following the tactical phase of operations. During the post
operations analysis phase, an analytical process is carried out that measures,
investigates and reports on operational processes and activities throughout all
domains and external units relevant to an ATFCM service. All stakeholders within the
ATFCM service should provide feedback on the efficiency of the ADP (ATFM measures
and delays, the use of predefined scenarios, etc.), flight planning and airspace data
issues. This phase compares the anticipated outcome (where assessed) with the
actual measured outcome, generally in terms of delay and route extension, while taking
into account performance targets. The final result of this phase is the development of
best practices and / or lessons learnt for improving upon those operational processes
and activities.

2.5 Collaborative Decision Making (CDM)

Collaborative Decision Making is a process which allows decisions to be taken by
those best positioned to make them on the basis of the most comprehensive, up-to-
date accurate information and ensuring that all concerned stakeholders are given the
opportunity to influence the decision. This enables decisions agreed collaboratively to
reach performance objectives and enable particular flights to be dynamically
optimised to reflect near or real-time events.
A decision to implement and execute ATFCM measures within the Area of
Responsibility (AoR) of an FMP shall normally be preceded by a CDM process. This
process provides the various organisations with the opportunity to update each other

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continuously on events from the strategic level to the real-time in a timely and accurate
manner. To be efficient and reach the required objectives, CDM must be:
 an inclusive process;
 a transparent process;
 a process that builds trust between the parties involved.
The organisation and structure of the ATFCM CDM process has been designed to
ensure that the affected stakeholders, service providers and airspace users alike, can
discuss airspace, capacity / demand and flight efficiency issues through regular
sessions and formulate plans that consider all pertinent aspects and points of view.
The discussions occurring during the CDM activities shall lead to a consensus view
and solution implying an official commitment of each participant.
In the Strategic phase the focus is made on analysing major and significant events as
well as anticipated capacity shortfalls for individual ACCs / airports and the network.
The result is a set of agreed ATFCM measures / solutions to be considered for
implementation in the pre-tactical and tactical phases. Conferences and briefings take
place in advance to consider these ATFCM events (e.g. axis conferences) following
the CDM process.
ATFCM measures considered in pre-tactical / tactical phases could be extracted from
pre-agreed strategic ATFCM measures or envisaged as ad-hoc measures to respond
to a new situation triggered by a change either in traffic demand or ATC system
capacity. The CDM process occurs daily and may be scheduled more frequently
depending on the traffic and capacity situation. The output of these daily conferences
is the ATFCM daily plan (ADP).
The ADP is then constantly updated during the day of operations through further CDM
processes. Tactical briefings and conferences are scheduled depending on the traffic
patterns and their intensity applicable to the area.
Participants should include involved NM staff, ANSPs (FMP and ATS units), AOs (chief
or senior dispatchers and the AO Liaison Cell), affected military authorities and airport
authorities, as applicable.
When, despite all attempts, an agreement cannot be reached, the implementation of a
specific regulation shall ultimately be the responsibility of the FMP, however a
monitoring and eventual escalation process to higher management should be
envisaged if such a situation endures.
Whereas the final decision on the regulation implementation is for the FMP, the details
on the regulation itself should be coordinated with the NM except if otherwise
specified through particular instruction.
The implementation of a Network measure (e.g. level capping, rerouteing) affecting
the area of responsibility of multiple FMPs remains the responsibility of the NM who
shall ensure the Network benefit through the CDM process.
Measures within the area of responsibility of an individual FMP remain the
responsibility of that FMP. In such cases, the NM should be informed.

2.6 ATFCM Solutions to Capacity Shortfalls

Following the SES concept of Collaborative Decision Making (CDM), the NM shall
consider continuously and pro-actively all possible ATFCM solutions through a

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continual and seamless process as from the strategic planning until the execution of
operations.
The anticipation of any event according to new information allows to minimise its
impact on the Network or to take benefit of any opportunity and fine tune the plan
accordingly.
To resolve capacity shortfalls and improve the management of the Network capacity
whilst minimising constraints, the following ATFCM solutions have to be considered,
as depicted in the figure following below. These solutions will have to be thoroughly
evaluated before a decision to implement them could be taken.
Where overloads are detected and the CDM process is initiated, different ATFCM
solutions should be considered between the NM and the respective FMP(s). A general
description of the steps to provide those solutions can be found below:
 Optimise the utilisation of available capacity.
A number of solutions are considered that should result in maximising capacity in line
with profile of traffic demand.
o Sector management.
 Sector configuration.
 Number of sectors.
 Collapsing / splitting sectors.
o Balancing arrival / departure capacity.
o Flight list assessment (flights of minor workload).
o Negotiate extra capacity.
 Monitoring values.
 Occupancy counts.
o ATFCM / ASM (civil / military coordination).
o Reduce traffic complexity.
o Holding pattern.
And / or
 Utilise other available capacities.
Encompasses ATFCM solutions that aim to shift traffic demand into areas where
capacity is available.
o Rerouteing.
 Flows.
 Flights.
o FL management.
o Advancing traffic.
o FMP tactical ATFCM measures.
 FMP FL management.
 FMP rerouteing.
And / or
 Regulate the demand.
Constraints will be imposed to traffic by the solutions set out under the heading. It
consists of real-time optimisation of capacity / demand across Europe, and delay
management where aircraft are affected by a regulation in order to offer alternatives
and minimise delay. Flights taking place on that day receive the benefit of ATFCM,
which includes the allocation of individual aircraft departure times, rerouteings to
avoid bottlenecks and alternative flight profiles to maximise efficiency.

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o Regulation.
o Network cherry-pick regulation.
o FMP tactical ATFCM measures.
 Minimum Departure Intervals (MDIs).
 Miles in Trail (MIT).
o Constrain airborne capacity.

Sector configuration

Sector management Number of sectors

Balancing ARR/DEP Collapsing/splitting

capacity sectors

Flight list assessment

Monitoring values
Optimise utilisation Negotiate extra
of available capacity capacity
Occupancy counts
ATFCM/ASM

Reduce traffic
complexity

Holding pattern
Flows
Rerouteing
Flights
Capacity shortfall
FL management
Utilise other
available capacity
Advancing traffic
FMP FL management

FMP tactical ATFCM

STAM FMP rerouteing
measures

MDI
Regulation
Regulate demand MIT
Network cherry-pick
regulation

Constrain airborne
capacity

Figure 1 - ATFCM Solutions to capacity shortfalls

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2.7 NM ATFCM Systems

The Flow and Capacity Management systems are at the heart of the Air Traffic Flow
and Capacity Management (ATFCM) services provided by the Network Manager. Their
purpose is to provide information about current and anticipated air traffic demand and
capacity in the European airspace and to provide tools to support planning, execution
and monitoring of ATFCM measures.
The Flow and Capacity Management systems receive data from the Integrated Initial
Flight Plan Processing System (IFPS) and the Central Airspace and Capacity
Database system (CACD), as well as live ATC data from the Air Navigation Service
Providers (ANSP), AO Position Reports (APRs) messages and meteorological (MET)
data from a meteorological service provider.
The Flow and Capacity Management systems archive information into the Historical
Information Management systems, the Data Warehouse (DWH).
The Flow and Capacity Management systems include the following:
The Enhanced Tactical Flow Management System (ETFMS) compares traffic demand,
regulated demand and load against capacity to assess possible imbalances in the
European airspace and allows the implementation of measures to resolve these
imbalances in the traffic, such as regulations or rerouteing.
The PREDICT system compares forecasted traffic and capacity to evaluate the load
situation for the following days (up to 6 days in advance). ATFCM measures may be
implemented in this system in order to assess their impact before being applied in
ETFMS. It uses the Demand Data Repository (DDR) to enrich historical data with
expected demand.
The simulation tool, SIMulation and EXperiment (SIMEX), is used in strategic, pre-
tactical and tactical ATFCM operations. It enables Network Operations staff to
simulate ATFCM measures or restrictions before applying them to the previous
systems.
A functionality called OPTI-mise CON-figuration (OPTICON) helps in the choice of
sector configuration and to enable better assessment of impact of the change of
configuration. OPTICON functionality is provided by PREDICT, the ETFMS and SIMEX
as well.
The Data Distribution System (DDS) is used to distribute real-time ETFMS flight data
(EFD) to NM operational stakeholders concerned as significant flight data updates
occur in the ETFMS. DDS functionality is provided by the ETFMS.
The Network Operations Plan (NOP) Portal is an interface that provides a consolidated
view of the different aspects of the NOP and gives access to a set of services to
support the NOP preparation and dissemination activities.
It is a Web application that provides secured access to, and interaction with, relevant
NM information / content, applications and business processes and resources for
selected targeted audiences, delivered in a personalised manner (including
customisation).
The public version of the NOP contains information to assist parties involved in ATM
operations. However, some elements which are subject to a service agreement are
only accessible from the Protected NOP.
Having access to the up-to-date information of the Network situation allows the
different actors to more dynamically plan and manage the Network.

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The Collaboration Human Machine Interface (CHMI) is a standalone application which

provides an interface for the Network Operations systems allowing users to display
data (such as information on regulations, flight lists, etc.) and graphical information
(such as routes, route attributes, airspaces, flight plan tracks, etc.) via map displays.
This real time information enables Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) between all
partners.
To accommodate most operational stakeholders' needs, several customised products
have been developed:
 CIAO: CHMI for Aircraft Operators.
 CIFLO: CHMI for Flow Management Positions – to allow FMPs to access
ETFMS, PREDICT, SIMEX, CACD and DWH data.
 CIREN: CHMI for Environment Coordinators Collaboration – to allow
environment coordinators from each country to access pre-validation
information prior to the AIRAC data release date.
 CITO: CHMI for Airport Towers.
 CIAM: CHMI for Airspace Management Cells.
The Network Management Portal (NMP) applications are the new interfaces that will
eventually replace the CHMI.
The NMP Flight is a web application providing a modern new interface that combines
(and will eventually replace) NM external interfaces (CHMI and NOP) functionalities
into a single new application NMP Flight running on a web browser. The main
components are a re-designed flight list and flight information as well as an initial
information hub. The application includes integrated access to e-Helpdesk and
access to other NMP components such as the NMP RAD, etc.
The NMP Flow is the interface that combines CIFLO, CITO and NOP functionalities
into a single application that will eventually replace the CHMI in a phased approach.
In its initial phase (NM26.0 and NM26.1) the main components are the system-to-
system regulation proposals, a new simulation functionality and the new flight list, as
well as the integrated access to other NMP components such as the e-Helpdesk and
the information hub, etc.
The NM B2B is an interface provided by EUROCONTROL for accessing its services and
sharing information. The NM B2B provides access to both data and services via a
System-to-System interface over the internet, allowing NM customers to exploit and
use the EUROCONTROL information in their own systems, according to their business
needs.

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3 Partners
3.1 Flow Management Position (FMP)
3.1.1 General Duties
The FMP’s role is, in partnership with the NM, to act in such a manner so as to provide
the most effective ATFCM service to ATC and AOs.
An FMP is responsible for ensuring the local promulgation, by the appropriate means
(national NOTAM, AIP, ATM operational instruction, etc.) of procedures which affect
ATC Units or operators within the FMP’s area. FMPs shall monitor the effectiveness of
such procedures.
Whatever the organisation, the ANSP responsible for the FMP(s) within a State is
responsible for establishing local procedures, ensuring the NM is in possession of all
relevant data during each ATFCM phase and for checking the accuracy of that data.
Each FMP area of responsibility is normally limited to the area for which the parent
ACC is responsible including the area(s) of responsibility of associated Air Traffic
Services (ATS) units as defined in the NM Agreement. However, depending on the
internal organisation within a State, some FMPs may cover the area of responsibility
of several ACCs, either for all ATFCM phases or only for part of them.
All FMPs within the NM area have equal status. The size of individual FMPs will vary
according to the demands and complexities of the area served.
The FMP shall ensure that, as detailed below, the NM has all relevant data to enable it
to carry out its responsibilities in all phases of the ATFCM operations. The FMP shall
provide the NM with data and changes thereto as follows:
 Sector configurations and activations (pre-tactical and tactical phases).
 Traffic volumes (always).
 Flows to be associated to a reference location (always).
 Taxi times and runway configurations (pre-tactical and tactical phases).
 Monitoring values of Traffic Volumes (pre-tactical and tactical phases).
 Details or events or information that will have an impact on capacity at an
aerodrome or ACC (always)
 Feedback on new or trial procedures (post operations phase).
The FMP shall provide the NM with ‘local knowledge’, including any data or information
which could be considered as necessary or useful in the effective and efficient
execution of the ATFCM task. The NM shall advise the FMP of any events or
information which will or may affect the service provided by its parent ACC(s).
The FMP shall be the local ATFCM partner for the ACC(s), other ATS units (military and
civil) within the FMP area of responsibility and local Aircraft Operators.
The NM and the FMP are jointly responsible for providing advice and information to
ATC as may be required, and to Aircraft Operators as defined in the NM Agreement.
Nevertheless, from a practical point of view, the FMP will be the focal point for ATFCM
matters within its area and (depending on the local organisation) is likely to take the
lead in advising, educating and assisting other ATS Units (ATSUs) and, where possible,
Aircraft Operators within that area.
The FMP task covers 24 hours and shall be carried out by staff who are adequately
trained and competent. In the event that an ACC is unable to provide the agreed

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staffing for a particular period or duty, the NM is to be advised and alternative

arrangements agreed.

3.1.2 FMP Manager

Every ACC in the NM area shall have a person designated as being charged with
responsibility for all ATFCM activities in the ACC and within its area of responsibility.
This person, known as the FMP Manager, shall act as the focal point for administrative
and organisational matters in dealings with the NM. An FMP Manager may be
responsible for several ACCs.
The FMP Manager shall be required to meet the following criteria:
a) Have extensive knowledge of the overall ATM operations in the area of
responsibility of the ACC(s).
b) Have an extensive understanding of the ATM operations in adjacent ACCs.
c) Have a comprehensive knowledge of the NM organisation and its systems.
d) Have undergone appropriate ATFCM training.
e) Have an extensive understanding of the factors influencing aircraft operations
in so far as they may affect ATFCM.
The FMP manager role may be in addition to other tasks carried out by the individual
depending on local arrangements.

3.1.3 FMP Controller

Operational duties carried out by an FMP will be the responsibility of an FMP controller.
The dedicated Flow Management Position will be staffed by an FMP controller who
may rotate with others from other duties or may be employed as a permanent FMP
controller depending on local arrangements.
An FMP controller shall be required to meet the requirements of ESARR5 and:
a) Have extensive knowledge of the overall ATC / ATFCM operations in the area
of responsibility of the ACC(s).
b) Should have, in accordance with local requirements, extensive ATC experience
and have good knowledge and understanding of ATC matters in the area of
responsibility of the ACC(s) in accordance with local requirements.
c) Have an extensive understanding of ATC / ATFCM operations in adjacent
ACCs.
d) Have an extensive knowledge of the NM operations.
e) Have undergone appropriate ATFCM training.
These requirements extend to any staff (e.g. ACC supervisors) who carry out the task
of the FMP during less busy periods.

3.2 Network Manager Operations Centre (NMOC)

The Network Manager Operations Centre primarily carries out three operational
functions:
 Airspace Data Management.
 Flight Plan Processing.

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 Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management.

The nomination of ECTL as Network Manager resulted in the creation of the following
profiles in order to ensure a seamless and proactive service provision driven by
performance (capacity, environment /flight efficiency, safety and cost effectiveness)
in the European Network.

Operations Manager (NM OM)

The Operations Manager (OM) is the Network Manager Operations Centre leader and
is accountable for the specific performance targets on a daily basis. The OM is
responsible for leading also projects that respond to the operational requirements of
the Operations Manager.
The OM role is an H16 responsibility.

Deputy Operations Manager (NM DOM)

The purpose of the job is to participate in the management and execution of the
operational functions in order to ensure the network operations service delivery and
deputise for the Operations Manager when required while respecting and promoting
good safety practices.
DOMs shall adjust the staff assignment to reflect the current pre-tactical and tactical
priorities.
The DOM role is an H24 responsibility.

Senior Network Operations Coordinator (NM SNOC)

The purpose of the job is to develop, propose and dynamically coordinate an ATFCM
Daily Plan, through a CDM process and tactical and pre-tactical ATFCM solutions for
aircraft operators and Air Traffic Control Centres in order to optimise capacity and its
utilisation within the European airspace while respecting and promoting good safety
practices.
The SNOC role is an H16 responsibility.

Network Operations Controller (NM NOC)

The purpose of the job is to optimise the available airspace capacity and its use for
aircraft operators taking into account the restrictions and limitations required by ACCs
and airports, while respecting and promoting good safety practices.
The NOC role is an H24 responsibility.

Network Operations Officer (NM NOO) – ATFCM function

This job is meant to execute real-time operational functions within the ATFCM area of
activity in accordance with defined processes, procedures and reporting requirements
while respecting good safety practices.

Network Operations Specialist (NM NOSP) – ATFCM function

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This job is meant to assist the Senior Network Operations Coordinator in the day -to-
day operations of the ATFCM Daily Plan.

Aircraft Operator Liaison Officer (NM AOLO)

This job is meant to assist aircraft operators in optimising their use of available
airspace capacity taking into account the restrictions and limitations required by ACCs
and airports while respecting good safety practices taking account of natural hazards

Military Liaison Officer (MILO)

A function has been created in the NMOC to enhance the coordination process
between ATFCM and ASM actors and in particular between the civil and military
partners. This function is provided by military ASM experts at the Military Liaison
Officer position (MILO) in the NMOC, acting as part of the Network Operations
Management function and working closely with the pre-tactical and tactical teams.

3.2.1 NM Pre-Tactical Team

The NM pre-tactical team is under the leadership of the Deputy Operations Manager in
charge of managing the ATFCM Daily Plan during its preparation. The main duties
include:
 ATFCM Daily Plan preparation.
 CDM activities (e.g. teleconferences).
The NM pre-tactical team also participates in the NM activities in the Strategic phase
by carrying out the coordination of specific projects related to special events or
specific processes.
The NM pre-tactical team is formed by the pre-tactical Senior Network Operations
Coordinator and the Network Operations Specialists on duty.

3.2.2 NM Tactical Team

The NM tactical team is under the leadership of the Deputy Operations Manager in
charge of managing the ATFCM Daily Plan during the day of operation. Their main
activities include:
 Execute the tactical flow management operational processes from a Network
perspective.
 Monitor the load and developing of traffic situation.
 Monitor the effect of implemented measure(s) and take any corrective action,
if required.
 Analyse delays in the slot list and try to resolve them in coordination with FMPs.
 Provide support, advice and information to FMPs and AOs as required.
 Notify FMPs of all operational problems that could affect the flow of traffic.
 Collect and collate data concerning ATFCM incidents.
 Provide feedback on operational issues for post operations and the pre-tactical
team.
 Execute contingency procedures.

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The tactical team is formed by the tactical Senior Network Operations Coordinator, the
Network Operations Controllers, the Network Operations Officer and the Aircraft
Operator Liaison Officer on duty.

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4 Strategic Phase of Operations

The FMP shall provide the representation necessary at national and, if required, at
international strategic planning meetings to ensure participation in the preparation of
strategic ATFCM plans.
The FMP shall inform local AOs (according to the local organisation / procedure) of
their role in providing advice and information by arranging for the relevant FMP
telephone numbers to be published in the National AIP with a short description of the
service provided and the type of query answered.
The FMP shall pass accurate and up-to-date information to the NM. They shall ensure
all essential data required by the NM in the Strategic phase is passed in accordance
with procedures detailed in a Supplement to the Network Operations Handbook
‘PROVISION OF CACD DATA’.
Additionally, the FMP shall:
 Ensure that coordination procedures established between the FMP and the
appropriate national authority are followed to ensure the FMP is kept informed
of planned airspace or ATC organisational changes.
 Have access to advanced information on special events or military activity
affecting their area.
 Be involved in discussions on the timing or implementation of airspace
changes and other such activities.

4.1 Reporting of Events Impacting ATC / ATFCM

Event information is required and provided to facilitate the planning and coordination
of these events at Network and local level.

4.1.1 Provision of Information on events and long-term operational

planning
Information on events impacting capacity, efficiency or demand enables early
identification of issues that may affect the capacity of the ATM Network as a whole,
allowing the necessary ATFCM measures to be developed in due time.
The reporting channel to be used varies depending on the type of event, the location,
or time when the event is reported.
The FMP will pass to the responsible unit (NM Strategic/MILO/APT) information useful
to ATFCM strategic planning including:
 Advanced information on all known problems likely to require ATFCM
intervention as soon as possible after such information is available such as
large sporting events, international conferences, military exercises, new
system implementation/updates, airport events, airspace changes etc., likely
to disrupt normal traffic patterns.
 Monitoring values.
 Sector configurations.
 A list of aerodromes likely to require ATFCM measures in normal and unusual
circumstances.

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 Advanced warnings of changes to ATC procedures likely to affect traffic

patterns (within or outside the FMP area) or have implications for ATFCM
planning.
 Specific local knowledge (e.g. information on ATC operating methods or traffic
handling problems in a particular ATC sector) that may need to be taken into
account when planning ATFCM measures, etc.
 Possible mitigation measures.
 Advance details of equipment or long-term staffing changes likely to affect
capacity.
 Major changes to airspace organisation, ATC sectorisation, etc., entailing
significant modifications to the environment.
 ACC contingency plans.
 Long-term feedback on the effects of ATFCM measures.

4.1.2 Significant Military Events and Exercises

Military exercises / activities requiring a special reservation / segregation of airspace
may have significant impact on the available routes and capacity within the European
ATM network.
However, by early notification of such events, advanced assessment of the likely
impact, and collaborative planning to define the appropriate ATFCM measures, such
events can be accommodated while minimising the effects on other airspace user s.
As they are a major actor in the ATM environment, military authorities are requested
to provide information on military exercises or major flight activities having an impact
on the route Network structure and its best use to NM MILO. By this, the military
community will further contribute to the overall ATM progress and at the same time
benefit from the increased visibility given to the need of airspace for military
operations.
National military representatives at the Military Harmonisation Group (MILHAG ) have
agreed to support the military participation in the NOP. Participating States nominated
their point of contact responsible for the provision of required data. A central point of
contact, responsible for the establishment and the management of data collection
procedures and the coordination with the NOP management has been nominated
within EUROCONTROL as a Military Liaison Officer (MILO).

4.1.3 Events at Airports Impacting Capacity or Demand

Events impacting air traffic control capacity or air traffic dema nd shall be notified by
airport managing bodies either directly or through the local ATFM unit or ATS unit.
The Airport Corner, which is a EUROCONTROL internet-based tool, enables airport
stakeholders to easily provide information at any time to better assess the ATC /
ATFCM impact. This reporting channel supports a coordinated input between the local
ANSP and the airport operator.
The Airport Corner covers a set of airport information relevant to the network as
current and future airport capacities, local traffic forecasts, weather management info,
local operational contacts as well as the ’planned events’ impacting capacity,
efficiency or demand.

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The airport unit is the central point of contact for the airport events, responsible for the
management of those events.

4.2 Creation of the Events List

The events list is built up by NM Strategic with information that is taken from / provided
by different sources.
Provided by:
 NMOC / Operational planning (OPL)
 FMP
 CACD
 SESAR
 MILO
 Airport Unit
 ERNIP
Taken from:
 Public news sources
 NOP / European Route Network Improvement Plan (ERNIP)
 Airport Corner
The aim of the events list is to provide a quick overview for users, on what is planned
in the Network.
It contains a list of events / implementations / system updates etc. that may have an
impact on the Network.
An isolated event might not have a big impact, but when a few events (including
implementations of new system, airspace changes etc.) take place in adjacent FMPs
at the same time, this could lead to a big impact on the Network (as the possibility
exists that rerouteing of traffic / on-loading of adjacent ACCs, etc. cannot be done).
It is set up per AIRAC Cycle, with main attention to the first coming 6 months, and most
events are published via the NOP Portal events calendar.
Some events require a modification of either static or dynamic data. For major events
and military exercises a pre-validation of the data is recommended, which requires an
availability of the data at least at AIRAC-56 days (2 AIRACs in advance). For more
details please contact NM Strategic Operational Planning.
The list uses a colour coding to indicate difference between:
Pink: Military exercises
Yellow: Events (sport / political / art etc.)
White: CACD implementations
Blue: System changes / update / implementation
Grey: Free Route Airspace
Violet: Trials
Green: Pre-validation
Orange: Airport Based Events

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Procedure
The NM Strategic staff shall:
 Check all available sources of information to update the events list on a
regular basis.
 At the AIRAC date or as soon as possible after, email the latest version of the
events list to all concerned parties (only the external part of the document).
 Ensure that the list of events for the next 10 days is available to the
POM/OM/DOM/SNOC/Pretact/MILO/airport unit by Thursday afternoon for
the Friday afternoon tactical briefing to give a short overview of the upcoming
events from the list.
The FMP staff shall:
 Where they receive the monthly email from NM Strategic, check and provide
feedback on the list regarding the correctness and completeness.
 If a new event or update is required to the event list, email the details to the
NM Strategic section.
 Provide a single point of contact responsible for the event.
The involved NMOC staff shall:
 Following each ENV Data Transfer Control Board (EDTCB) meeting email the
minutes to the NM Strategic section, list of known pre-validations to be added
after EDTCB_0.
 On receipt of any information concerning a future event, pass the details to
NM Strategic.

4.2.1 Event Planning Process

The events list is the main database for coordinating and planning for future events
and reviewed monthly to avoid missing something.

Procedure
The FMP staff shall:
 Provide via the single point of contact all the details regarding the event for
Network impact assessment.
 Propose, consider, coordinate and approve mitigation measures relevant to
their area of responsibility.
The NM Strategic / Airport / MILO staff shall:
 Perform an initial impact assessment for each new event when details are
received.
 Coordinate internally and identify the person responsible from NM Strategic
for the event. If required, make request for operational staff support.
For events expected to have network impact,
the Airport / MILO staff shall:
 Request a detailed impact assessment to NM Strategic for military and
airport events

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The NM Strategic shall:

 Perform detailed impact assessment.
 If military or airport event, provide the results to MILO/Airport staff.
The NM Strategic / Airport / MILO staff shall:
 Prepare mitigation measures if necessary.
 Ensure that all the required coordination has been carried out to cover all
aspects of the event.
 With the help of the NMOC staff involved with the event, write and publish the
information notice (IN) / operational instruction (OI) / INP information
covering the event if required.
The NM Operations Analysis (OPA) Service / Airport unit shall:
 If needed, perform post operational analysis of the events planning and
operational implementation.

4.3 Notification of Updates to CACD

Whatever the organisation, the ANSP overseeing the FMP(s) within a State is
responsible for establishing local procedures, ensuring that the NM is in possession
of all relevant data during each ATFCM phase, and the quality of that data. This is also
stated in Commission (EU) regulation 255 / 2010 article 6.
This procedure is aimed to cover the non-temporary update of the following CACD data
that requires an operational Network impact assessment, and its submission to the
NM:
 Creation / modification / deletion of traffic volumes (TFVs) with IE or EM flows;
 TFVs for scenarios;
 Capacities;
 Monitoring values;
 Occupancy Traffic Monitoring Values (OTMV).
Note: A TFV may be modified or deleted only in accordance with AIRAC cycles. When
a TFV is deleted from the database, it will be transferred to the TFV SET called
‘BIN…’ (the dots represent the number of the AIRAC cycle) where the deleted
TFV will remain until the next AIRAC cycle.
All other requests that do not imply an operational Network impact assessment will be
subject to a DMR and will be implemented in CACD by the NM AD section without prior
coordination.
Note: For other CACD data check the ‘Provision of CACD Data’ document in the
Network Operations Handbook.
The receipt of the request will be confirmed by the NM normally within 48 hours via
email. When the request has been actioned, a Data Modification Request ( DMR)
number will be allocated by Remedy and this number should be forwarded to the FMP
concerned. The DMR number will allow the FMP to inquire about the status of the
request.
Note: Temporary updates to environmental parameters (for a specific time frame
and day of operations) are covered by the procedure Updating CACD data in
PREDICT / ETFMS.

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The description of flows in a TFV is the responsibility of the NM based on the FMP
request. The NM will not consider any TFV request containing flows with an exempted
(EM) role for flights which do not meet the ATFM exemption rules as established by
ICAO.

Procedure
Where the CACD data in the above list needs to be modified,
the FMP staff shall:
 Using the appropriate form on the Network Operations CACD data forms, send
via email the relevant information to the NM AD Supervisor. The email address
to be used in this case is [email protected].
The NM AD Supervisor will forward the request to the Pre-tactical SNOC if it requires
an operational Network impact assessment. In such case,
the Pre-tactical SNOC shall:
 Assess any possible impact on the Network.
 Confirm the NM AD Supervisor via email the implementation of the request.
 As soon as a new or modified TFV is available in the CACD, carry out quality
control to make sure, in cooperation with the NM AD Supervisor, that the traffic
capture is fit for purpose, using PREDICT.
 In the event that the TFV does not perform as required, take appropriate
corrective action.
 Update the FMP reference email folder with the requested documentation.

4.4 Simulations
The NM and FMPs can run ATFCM simulations in order to evaluate a set of capacity
constraints in terms of total delay generated, delay distribution and individual delay
generated by each capacity constraint. Traffic demand may be modified by a traffic
growth function or by means of rerouteing.
The results of the simulation may include:
 Rerouteing traffic flows and re-calculating loads.
 Overlaying and comparing load graphs on actions performed (i.e. before and
after effect).
 Creating a regulation plan and analysing the delay distribution.
 Producing 'screenshot' images of simulations performed (i.e. traffic flows, load
graphs, flight lists etc.).
 Comparing different sector configurations.
These simulations may also be conducted on request of the FMP. If too many
simulations are requested at the same time, the NM will prioritise the requests and will
advise the FMP.
Requests for simulations relative to major changes to airspace should be booked with
the NM well in advance. To enable effective running of the simulation the FMP will
ensure that the relevant environment data are provided to the NM as set out in the
Network Operations Handbook ‘Provision of CACD Data’.

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4.4.1 Simulation Request

Strategic ATFCM simulations cover the time period from D-7 until 3 years before the
affected date.
All requests for Strategic ATFCM simulations are centralised, and processed
according to the procedure described below.

Procedure
The FMP staff shall:
 Send all requests for strategic simulations to the NM Strategic section.
 Give at least 3 months’ notice before the required deadline for large scale
simulations.
The NM Strategic staff shall:
 Carry out an assessment of each request, including the scope of the
simulation, which simulation tool to be used (NEST or SIMEX), and the time
required to get the results.
 For simulations with SIMEX, check if operations staff may be rostered to
cover the request. If short notice request, coordinate directly with the NM OM
to see if staff can be allocated in time.
 Provide an estimate for the completion of the simulation and inform the
requesting person of that deadline.
 Record the request and all details in NM Strategic folders according to NM
Strategic internal procedures.
 Results of the simulation should be sent via email, including detailed
explanation of the results (either in the text of the email, or via a presentation).

4.5 Scenarios
Scenarios are an ATFCM solution to Network capacity bottlenecks or specific
operational needs of an ANSP.
For each area expected to be critical, a number of flows may be identified by the
concerned FMP or the NM, for which other routeings may be suggested, that follow
the general scheme, but avoid the critical area. These measures are known as
scenarios.
 Level capping scenarios (FL): carried out by means of level restrictions in the
ETFMS or in the CACD through dynamic routeing restrictions.
 Rerouteing scenarios (RR): diversion of flows to off-load traffic from certain
areas; implemented in the ETFMS or in the CACD through dynamic rou teing
restrictions.
 Alternative routeing scenarios (AR): alternative routes which are exceptionally
made available to off-load traffic from certain areas, implemented by
regulations with a low rate. The other option is the application of dynamic
routeing restrictions in the CACD (precaution should be exercised by enabling
the routeing through normally closed airspace without low rate regulation).
 EU Restrictions: CACD restrictions that affect the flight planning phase based
on route or airspace closures.

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4.5.1 Creation and Maintenance of Scenarios

A scenario can be created after the identification of a need. This need may be
generated by the ANSP / ACC, NM or the AOs based upon encountering a bottleneck.
Scenario measures within the area of responsibility of an individual FMP remain the
responsibility of that FMP, nevertheless they will need to be coordinated via NM.
Scenarios must be:
 pre-agreed as available for use by the relevant affected FMPs;
 validated for correctness of information given;
 fully described and illustrated in the NOP Portal;
 tested each AIRAC for validity;
 individually coordinated for each operational use;
 agreed with AOs, trying to respect their preferences.
To facilitate this coordination process, it is the responsibility of all ACCs to ensure that
communication links are kept up-to-date.
Note: Dynamic routeing restrictions in CACD (RAD restrictions, EURO restrictions…)
are an alternative option covered in the ‘Airspace Data Operations Manual’.
However, it must be noted that the effect and final result are not the same, for
example: RAD restrictions cannot be lifted with the same ease as scenarios, in
such case the use of a scenario may result more beneficial for AOs.

Procedure
The FMP staff shall:
 Ensure that all requests to create/amend or delete a scenario are submitted to
NM Strategic using the request form (via link available on NOP Portal in ATFCM
measures).
 Ensure that new airspaces and/or routes are built (coordination with FMP -
CACD) before the new/amendment to scenario is requested (since NMOC will
need extra resources).
 Elaborate the request for a new/amendment to a scenario with following
elements:
o Sector to be off-loaded and expected period of applicability (summer,
winter, daily, weekend, specific event...)
o If the reference location does not exist already then request this
airspace to be built directly with CACD/ENV.
o Flows targeted ( alternative flow if any)
o Re-route options (preferred routings)
o Weekend route, CDR1/2, PTR , RAD restriction associated if any
o Mandatory coordination actors
o Other coordination that may have previously been done (FMPs, AOs,
Military…)
 Submit the request/amendment to NM Strategic staff at least with 21 days’
notice
Major events, SKI and Seasonal scenarios must be submitted 2 months (or as
pre-agreed with NM Strat) prior to Season start

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The NM Strategic staff shall:

 Check whether the FMP provided all the necessary elements to create/amend
the Scenario. In case the FMP has not provided all, NM Strategic shall request
the missing elements.
 Perform network assessment of the proposed request; including investigation
of possible alternative ATFCM solutions
 Perform CDM process
o Coordinate with all affected FMPs, giving a deadline of 10 days for
response
o Liaise with the AOLC to establish operator preferences if required

Note: If no feedback received before the deadline, the scenario will be considered as
approved.

 Notify NM Pre-tactical by e-mail once the CDM process is completed and

scenario creation/amendment is approved.
 Add/Update the scenario Management Tool

the NM pre-tactical team shall (for more detailed step, see paragraph “Detailed
procedure for scenario creation”)
 Open the scenario management tool to check the details
 Assign ID in case not provided by FMP
 Request ADS to create/amend the traffic volume for the Scenario through a
DMR
 Determine where the captured traffic should be rerouted, taking into account
o RAD and IFPS compliance
o Expected on/off-load sectors as requested by the FMP
o Results from the NM Strategic assessment
 Create/amend the rerouting using the relevant traffic volume and store it in the
Scenario file
 Produce/amend a map picture for the NOP Portal, detailing off-load and on-
load sectors and suggested alternative route(s).
 Create/amend the scenario using the relevant traffic volume and store it in the
Scenario file
 If the scenario at time of application requires mandatory coordination with
certain impacted FMPs, then a CDM (Collaborative Decision Making) reference
is needed; this shall be stored in the Scenario file
 Publish the scenario in the NOP Portal under ‘Draft’ status which automatically
stores the scenario in the NM scenario repository.
 Request SNOCs to review the scenario to ensure that it has been
created/amended according to best practices.
 Add/Update the scenario Management Tool

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 Inform NM Strategic by e-mail that the request has been completed to draft via
the scenario Management Tool

The NM Strategic staff shall:

 Check whether the scenario is visible in ‘Draft’ status in the NOP Portal
 Contact by e-mail affected FMPs to review the draft scenario on the NOP
Portal. A deadline of 7 days will be given for this process, If no feedback is
received before the deadline, the scenario will be considered as approved.

The FMP staff shall:

 Review the ‘Draft’ scenario on the NOP Portal
 Provide result of the review by e-mail to NM Strategic including any further
feedback (i.e. approved or any necessary modifications that are required)
before the given deadline

The NM Strategic staff shall:

 Upon receipt of the FMPs’ review :
o Approved :
- instruct NM pre-tact to change the scenario from ‘Draft’ to
‘Published’ on NOP Portal

o Modification required:
- instruct NM pre-tact to amend the scenario according to
feedback
- contact FMP(s) for a second review of the scenario
o Rejected
- instruct NM pre-tact to time-out the scenario and to delete
the TV (through DMR)

 Add/Update the scenario Management Tool

The NM pre-tactical team shall:

 Following NM Strategic instruction::
o Change the Publication status of the scenario from ‘Draft’ to ‘Published’
or
o Modify as requested and leave in draft
or
o Time out the scenario and ask AD to delete it in ENV.
 Add/Update the scenario Management Tool
 Inform NM Strategic when action is completed via the scenario Management
Tool

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4.5.2 Detailed procedure for scenario creation

This section provides the detailed system steps to execute the actions mentioned
previously in order to create/modify a scenario.
To perform the steps below, NM Pre-tactical will be required to log into PREDICT with
a valid personal identifier and code.
Important: The use of SIMEX is mandatory to create/modify a scenario and the user
shall load the most nominal traffic sample (i.e. winter, summer, weekdays and
weekends) which would best reflect the purpose of the scenario.
Procedure
Step 1 - Create/amend reroutes using the relevant traffic volume and store it in
Scenario file
NM Pre-tactical shall:
 Use the GRRT to create the rerouting measure of the Reference Scenario. The
rerouting measure shall present satisfactory results i.e. 80% of the total
flights must be rerouted. The ‘Simulate RAD’ tab of the GRRT should include
any relevant RAD information. The ‘Publication info’ tab represents the
information that will be published in the NOP.
 Store the Rerouting measure(s) into the Scenario file (click on ‘Scenario
Repository’ menu and then select the option ‘Add To Scenario’ and <NEW
SCENARIO>). The system will automatically propose a name according to the
following naming convention: [Type]_[Number]_[Ref Loc].scenario.
 Accept the proposed name or modify if necessary.

Step 2 - Produce/amend a map picture for the NOP Portal, detailing the off-load and
on-load sectors and suggested alternative route(s).
NM Pre-tactical shall:
 Produce and store a map image in the Scenario Repository
o Select the printer option ‘Scenario Repository’ in the Session attributes
window
o From the GRRT used in step 1 above, in the “Selection” Tab, visualize
the routes only for the rerouted flights
o Adjust the zoom and the point size in the Map Display
o Select the option ‘Print’ in the Map Display. The system will
automatically propose a name following the new naming convention
[Type]_[Number]_[Ref Loc].number.jpg. Modify the name if necessary.
o Save image.

Step 3 - Create/amend the scenario using the relevant traffic volume and store it in the
Scenario
NM Pre- tactical shall:

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 Use the Regulation Editor to create the regulation using the relevant TV and
the tactical parameters setting (DNP parameters, XCD parameters).
 When already known, CDM reference can be inserted here by switching the
“MCDM Kind” button to “YES”
 Activate the Regulation measure
 Open the regulation measure again from the “Measure Display”
 Store the Regulation measure(s) in the same Reference Scenario file as the
rerouting (click on ‘Scenario Repository ‘menu and then select the option ‘Add
To Scenario’ and select the name of the previous Reference Scenario file
used for the rerouting - making sure not to use “New Scenario” again).
 Store the measure in the Scenario Repository by clicking on “Plan + Save”

Step 4 - Create a CDM (Collaborative Decision Making) reference and store it in the
Scenario file (when not yet done in step 3 above)
NM Pre-tactical shall:
 Open and edit the Regulation measure by switching the button ‘MCDM Kind’
to ‘Yes’
 Click on ‘Scenario Repository’ menu and then select the option ‘Add To
Scenario’ and select the name of the previous Reference Scenario file used
for the scenario - making sure not to use “New Scenario” again).
 Open and edit CDM measure from the Scenario Display window
 Include all relevant CDM coordination information in the CDM Editor, i.e.
o Mandatory coordination actors
o Operational Instructions that may proceed
o Any other relevant information for the future activation of that
Reference Scenario
o Set the status of the measure in the CDM Editor to “Draft” (top part of
CDM Editor)
 Store the CDM measure in the Scenario file (by clicking on ‘Plan + Save’)

Step 5 - Publish the scenario in the NOP Portal under ‘Draft’ status
NM Pre-tactical shall:
 Open the scenario attributes in the Scenario Display window and change the
Publication Status attribute from ‘NM internal’ to ’Draft’
 Save this action by selecting ‘Plan + Save’

Step 6 - Change the Publication status of the scenario from ‘Draft’ to ‘Published’ (only
after coordination with NM Strat)
NM Pre-tactical shall:

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 Open the scenario attributes in the Scenario Display window and change the
Publication Status from ‘Draft’ to ’Published’
 Save this action by selecting ‘Plan + Save’

4.5.3 Urgent scenario requests and crisis situation

NM Strategic is only available during office hours. In case there is an urgent need for
the creation/amendment of a scenario, it can be built at any time at the discretion of
the OM/DOM.

NM Strategic shall:
 Inform via e-mail NM Pre-tactical and OM of the periods of absence of NM
Strategic (Note: By default, NM Strategic is not available during nights,
weekends and bank holidays)
 Put an out of office for the periods of absence requesting the FMPs to
contact NM Pretact for urgent scenario requests

NM Pre-tactical shall:
 Create/amend urgent scenarios during the periods of absence of NM
Strategic under the direction of the OM/DOM
 Inform NM Strategic of all scenarios built or modified via the scenario
management tool.

4.5.4 Procedure for revalidation of reference scenarios

The revalidation of the Reference Scenarios contained in the Scenario Repository
consists in performing a series of checks and amending the scenarios if required.
The following checks are done, comparing consistency between CACD information
and the Reference Scenario information on CACD VAL/OPS system:
 Validity of ENV elements (based on the ID) used in the Scenario Attributes
and Measures
 Consistency between Scenario TV Description and CACD TV Description
 Syntax checks for published information (Suggested alternative routes,
Level Constraints)
The revalidation does not automatically check the content of the ENV elements and of
the RAD.

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Procedure
The revalidation process shall be performed each AIRAC during the Pre-Validation
period (at least 3 days before AIRAC) once the new AIRAC tape is loaded on PreOPS.
The maintenance/revalidation of the Reference Scenario is performed on CACD
VAL/OPS system.

NM Pre-tactical shall:
 Run the AIRAC (re)validation checks, in coordination with NM Strategic
…
 Analyse the outcome of the checking (‘raw’ data file) by using the ‘Scenario Repository
Revalidation’ tool. This procedure, will sort the errors by:
o type A (for FMP)
or
o type B (for NM Pre-Tactical)
 Perform an initial analysis of the revalidation report and send it to NM strategic
o NM Strategic shall address type A error
o NM Pretact shall address type B error

TYPE A errors TYPE B errors

NM Strategic NM Pre-tactical
NM Strategic shall …
Send TYPE A errors by e-mail to each NM Pre-tactical shall
impacted FMP  Correct the TYPE B errors as identified
 Request feedback regarding the in the ‘raw’ data file
invalid Scenarios, giving a deadline of
…
10 days for response
 Inform NM Strategic by e-mail that the
correction has been completed
The FMP staff shall
Provide requested feedback within 10 days by
email to NM Strategic with the following
information:
 Reference Scenario Name
 Action : Delete / Update Scenario
 In case of update, what information to
update

Note: If no answer is received from the FMP

within 10 days, NM will delete the Reference
Scenario

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NM Strategic shall
 Consolidate all the feedback received
from the concerned FMPs into the
scenario Management tool
 Provide NM Pre-tactical the required
actions per scenario
(update/deletion) via the scenario
management tool

NM Pretactical shall
 If required, request ADS
update/deletion of the TV in CACD for
the AIRAC change
NM Strategic and NM Pretactical shall
 Follow the processes described in ATFCM Operations Manual chapter 4.5.1 Creation
and Maintenance of Scenarios for
o coordination with the impacted FMP(s), and
o publication

4.6 Axis Coordination

The Axes are specialised coordination groups that manage operational aspects on a
dedicated flow, event or area. Participation in each Axis is defined by the requirements
of that flow, event or area. The participation is not limited to the ECAC area.
The Axes area of responsibility covers the traffic flows, interface of ACCs, Air Traffic
Flow and Capacity Management (ATFCM), ASM operations (including airspace
changes and exercises) and communication issues between all parties involved (i.e.
FMP, AO, handling agents, airports, airport slot coordinators, military organisations and
the NM as required).
The Axis process is H24 - 365 days per year (except the Ski-Axis).
The Axes shall be managed through a Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) process,
which requires the collective agreement of all concerned.
Within the framework of its activities the Axes report to the Operations and
Development Sub-Group (ODSG).
The Axes shall be the coordination forum for the management of traffic on the
specified Axes from an ATFCM perspective. It will contribute to the fulfilment of the
EUROCONTROL Provisional Council Strategic Objectives, as well as strategic
objectives of the Network Strategy Plan and the performance targets of the Network
Performance Plan (NPP). The Axes shall work within the framework of all NM agreed
Operational Concepts.
Currently 4 Axis groups exist. Axis groups usually have a strategic and pre-tactical
planning phase with input from the NOP and a post operations phase. The Axes are:
 South-west Axis.
 South-east Axis.

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 North-east Axis.
 Ski Axis.
Each Axis, as required, shall have a planning meeting for the next Axis operation period,
and a post operations review as detailed in the Axis seasonal operation instruction.
If any participant of an Axis does not attend any meeting / conferen ce then, by
implication, they delegate responsibility to the collective agreement of the axis, unless
they inform the meeting of their requirements by email in advance, or through
representation by a nominee.
Procedure
The FMP staff shall:
 Fulfil the Axis coordination process in line with the terms of reference as
published on the NOP Portal as approved at the ODSG.
 Following their own pre-tactical planning processes, ensure that by the
agreed time all requests for regulations or mitigation measures are sent by
email to the NM pre-tactical team. This shall occur:
o On a daily basis during seasonal peaks.
o When requested by NMOC staff for special events.
o In preparation for an Axis conference.
The NM Strategic staff shall:
 Fulfil the Axis coordination process in line with the terms of reference as
published on the NOP Portal as approved at the ODSG.
During the strategic period,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Review all requests for the next Axis operation period.
 Obtain a meteorological update that covers the next operational period for
SW Axis, NE, SE Axis and SKI Axis.
 Prepare and distribute by email a proposed Axis plan based on FMP requests,
pre-tactical proposals and meteorological information if applicable.
During the strategic period,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Actively participate in the yearly planning and provide feedback and expertise.

Following the Axis operation,

the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Examine existing identified problem areas for review.
 Liaise with relevant parties, evaluate and coordinate solutions.
 Collate and if necessary edit Fmd infoRmation ExchangE (FREE) feedback for
external distribution.
 Collate and prepare FMP feedback on the last Axis operational period.
 Identify any new problem areas, unusual occurrences and deficiencies where
apparent.
 Obtain the statistics report for that Axis period.
 Publish all relevant information in the appropriate area of the NOP Portal.

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5 Pre-Tactical and Tactical Phases of

Operations
The pre-tactical working process starts six days before the day of operations, aims
mainly at refining the details of the original forecast over time and at preparing and
promulgating an optimised and detailed operational plan (ATFCM Daily Plan - ADP).
This working process is supported by Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) activities
involving all partners concerned (NM, ANSPs, AMCs, and AOs).
To facilitate the CDM process, the FMPs should assist the NM to check their sector
configurations, activation time periods and monitoring values for correctness, as
displayed in PREDICT as from D-6. Any differences should be reported directly to the
NM pre-tactical team.
To discuss the ATFCM Daily Plan FMPs concerned have an opportunity to participate
in CDM conferences organised by the NM.
The tactical working process takes place on the day of operations. The tactical phase
consists of considering the real-time events and applying any refinements needed to
the ATFCM Daily Plan in order to restore the ATFCM stability. The need to adapt the
original plan may result from significant weather phenomena, unexpected ground or
space infrastructure opportunities / limitations, more accurate FPL data, revised
monitoring values, etc. The main purpose will be to minimise the impact of any
disruptions and to take benefit of any opportunity (e.g. openin g of a new sector,
activation of military areas, etc.). This will rely on the provision of the traffic and
capacity situation as accurately as possible to all partners.
The management of the traffic will be made through capacity enhancements,
configuration management, regulations, cherry picking and a variety of scenarios like
level capping or rerouteing (both mandatory and advisory).

Reporting of events impacting ATC / ATFCM

The FMP will pass to the NM information useful to ATFCM pre-tactical planning
including but not limited to:
 Monitoring values.
 Sector configurations.
 Runway data updates (e.g. runway in use due to work in progress).
 Information on all known problems likely to require ATFCM intervention as
soon as that information is available. Airport operators can provide additional
information via the Airport Corner, which is accessible to the NM pre-tactical
and tactical teams.
 Regulation proposals (creation, modification or cancellation).
 Details of equipment or staffing changes likely to affect capacity.
 Feedback on the effects of ATFCM measures.
During tactical operations the FMP shall notify the NM of:
 All tactical changes to environmental data such as the opening and closing of
airways, ATC sectors, runway changes and taxi times at specified aerodromes,
etc.
 Changes to monitoring value figures resulting from unpredicted staffing
shortages or increases, equipment failures, adverse weather conditions,

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reduced runway landing rates due to low visibility, change in military activity
plan etc.
 All operational problems that could affect the flow of traffic.

5.1 Updating CACD Data in Predict / ETFMS

Some parameters of the CACD can be temporarily modified for a specific time frame
during a day of operations. This procedure is aimed at covering the temporary update
of these values during pre-tactical and tactical operations.
Note: For permanent changes to CACD see Notification of updates to CACD.
Whatever the organisation, the ANSP overseeing the FMP(s) within a State is
responsible for establishing local procedures, ensuring that the NM is in possession
of all relevant data during each ATFCM phase, and the quality of that data. This is also
stated in Commission (EU) regulation 255 / 2010 article 6.
Updates to these parameters of the ETFMS / PREDICT shall always be made directly
by the FMP via CIFLO or B2B. More specifically, on D-1, around 17:00 UTC in winter
time (16:00 UTC in summer time) the ATFCM daily plan is transferred from PREDICT
to ETFMS. Any updates done before this time are reflected in PREDICT and, afterwards
they will be reflected in the ETFMS.
During tactical operations read / write access regarding RWY criteria updates is
available to TWRs through CITO.
Note: For DPI transmitting aerodromes, once DPI messages are received for a flight,
any updates via CIFLO / CITO will not have any impact on this flight.
Taxi time updates and actual SID used by aircraft originating from A-CDM (from EOBT-
3h up to TTOT) are communicated to the ETFMS via DPI messages for each individual
aircraft.
Before the first DPI message is received the procedure shall be the same for
integrated and standard airports.
The updates in the pre-tactical and tactical phases are made via the CHMI (CIFLO /
CITO) or B2B and may only be applicable for a period of the specific day of operations.
These updates do not affect the values stored in the NM CACD.
The following environmental data may be updated in the CHMI:
 Capacities;
 Monitoring Values (MV);
 Traffic volume activations / deactivations;
 Sector configurations;
 RWY criteria (see Runway criteria update for specific details);
 Occupancy Traffic Monitoring Values (OTMV).
RWY configurations may also be updated via the NOP portal.

Procedure during pre-tactical operations

In their regular checking of environmental data from D-6 to D-1 17:00 UTC in winter
time (16:00 UTC in summer time),
the FMP staff shall:

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With CIFLO
 Coordinate via telephone with the NM pre-tactical team prior to major (e.g.
increase / decrease number of open sectors, low capacities) or unusual (e.g.
airspace closures, weather, security problems…) changes that may have an
important impact on the Network.
Input all updates for applicable environmental data (as listed above) in CIFLO.
Without CIFLO
 Where one of the FMPs has no write access for CIFLO and requires a change
to the environmental data before the transfer of the ADP from PREDICT to
the ETFMS, contact the NM pre-tactical team to request their assistance to
update environmental data (except OTMVs).
Upon such contact by FMP staff,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Check the validity of the data.
 Advise the FMP of any events or information which will or may affect the
service provided by its parent ACC(s).
 Assess the Network impact.
 Coordinate with concerned FMPs changes to the ADP.
 Update PREDICT with the changes requested (where the FMP has no access
to CIFLO).
In case of an incident experienced in the input of data by AD (e.g. wrong
configuration or capacities, missing data etc.),
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Inform the NM OM about the incident.
 Log the event in FREE.
The NM OM shall:
 File an ENV Incident form.
 Contact the AD Supervisor to address corrective follow-up actions.

Procedure during tactical operations

In their regular checking of environmental data from D-1 17:00 UTC in winter time
(16:00 UTC in summer time) and during the day of operations,
the FMP / TWR staff shall:
With CIFLO / CITO
 Coordinate via telephone with the NM tactical team prior major (e.g. increase
/ decrease number of open sectors, low capacities) or unusual (e.g. airspace
closures, weather, security problems…) changes that may have an important
impact on the Network.
 Input all updates for applicable environmental data (as listed above) in CIFLO
/ CITO.
Without CIFLO / CITO
 Where one of the FMPs / TWRs has no write access for CIFLO / CITO and
requires a change to the environmental data after the transfer of the ADP

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from PREDICT to the ETFMS, contact the NM tactical team to request their
assistance to update environmental data (except OTMVs).
Upon such contact by FMP / TWR staff,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Check the validity of the data.
 Advise the FMP / TWR of any events or information which will or may affect
the service provided by its parent ACC(s).
 Assess the Network impact.
 Coordinate with concerned FMPs changes to the ADP.
 Update the ETFMS with the changes requested (where the FMP / TWR has no
access to CIFLO / CITO).
In case of an incident experienced in the input of data by AD (e.g. wrong
configuration or capacities, missing data etc.),
the NM tactical team shall:
 Inform the NM OM about the incident.
 Log the event in FREE.
The NM OM shall:
 File an incident report (ENV Incident form).
 Contact the AD Supervisor to address corrective follow-up actions.

5.1.1 Runway Criteria Update

Updating runway criteria may be used to improve the accuracy of flight profiles when
there is a runway configuration change at one particular aerodrome (de-icing, slow
sequence on the taxiway, etc.) for a specific time period.
FMPs through CIFLO, and TWRs through CITO, are able to modify the run way in use
and the taxi time data. A-CDM may modify the taxi time for individual aircraft via DPI
messaging as well.
When possible, changes should be introduced at least two hours in advance (before
the start time of the change); this provides stability of the slot and profile calculations.
The environmental data subject to this procedure are:
 taxi time;
 runway in use for departures;
 runway in use for arrivals;
 Time to Insert in the Sequence (TIS);
 Time to Remove from the Sequence (TRS);
 start time of validity;
 end time of validity.
It is possible tactically to update multiple runway activation information. This permits
to define / activate Right (R) / Left (L) / Central (C) runways or any other active runway
combination. All the above parameters may be updated for each different (active)
runway and the flight profiles are computed (and improved) using this information.

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The taxi time may be modified in the ETFMS for a given time period. For example:
Start Time End Time Direction Role Taxi TIS TRS
0600 1100 02 Global 10 10 05
1100 1500 02L Global 25 15 10

TRS and TIS are parameters used to prevent last minute modifications of the CTOT.
The purpose of TRS is to avoid changes in the CTOT for flights already in departure
sequence. The value of the TRS specifies the time before which the CTOT will no longer
be modified by the ETFMS (CTOT - taxi time - TRS). Similarly, the TIS makes sure that
a CTOT improvement cannot be sent at short notice as the aerodrome requires some
time to introduce an aircraft in the departure sequence (clock time + TIS + taxi time).
Any runway configuration change will change the taxi time, TRS, TIS, departure and
arrival procedures (such as SIDs and STARs). If the configuration for the Global is
changed, both Arrival and Departure will be affected (recalculated). Consequently if
the configuration is changed only for Departure only the departing flights are going to
be recalculated. It works in the same way for the arrivals.
A modification of taxi time will impact the Flight Activation Monitoring (FAM) process.
In the event where the taxi time is increased some issued slots may be recalculated
and a few short notice SRMs issued, normally giving greater delay. If the taxi time is
decreased some flights may get improvements.
The runway information provided through the DPI/API is useful when an airport can
provide a runway prediction, while they are not yet able to provide a SID / STAR. The
FMP/TWR should be aware that, once runway information is received in DPI/API and
processed, any RWY configuration update (via CHMI, B2B,..) will be ignored for that
flight.
This process provides a mechanism to avoid the use of short notice modifications in
some cases.

Procedure
Where they have identified a need to update runway criteria,
the FMP / TWR staff shall:
With CIFLO / CITO
 Insert as early as possible all required data for the modification in CIFLO / CITO.
 Notify the NM tactical team as early as possible of the changes to runway
criteria if they may pose a significant impact on the Network.
Without CIFLO / CITO
 In case of unavailability of CIFLO / CITO, contact the NM tactical team, provide
the data and request them to update the ETFMS.
Upon receipt of such a request from an FMP,
the NM tactical team shall:
 In case the FMP reports a change, assess the Network impact and coordinate
with concerned FMPs.

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 In case of unavailability of CIFLO / CITO, perform the updates requested by the

FMP.
In addition during the period between the change in the taxi time and the start of
recalculated slots being generated,
the NM tactical team may:
 Approve an extension of the CTOT for any flight with a problem caused by the
change of taxi time.

All FMP / TWR staff and the NM tactical team updating the runway criteria shall:
 Ensure that the start time of any taxi time parameter modification shall be set
at minimum clock time + 30 minutes in order to avoid short notice SRMs.

5.1.2 Ad-hoc Creation of Traffic Volumes

A Traffic Volume (TFV) is an element of the ETFMS / PREDICT allowing the selection
of a specific volume of air traffic, in order to compare the traffic load and the declared
monitoring values during the activation period.
Any request to create a TFV that has to be used the same day shall be processed by
the NM tactical team on duty.
Most of the information concerning the TFVs is semi-dynamic data. It is possible in
real time to create a new TFV, provided the Reference Location (RL) exists, but not to
modify or delete it. Semi-dynamic data may be modified or deleted only in the Load
database (prepared for the next AIRAC cycle), but created in the Live database (which
is the one currently used). If a TFV is to be based on a new RL, it can be created only
for the next AIRAC cycle.
Note: For any other requests on TFVs see Notification of updates to CACD.
The description of flows in a TFV is the responsibility of the NM based on the FMP
request. The NM will not consider any TFV request containing flows with an exempted
(EM) role for flights which do not meet the ATFM exemption rules as established by
ICAO.

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Procedure
Where they identify the need to create a new traffic volume,
the FMP staff shall:
 Request the NM tactical team to create a TFV for the day of operations.
 Provide by email or fax details of which traffic should be included in the TFV
and call to confirm the reception of the information.
 Coordinate the following details with the NM tactical team if so requested:
o Activation times.
o Reference location.
o Upstream / downstream flows.
o Flow roles.
o Any other information.
 After creation of the TFV, make sure, in cooperation with the NM tactical team,
that the traffic captured is fit for purpose.
Having received such a request from an FMP,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Make sure that the request is fully understood (such as: reference location,
upstream / downstream flows, flow roles, monitoring status, etc.).
 Prepare and execute all necessary actions needed for the creation of the traffic
volume (including the completion of the DMR and passing it to the AD section
for immediate processing).
 Check the activation status in the ETFMS.
 Ensure, in cooperation with the FMP concerned, that the traffic captured is fit
for purpose.
 Inform the concerned FMP about the result.
 Inform the NM pre-tactical team about the creation of that TFV.
 Log any relevant feedback in FREE.

5.1.3 ANM Traffic Volume Description Missing

Every time a regulation is applied an ATFM Notification Message (ANM) is issued
containing, in addition to other details, the description of the location where the ATFCM
measure is applied.

Procedure
Whenever it is required to regulate a traffic volume with a blank or incorrect description,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Consult via the NM DOM with the NM pre-tactical team for a description that
shall be published in the ANM.
 Fill the appropriate description in the editor.
 Proceed with the publication.
The NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Coordinate with AD to input the description to the NM CACD (this is dynamic
data that may be changed on-line).

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5.1.4 Replacement of a Traffic Volume with a Protected Location

This procedure is applied pre-tactically whenever there is an FMP request to delete a
traffic volume with a protected location and replace it by a new one. The purpose of
the change is to report the delay characteristics of the new TFV as en-route rather than
aerodrome. See Allocating delay to aerodromes for further information.

Procedure
Upon notification of such a request,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Send to the BIN TFV set the TFV to be replaced.
 Create a new TFV and include (IN) in it a flow with:
o an upstream element; the airspace (AS) itself and
o a downstream element; the aerodrome (AD).
 Produce the required Data Modification Requests (DMR).
 Contact the FMP staff where deemed necessary (e.g. to clarify any detail).
 Validate the DMR (in agreement with the request) and send it to AD staff.
 Update the FMP reference email folder with the requested documentation.

5.1.5 RAD ad-hoc Temporary Changes

Major unexpected events which disturb traffic patterns or ATFM measures may
sometimes require the suspension of a unit(s) of the RAD for a defined period. The
purpose is to accommodate delayed traffic by providing alternative routeings after
coordination with the relevant parties.

Procedure
Where a RAD ad-hoc temporary change is required,
the NM DOM shall:
 Contact the appropriate FMP to find out who may authorise the change.
 Coordinate with the appropriate contact person and the AD section.
 Once approved, request from the AD section the suspension of the relevant RAD
unit.
 Inform the NM OM, the NM AOLO and the IFPS Supervisor about the change.
 Request the NM AOLO to inform AOs about modified flight planning options.
 Send an AIM to inform of the disabled RAD units.
 Log the event in FREE.

5.1.6 Manual deactivation of PTR

To achieve a more flexible approach during tactical operations, the operational
procedure hereunder describes how to manually revert the Dynamic PTR input made
by FMPs.
Procedure

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Whenever an anomaly or a negative impact related to the status change of a PTR is

detected,
the NM Tactical team shall
 Verify if the PTR suspected to be the source of the issue appears in the list
of dynamically activated/deactivated PTRs (i.e. ACT_FR) in the Scenario
display;

 Reverse the activation/deactivation of the PTR to test whether this will

resolve this issue.

 Contact the corresponding FMP owner of the PTR and coordinate the
scheduled removal of the PTR

Following coordination with the relevant FMP,

the NM Tactical team can:
 Select the deletion of the PTR schedule.
Note: The ownership of a PTR is given by its identifier (e.g. LSAG for Geneva, LSAZ
for Zurich, etc).

5.2 Predict Flight Data

Flights processed in the ETFMS are saved and archived on a daily basis. The archived
files are used by PREDICT to represent the future demand as reference days.
The reference day is chosen as that which is most likely to reflect the traffic of the day
for which the ATFCM daily plan (ADP) is being prepared, usually the same day of the
previous week (D-7) or two weeks earlier (D-14). In the cases where this is clearly not
the case, e.g. special dates such as Christmas and Easter, or when this reference date
was the date of an industrial action or any other special event, the NM pre-tactical team
will arrange for the forecast to be recreated using a reference date of their choice.
Every day, DDR2 / PRISME sends to PREDICT the collected Flight Intentions (FI) for the
next 6 days (D-6 to D-1). In nominal cases, the data sent to PREDICT is the snapshot
of the airport slots data received the night before from the European Association of
Airport Slot Coordinators (EUACA) and from the Russian Federation sent by the Main
Air Traffic Management Centre (MATMC) for the flow from the Russian Federation to
the NM area. The data transfer to PREDICT is planned between 04:00 UTC in winter
time (03:00 UTC in summer time) and 06:00 UTC in winter time (05:00 UTC in summer
time). The flight intentions are used to enrich PREDICT flight data to better represent
the expected demand.
In addition, NATS provides forecast information relating to NAT traffic for forecast
dates up to 3 days in the future and this is used to update the NAT traffic data in the
forecasts for the next three days.

5.2.1 PREDICT Data Replacement

On occasions it may be necessary to manually reload PREDICT with flight data from
scratch. This might occur:

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 when reference data different from D-7 has to be selected for a specific target
date (because of a disruption that took place on D-7).
 when flight data corruption is detected in PREDICT due to erroneous DDR
updates or any other reason; Two different solutions are applicable:
o Repair by applying automatic NAT Traffic Replacement and DDR DATA.
This procedure is applicable when the restore cannot be done from
PREDICT archived demand.
o Restore by loading saved predict demand. This procedure is applicable
when the restore can be done from PREDICT archived demand.
An automated script has been developed to allow safe flight data reload PREDICT for
a specific day. The script automates the following tasks:
 Load archived flight data from a specified reference day. This makes it possible
to specify a date different from D-7, if the NM pre-tactical team decides to use
another reference date.
 Start the corresponding NAT tracks substitution.
 Start the corresponding enrichment with DDR flight intention files.
 Save the flight data from the Simul session into a FLIGHT_BIN export.
 After data quality acceptance from the NM pre-tactical team, replace the flight
data in the PREDICT Server after its validation by the NM pre-tactical team.

Procedure for a change of the reference day

At the end of the pre-tactical day,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Check with the NM DOM if any event from the current day would make the
archived flight data unsuitable for future pre-tactical use.
This information may also be obtained from the Operations Analysis (OPA) Service.
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Check if any possible disruptions mentioned would make that day unsuitable
for future pre-tactical use.

Where the reference day is not suitable (a disruption such a strike took place on t hat
day) and it has to be changed,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Send an email to CSO staff ( [email protected]), the NM pre-tactical
mailbox ([email protected]) and the OM ([email protected]) using
the template (TEMPLATE PART 1 – with the insertion INCident ‘NO’ and
‘TAC/PROC/DEM82’) stored in the local directory:
 \\CFMUFS01.cfmu.corp.eurocontrol.int\GROUP\OPSD\Support\SP\
Network Management Cell\NMC OPS DATA\5 Templates
 After the loading process is finished and CSO staff confirm it through email,
check that the new data is correct.
 Record in FREE information on the substitution for the relevant pre-tactical
day and in the pre-tactical handover document.

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Procedure for flight data corruption in PREDICT demand (repair by applying NAT
traffic replacement and DDR data)
Where the data in PREDICT is found erroneous or corrupted,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Send an email to CSO staff ( [email protected]) copied to the LSE
([email protected]), the NM pre-tactical mailbox
([email protected] ) and the OM ([email protected] ) using the
template (TEMPLATE PART 1 – with the insertion ‘To be provided by LSE’ and
‘TAC/PROC/DEM81’) stored in the local directory:
\\CFMUFS01.cfmu.corp.eurocontrol.int\GROUP\OPSD\Support\SP\Network
Management Cell\NMC OPS DATA\5 Templates
The LSE will provide an information file to CSO after due analysis.
 Inform the NM OM.
 Issue an AIM to inform that the replacement process starts.
CSO staff will send back to the NM pre-tactical team the initial email and include
location and name of the flight_bin created. Once this email is received,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Check the quality of the demand for the forecast date in a PREDICT / Simul
session by loading into it the flight_bin sent by CSO staff.
 If the new traffic sample is not valid, stop the PREDICT / Simul session, inform
CSO to abort the loading by filling in the required template (TEMPLATE PART
3) with the noGO decision together with an explanation as to why.
 Coordinate with TACT LSE and CSO staff and decide which demand is to be
loaded and repeat the process.
 Once the new traffic sample is valid, then stop the PREDICT / Simul session
and ask the CSO staff to continue with the loading the forecast date on the
PREDICT server by filling in the required template (TEMPLATE PART 3) with
the GO decision.
 Inform the NM OM.
 Issue an AIM to inform that the replacement process has finished.

Procedure for flight data corruption in PREDICT demand (restore by loading saved
PREDICT demand)
Where the data in PREDICT is found erroneous or corrupted,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Send an email to CSO staff ([email protected]) copied to LSE
([email protected]), the NM pre-tactical mailbox
([email protected] ) and the OM ([email protected] ) using the
template (TEMPLATE PART 1 – with the insertion ‘DOES NOT APPLY’ and
TAC/PROC/DEM83) stored in the local directory:
\\CFMUFS01.cfmu.corp.eurocontrol.int\GROUP\OPSD\Support\SP\Network
Management Cell\NMC OPS DATA\5 Templates
The LSE will provide an information file to CSO after due analysis.
 Inform the NM OM.

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 Issue an AIM to inform that the replacement process starts.

CSO staff will send back to the NM pre-tactical team an email confirming that the
restore process has finished.
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Validate the quality of the demand for the forecast date.
 Inform the NM OM.
 Issue an AIM to inform that the replacement process has finished.

5.2.2 NAT Traffic Replacement

The daily NAT forecast data shall be communicated by NATS in a file (one file per
forecast data). These files shall be exchanged via FTPS. The procedure requires a
separate NAT file for each day. Prior to processing, a consistency check is applied on
the received files.
The automated NAT flow replacement runs on PREDICT at 07:30 UTC and attempts to
replace the North Atlantic traffic for D-3, D-2 and D-1 in this order.
A separate recovery job runs on the hour and half hour every 30 minutes throughout
the day and attempts to run the NAT replacement if not already done, e.g. because the
NAT files had not yet been provided.
Usually the NM pre-tactical team does not execute the manual replacement of NAT
traffic on D-3, D-2 and D-1. However, exceptionally the NM pre-tactical team shall apply
the manual replacement (procedure described below) of NAT traffic under the
following circumstances:
 Processing of NAT traffic for a SIMEX stand-alone simulation.
 Processing of NAT prediction file for D-1 / D-2 not received.
 Processing of NAT prediction file for D-3 not received or received after 15:00
UTC.
 Any other scenarios where the automatic replacement of NAT traffic cannot be
applied.
If the files are valid the confirmation mails will be sent on reception, at revised
submission time and when processing is completed.
There is no ‘cut-off’ time for processing D-2 or D-3 NAT files.

Automatic processing of NAT files - mails

The automated procedure will send mails to the forecast originator (NATS) and to the
NM pre-tactical team as below:
 A mail will be sent for each received NAT forecast file if the file sent is valid in
syntax, in content, it is not a duplicate, and no errors are found during the
reading or during the writing on the OPS FTPS.
 If the files are valid the confirmation mails will be sent at the reception and
when processing is complete.
 Once the automatic NAT replacement process is completed, the flight
intentions process is triggered for D-2 and D-3.
 If D-3 file is not received by 15:00 UTC (only for D-3) an email will be sent
informing of the lack of data.

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 In case of any anomaly detected (format / content) in the received files a mail
will be sent with two different parts. The first part presents the error type and
the second part presents the file content. The subject of the email is ‘Problem
detected with NAT replacement submission file’.

Automatic processing of NAT files - alarms

The automated procedure will send alarms to CSO as below:
 A critical alarm is sent to the CSO at 15:00 UTC if the NAT file for D-3 is still not
present on the OPS FTPS by this time.
 A critical alarm is sent to the CSO from 11:00 UTC onwards if the recovery job
tries to perform NAT replacement on the forecast for D-1 after this time.
 Note that no alarm will be raised if the D-2 or D-3 files are not present on the
OPS FTPS at 11:00 UTC as files for these forecast days are optional.
 A critical alarm is sent to CSO in the 5 minutes following the reception of
received files with detected anomalies.

Procedure
Each day, during pre-tactical operations,
the NATS staff shall:
 Load on the OPS FTPS server a file containing the expected traffic on D-3
before 15:00 UTC, although it is still processed if received later (but an alarm
will be raised).
 Load on the OPS FTPS server a file containing the expected traffic on D-2 if
an update to the prediction is required. There is no deadline time in this case.
 Load on the OPS FTPS server a file containing the expected traffic on D-1
before 10:30 UTC to ensure that it is processed before 11:00 UTC.
 When required by a change of circumstances, provide a subsequent NAT file
for each day and apply a consistency check on the files prior to processing.

In case the file containing the prediction in D-3 is not received before 15:00 UTC, an
email will be sent informing of the lack of data, if NATS does not reply within the next
10 minutes a flag for potential issue will be raised (no alarm raised). In such cases,
the NATS staff should:
 Contact the NM pre-tactical team for investigation.
The NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Check with CSO staff if and why the process has failed.
 Take any corrective action that might be required.

In case of need to manually substitute the NAT traffic (according to the

circumstances above),
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Set up PREDICT to the correct date for the replacement day.
 Obtain the specified files for Eastbound and Westbound replacement dates
from the email received from NATS.

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 Ensure the selection criteria are correctly input.

 Replace the existing NAT traffic with the updated NAT traffic (ensure both
Eastbound and Westbound flows are replaced).
 Apply the latest DDR flight intentions following the correct order (see
Updating PREDICT with DDR flight intentions).
 Log the event in FREE.

5.2.3 Updating PREDICT with DDR Flight Intentions

Every day PREDICT tries to process FI files sent from DDR2 / PRISME. The first attempt
to apply the files occurs at 05:00 UTC and after that, if it did not succeed, PREDICT
tries to process the files every two hours for the rest of the day.
The check for a complete set of intention files is executed daily at 11:00 UTC. For D-1,
the automatic updating of flight intentions is not applied if the files are received on D-
1 after 11:00 UTC. In this case no alarm is sent to CSO but an email warning is sent to
the NM pre-tactical team.
If PREDICT receives flight intention files for D-2 to D-6 missing at 11:00 UTC or later
they will be processed and no alarm or email will be generated.
The automated NAT flows substitution applied on D-3, D-2 and D-1 to reflect the
forecasts sent by the NATS, also triggers the DDR FI update for the corresponding
day(s). The FI will be applied for both the corresponding forecast day and the day
before. This is required to enrich the cross-midnight NAT flights added during the
replacement.
There is also a possibility to apply the FI update manually, however under normal
circumstances no specific action is required from the NM pre-tactical team as the
procedure is fully automated.
The impact on intention files caused by a strike at a coordinated airport will
automatically be corrected in the traffic forecast by the flight intentions received.
In case manual changes or flight deletions have to be applied by the NM pre-tactical
team on the flight data (D-6 to D-1), note that the next cycle of the DDR2 / PRISME
injection might override the manual changes.

Procedure
Each day,
the NM pre-tactical team tasked with checking the traffic forecast shall:
 Ensure that the flight intentions have been updated in the traffic forecast. An
email will be received from PRISME support if there was a problem with the
flight intentions produced by PRISME.
 If no flight intentions are generated at D-6, decide either to load them
manually or leave it for the next automatic overnight update for D-5.
 Where the decision on the previous item was to manually load them, then load
the flight intentions from the FTPS_PREDICT folder.

At D-6 and in case a disruption was reported the previous day (D-7),

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the NM pre-tactical team shall:

 Check if the disruption has been corrected by the flight intentions.
 If the disruption has not been corrected, replace PREDICT data with a new
reference day (procedure Predict data replacement).

5.3 Traffic Load Monitoring

Monitoring the traffic load is a joint responsibility between the NMOC and FMPs unless
otherwise agreed.
The MV is the agreed number of flights accepted to enter into a reference location per
rolling hour beyond which coordinated actions may be considered between the
concerned parties in order to better balance the traffic load.
Any defined MV for any TFV (sector, airspace, point or aerodrome) may be modified.
ATC capacity should be expressed as the maximum number of aircraft, which can be
accepted over a given period of time within the airspace or at the aerodrome
concerned.
In order to minimise the number of ‘false’ indications (red / orange) and to better reflect
the actual balance load / capacity, the figure to be used in the ETFMS shall be the
number of flights the FMP can accept. The updates can only be applicable for a period
of a specific day of operations and do not affect the values stored in the CACD.

Procedure
Where the NM Agreement (or an OI) with an ACC defines a joint responsibility for
monitoring,
the NM pre-tactical team during the pre-tactical phase and the NM tactical team
during the tactical phase shall:
 Compare demand with the monitoring value of TFVs associated to:
o active configurations sectors;
o aerodromes;
o set of aerodromes;
o significant points;
o additional sectors that are not a part of current configurations as
required.
 Monitor the load and coordinate any action with the concerned FMP when the
load is above declared MV.
 Request to update MVs in PREDICT / ETFMS if the FMP agrees to handle
more traffic than initially agreed, or has to change the MV for any reason in
its area of responsibility.
 Monitor the effect of implemented measure(s) and take any corrective action,
if required.
 Analyse delays in the slot list and try to resolve them in coordination with the
NM.
 Not be responsible for any potential overloads if the FMP does not update the
configurations and MVs as appropriate.
 Log the event in FREE in case of any disagreement to update the MVs.

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In their area of responsibility,

the FMP staff shall:
 Compare demand with the monitoring value of TFVs associated to:
o active configurations sectors;
o aerodromes;
o set of aerodromes;
o significant points;
o additional sectors that are not a part of current configurations as
required.
 Take appropriate action when excesses of demand over monitoring value are
detected such as:
o Coordinate changes to ATC staff disposition to increase capacity on
affected sectors.
o Discuss with the NM optimum sectors configuration (e.g. use of
OPTICON).
o Open additional sectors.
o Coordinate temporary additional capacity as required.
 Introduce MV updates into the PREDICT / ETFMS system via CIFLO.
 Monitor the load and coordinate any action with the NM Tactical / NM pre-
tactical team when the load is above declared MV:
o Coordinate with NM Tactical / NM pre-tactical team the
implementation of scenarios.
o Request the NM Tactical / NM pre-tactical team the implementation
of a regulation indicating the appropriate regulation reason.
 Monitor the effect of implemented measure(s) and take any corrective action,
if required.
 Analyse delays in the slot list and try to resolve them in coordination with the
NM.
 Provide support, advice and information to ATC, airports and AOs as required.
 Take full responsibility of load monitoring and potential overloads in case of
inappropriate update of sector configurations or MVs.

Where the NM Agreement (or an OI) with an ACC defines that the FMP is solely
responsible (either fully or for a part of the day) for monitoring in their area of
responsibility,
the FMP staff shall:
 Monitor all TFVs associated to:
o active configurations sectors;
o aerodromes;
o set of aerodromes;
o significant points;
o additional sectors that are not a part of current configurations as
required.

At all times, when regulations are applied, the monitoring of the traffic loads, flight
lists and delays are a joint responsibility between the NM and the FMP.

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5.4 Management of Simulation Requests during PRE-

TACTICAL / TACTICAL Operations
The simulation with SIMEX enables the NM pre-tactical team and Tactical staff to test
and fine tune the application or cancellation of regulations, rerouteing and level
capping scenarios before applying them to live traffic. This action aims at assisting
the ATM partners in their decision making process such that the number of regulations
causing the minimum impact will be used and that it is compatible with the current
network situation.
SIMEX reduces risks of applying wrong or less optimal measures and avoids ‘trial and
error’ on the ‘real’ ETFMS server.
The ATFCM simulations are performed within the NMOC and are limited by their time
of creation and specific purpose. They are valid only for the specific geographical area,
the intended audience and the period of interest.
External simulations via the NOP or via B2B, will be automatically stopped/closed 2
hours after the last user update. This is due to a finite number of simulations slots and
in order to accommodate more external simulations users.

Procedure during pre-tactical operations

The FMP staff requiring a simulation shall:
 Contact the NM pre-tactical team with their request.
Upon reception of a request from the FMP or NM Strategic staff,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Prioritise the requests if too many requests are received.
 Allocate NM pre-tactical team for the simulation requested.
The NM pre-tactical team assigned to this task shall:
 Configure the workstation, the appropriate flight data, the ATFCM measures
and any other required configuration.
 Start the simulation.
 Ensure that the simulation is carried out in line with the request.
 Publish the simulation to ensure visibility.
 Communicate the simulation result to the originating FMP and coordinate any
further action (modification to the simulation, implementation of ATFCM
measures…).

Procedure during tactical operations

The FMP staff requiring a simulation shall:
 Contact the NM DOM with their request.
Upon reception of such request,
the NM DOM shall:
 Prioritise the requests if too many requests are received.
 Allocate NM tactical team for the simulation requested.

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The NM tactical team assigned to this task shall:

 Configure the workstation, the appropriate flight data, the ATFCM measures
and any other required configuration.
 Start the simulation.
 Ensure that the simulation is carried out in line with the request.
 Publish the simulation to ensure visibility.
 Communicate the simulation result to the originating FMP and the NM DOM
and coordinate any further action (modification to the simulation,
implementation of ATFCM measures…).

5.5 Management of the ATFCM Daily Plan (ADP)

The ADP is a proposed set of tactical ATFCM measures prepared pre-tactically and
agreed between all partners concerned to optimise the European Network. It covers a
24-hour period (the day prior to the day of operation) for each day.
Normally the ADP starts as a draft on D-2 and it is finalised and promulgated on D-1 by
means of the ATFCM Notification Message (ANM) and the INP. During tactical
operations the ADP is further modified according to the developments of the day.

5.5.1 D-2 Draft

The NM has coordinated the following procedure with FMPs as the first steps creating
the ADP.

Procedure
On D-2 the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Ensure they are fully briefed on the Network situation before preparing the
draft D-2 ADP.
 Ensure the correct date is selected in PREDICT.
 Monitor the sector configurations and if not present, coordinate with the
concerned FMP(s).
 Ensure the appropriate PREDICT scenario reference plan is selected as a
basis for the new plan.
 Ensure the ‘standard’ measures (such as regulations derived from current OIs
and procedures in the manual), if any, are implemented according to their
validity.
 If appropriate, coordinate with FMPs where overloads may occur and propose
any possible alternative to regulations.
 Ensure the pre-requests for regulation(s) by the FMPs are implemented or
flagged for D-1 attention.
 Incorporate known information that will affect the ADP (continuation of a
previous event, beginning of a new event).
 Make an initial analysis of the sector loads.
 Prepare a draft Network Brief in FREE.
 Highlight issues for pre-tactical attention for D-1 in FREE.
 Prepare a draft INP.

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On D-2 FMP staff shall as a minimum (unless excluded by specific local agreements):
 Monitor the load and configuration of their sectors.
 Coordinate with the NM pre-tactical team where overloads may occur.
 Propose changes in configuration, or any other alternatives, in order to meet
demand where possible.
 Request a regulation where no other possibility is available.

5.5.2 D-1 Plan

The D-2 draft of the ADP is further adapted and prepared on D-1.
If an FMP disagrees with the proposed ATFCM daily plan (ADP) or has a different
solution, they should contact the NM pre-tactical team to discuss the proposals and
any revisions they request as soon as possible to facilitate completion of the ADP.

Procedure
On D-1 NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Continue with the construction of the ADP (D-1 plan from D-2 draft).
 Routinely monitor the Status Display and any request from FMPs.
 Assess FMP requests and discuss any issues directly with the FMP.
 In the event of an FMP-requested regulation that is considered in
contradiction to the Network performance or AO intentions, conduct a CDM
process. If an agreement cannot be reached, the FMP’s request shall be
implemented and, if necessary, the event recorded in FREE for post
operations follow-up.
 Make a complete analysis of the anticipated Network situation.
 Ensure ‘hot spots’ are identified.
 Investigate possible solutions to achieve a more beneficial Network effect
and, following coordination with affected FMPs, implement them into the
plan.
 Ensure that by no later than 12:30 UTC in winter time (11:30 UTC in summer
time) on D-1, the ADP, based on FMPs requests and the Pre-tactical
proposals, is updated in PREDICT.
Note: If no communication is received by 13:30 UTC in winter time (12:30 UTC in
summer time), it will be considered that all FMPs are in agreement with the proposed
ADP.
 Continue a CDM dialogue after this time with those FMPs where significant
changes to the original plan have been introduced.
 Evaluate all requested measures for their impact on the Network.
 Coordinate any Network or local issues with all relevant parties in a timely
manner.
 Ensure the internal briefing document in FREE is fully updated, accurately
reflects the ADP, identifies ‘hot-spots’ and contains any additional
information that may assist tactical operations.
 Ensure the INP is fully updated with pertinent information from the ADP that
may assist the user during tactical operations.

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 Transfer the ADP from PREDICT to the ETFMS at 17:00 UTC in winter time
(16:00 UTC in summer time). After the transfer, any amendments to the plan
must be done in the ETFMS.
 Send the INP.
 Release the Network Brief in FREE.
 Continue to update the Network Brief and the INP if new information is
received.
The SNOC responsible for the D-1 plan shall :
 Communicate daily to the OM (or to the DOM if the OM is absent) whenever
the D-1 regulations are transferred into the ETFMS.

On D-1 FMP staff shall (unless excluded by specific local agreements):

 Access CIFLO and evaluate the draft ADP.
 Check the accuracy of their sector configurations, activation periods and MVs
for correctness, as displayed in PREDICT.
 Update CIFLO with their information (see Updating CACD data in PREDICT /
ETFMS) no later than 12:30 UTC in winter time (11:30 UTC in summer time).
 Request implementation of regulations and scenario measures to the NM
pre-tactical team by email if further coordination is needed.
 In all cases of coordination with the NM pre-tactical team, allow sufficient
time to permit discussion between 12:30 and 13:30 UTC in winter time (11:30
and 12:30 UTC in summer time).
 Where FMPs have to delay their input, contact the NM pre-tactical team to
advise them of this.

5.5.2.1 Regulations Applied Pre-Tactically as a Precautionary Measure

To ensure that precautionary regulations are implemented only when necessary, there
is a need to cover potential tactical demand peaks up to 09.00 UTC of the next day.
The NMOC will continuously assess the need for these regulations while monitoring
for overloads and coordinating tactically.

Procedure
When an FMP requests the application of a regulation during pre-tactical operations,
as a precautionary measure and without necessarily resolving an overload issue,
The FMP staff shall:
 Communicate and coordinate with the NM pre-tactical team, the TVs, the
time period, the acceptance rate and the regulation reason.
 Ensure that this requests concerns only the period between 00.00 and
09.00 UTC on the day of operations.
The NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Activate the regulation.

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 Log any relevant details in FREE for the NM tactical team attention
(Network Brief) and list ATFM regulations refused at D-1 (traffic volumes
and requested application time).
 Ensure that there is no precautionary ATFM regulation applied with start
time after 0900 UTC.

During tactical operations,

The FMP staff shall:

 Evaluate the effectiveness of the regulation and Contact the NM tactical
team to either:
o Request a cancellation, in case the regulation is no longer necessary,
or
o Request the application of a new regulation according to Chapter
5.6.1.4. of the ATFCM Operations Manual.
The DOM on duty shall:
 Assess the load for all the TVs listed by the NM PRETACT team in FREE,
and
 Coordinate with FMP in case an ATFM regulation is effectively required.

The NM tactical team shall:

 Assess the load for all listed TFV in FREE
 Assess the network impact,
 Cancel the regulation in ETFMS, or
 Apply a new regulation as per the request of the FMP,
 Provide any relevant feedback in FREE.

5.5.3 Creation of the Initial Network Plan (INP)

The Initial Network Plan (INP) is a document (replacing the former Network News)
produced by the NM pre-tactical team and distributed via the NOP Portal. It is produced
on D-1 to detail the D-1 ATFCM Network plan and to give advanced and additional
information on relevant events that are foreseen to have a significant impact on flight
operations and / or ATC on the following day:
 a description of regulations which are likely to give rise to significant delays;
 specific restrictions for special events;
 route segments where zero rate flows have been imposed;
 meteorological information (produced by the NM AOLO on D-1);
 information on airports availability
 and any other relevant information on the European Network.

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Procedure
Each day,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Ensure the correct title and relevant validity dates.
 Include only relevant and valid information from the ADP.
 Review with another NM pre-tactical team member to check the INP prior
release to verify its accuracy and completeness.
 Upload the INP onto the NOP Portal after 17:00 UTC in winter time (16:00 UTC
in summer time).
 Identify possible revisions; corrections or additional new information that
needs to be added.
 Update the INP and promulgate those revisions if needed (via NOP Portal).

5.5.4 Creation of the Network Brief

The Network Brief is an internal NM document used:
 as a repository of long-term events / procedures to be used for coordinating
measures with individual FMPs;
 to transfer knowledge from the NM pre-tactical team to tactical operations of
both:
o long-term events / procedures,
o the coordination which took place to prepare the measures applied pre-
tactically for the ATFCM Daily Plan;
 by the NM tactical team to record the reasoning behind decisions taken during
the day of operations;
 for post operational analysis of events.
The Network Brief is distributed via FREE.

Procedure
Each day,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Include only relevant and valid information from the ADP.
 Include any comment or information that may ease the handling of the ADP
by NM tactical team.
 Release the Network Brief in FREE, usually at the same time of the transfer of
the ADP from PREDICT into the ETFMS, 17:00 UTC in winter time (16:00 UTC
in summer time).
 Identify possible revisions; corrections or additional new information that
needs to be added.
 Update the Network Brief and promulgate those revisions, if needed, via
FREE.

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5.5.5 Transfer of the ADP from PREDICT into the ETFMS

The ADP plan is held in the PREDICT system, each day the plan has to be manually
transferred to the ETFMS in preparation for the following day’s tactical operation.
Both a PREDICT and an ETFMS workstation are required.
The external user access to PREDICT via their CHMI workstation is set to stop at 17:00
UTC in winter time (16:00 UTC in summer time); external user access is then blocked
until the plan is successfully imported into the ETFMS.
Note: Late information received pre-tactically may delay the transfer. If this
occurs a decision will be taken as to the most appropriate system to
update with this information.

Procedure
The NM pre-tactical team on D-1 shall:
 Check that the ADP is completed and ready and export it at 17:00 UTC in winter
time (16:00 UTC in summer time).
 Import the ADP plan into the ETFMS.
 Check and resolve any error messages generated during the export or import
stages of transfer.
 Check the ETFMS for the reference day to ensure the data has been correctly
and completely transferred.
 Inform the NM OM or the NM DOM that the plan is active in the ETFMS.

5.5.6 Tactical Management of the ATFCM Daily Plan (ADP)

The NM tactical team are in charge of managing the ADP during the day of operations
using the ETFMS workstations.
Any modification to the regulation plan (new plans, changes, etc.) is reflected in the
ADP and the ANM amendment is prepared automatically, ready to be published and
sent.
Should there be a need to adapt the ADP, it shall be done through a CDM process.

Procedure
During tactical operations,
the NM DOM shall:
 Ensure the implementation of the ADP.
 Ensure that all NM tactical team members adjust the plan if necessary,
following the CDM process with the relevant parties.

5.5.7 Tactical Operations Feedback

During tactical operations the NM tactical team shall continuously evaluate the ADP
and provide feedback for post operations analysis. FMPs are invited to forward their
views and comments on the ADP.

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The feedback itself should be descriptive and briefly evaluate the impact of tactical
ATFCM actions on the Network (positive or negative) and events. The timing of events
to ensure Operations Analysis (OPA) Service may follow-up during the post operations
phase for clarification, further investigation and actions should be noted. The feedback
should be signed to ensure post operations staff may follow -up for clarification and
further investigation
The tool used to input the feedback for the NMOC is FREE, which is a Remedy internal
application. FREE provides a means of operational communication between tactical
and pre-tactical teams.
As FREE feedback is normally written in real time or is time constrained it is accepted
that the information may be superseded by events. However, in order to assess how a
situation developed such feedback provides an insight into the decision making
process.

Procedure during pre-tactical operations

The NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Review any relevant tactical feedback introduced in FREE by the NM tactical
team and take the appropriate action where necessary (unexpected operational
issues or problems with the ADP during the previous days of operations).
 Incorporate all relevant feedback data in FREE regarding the execution of the
Axes.

Procedure during tactical operations

The FMP staff shall:
 Communicate their feedback on the ADP (if any) to the relevant NM tactical
position (e.g. incorrectly pre-tactically defined regulations, scenarios or
rerouteings).
The NM tactical team shall:
 Provide clear and concise feedback in FREE on any significant changes to the
agreed ADP or unforeseen events and the reasons why these took place
(staffing, weather, industrial actions or any unexpected event impacting
operations).
 Propose new techniques, ideas and suggestions.
 Collect feedback from FMPs and log it in FREE.

5.5.8 Severe Weather Assessment

The procedure details the processes to identify, alert, communicate and monitor
weather conditions likely to impact ATC capacity and flight profiles. It provides data
for NM to share expectations with ATC authorities in an endeavour to prompt a review
of potential impact and planned mitigation responses at aerodromes or in en-route
airspace (if considered necessary), in order to protect ATC as far as possible from
excess workload and provide time for customers to explore operational options and
optimise flight efficiency.
Definition of Severe Weather (for the purposes of this procedure)

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En-route operations:
 Winter / summer storm.
 Convective activity (CB: isolated, occasional or frequent, with or without
lightning).
 CAT FL290+.
 Wind (jet stream, Approach winds 3000’).
Airport operations:
 Severe winter / summer storm.
 Convective activity: (CBs: isolated, widespread cells with or without lightning).
 Strong and/or gusting winds: >30kts or local RWY criteria.
 Visibility; Low Visibility Procedures (LVPs): (<1500m) / low cloud (200ft).
 Severe precipitation (rain; freezing rain, snow & icing) on runway , or ground
infrastructure.
Definition of weather impacting capacity
Definition of weather impacting capacity at:
Airport: Where a weather impact reduces capacity at an airport by 5% or more, when
operating at 70% or more of its operating runway or ground capacity, whichever is the
lesser, and may result in ground handling complexity, air holding of 20 minutes or more,
or impact en-route complexity.
En-route: Where weather reduces capacity by 15% or more, or increases traffic
handling complexity, and hourly demand is 70% or more of capacity.
TMA: Where weather impact reduces capacity by 10% or more, or increases traffic
complexity, restricts / prevents the use of SIDs / STARs, prevents intermediate traffic
sequencing or holding in the approach phase.
Areas covered
All en-route and TMAs airspace in the NM area of responsibility will be monitored.
The NM AOLO at the NMOC will also monitor the following airports:
EBBR, EDDF, EDDL, EDDM, EDDS, EFHK, EGLL, EGKK, EGCC, EGPH, EHAM, EIDW, EKCH,
EPWA, ENGM, ESSA, LEBL, LEMD, LEPA, LFMN LFPG, LFPO, LGAV, LIML, LIMC, LIRF,
LOWW, LPPR, LPPT, LSGG, LSZH, LTAC, LTFM.
The list of airports does not exclude the monitoring of other aerodromes if significant
delay is envisaged, or a weather phenomenon is identified that may impact large
regional areas of Europe.
Additional airports to be monitored in winter (January - April) on Saturdays, Sundays
and European public holidays (Ski Axis airfields):
EDNY, LFBO, LFLB, LFLS, LFLP, LFLY, LFLL, LIME, LIMF, LIMZ, LIPB, LIPO, LIPX, LOWI,
LOWS, LSGG, LSGS, LSZB, LSZS.
Weather assessment
The weather assessment prepared by the NM AOLO is based on TAFs, Metars, any
other relevant information from the meteorological provider and weather related
events reported via the Airport Corner which are forwarded to the NM AOLO
automatically via email. It should include:
 Pressure systems / Frontal activity;
 Wind (upper, surface, 3000ft, Jet Stream);

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 Precipitation;
 Thunderstorms / Convective activity;
 Temperature;
 Fog / Visibility;
 Clear Air Turbulence.
ANSP Management Role
The FMP is responsible for local impact assessments and decisions on management,
strategy and measures. The NMOC will be available to support the decision making
process and to act on the resulting actions. It is essential that adjacen t ATC units or
ACCs, if impacted, are part of the decision making process (NMOC would act as an
intermediate partner if required).
In order to apply this procedure, FMPs shall notify to the NM those weather conditions
that may impact ATC capacity or air traffic demand, as stated in Commission
Regulation (EU) 255 / 2010 article 6.
Procedure during pre-tactical operations
On D-1,
the FMP staff shall:
 Monitor forecast weather threats that could impact capacity (en-route or
aerodrome) in their area of responsibility for the following day.
 Communicate with the NM pre-tactical team any weather threat.
 Prepare and coordinate mitigation measures with the NM pre-tactical team.
The NM AOLO shall:
 Monitor the weather in the Network for threats that could impact capacity the
following day.
 Brief the NM pre-tactical team and provide continuous updates of any weather
threats in the Network. This shall be in the form of a written assessment
covering the following day.
 After 19:00 UTC, brief the NM tactical team and provide continuous updates of
any weather threats in the Network. This shall be in the form of a written
assessment covering the next 12 hours.
 Prepare the weather assessment and publish it in the NOP Portal / Network
Operations Weather Assessment by:
o 14:00 UTC in the pre-tactical tab.
o 19:00 UTC in the pre-tactical and in the tactical tabs.
The NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Communicate with the relevant FMP(s) regarding capacity impacting threats
identified by the NM AOLO.
 Inform the NM AOLO on any weather threat warning received from FMPs.
When a weather threat is identified,
 Coordinate with the relevant FMP mitigation measures.
 Assess the impact on the D-1 plan (e.g. viability of scenarios), including
coordination with potentially impacted FMPs and airports.
 Implement the mitigation measures following coordination with the relevant
FMP(s).
 Update the INP accordingly to inform stakeholders of the applied measures.
 Inform the Airport Unit via an email to [email protected].

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 Provide feedback in FREE.

Procedure during tactical operations

The FMP staff shall:
 Monitor actual and forecast weather threats that could impact capacity (en-
route or aerodrome) in their area of responsibility.
 Communicate with the NM tactical team any weather threat.
 Prepare and coordinate mitigation measures with the NM tactical team at least
3 hours before the predicted weather event if possible .
The NM AOLO shall:
 Monitor the weather in the Network for threats that could impact capa city.
 Brief the NM tactical team and provide continuous updates of any weather
threats in the Network. This shall be in the form of a written assessment
covering current conditions, and an evolution for the afternoon and evening.
 Prepare the weather assessment and publish it in the NOP Portal / Network
Operations Weather Assessment by:
o 05:30 UTC in winter time (04:30 UTC in summer time) in the tactical tab.
o 12:00 UTC in the tactical tab.
The NM DOM / SNOC shall:
 Communicate with the relevant FMP(s) regarding capacity impacting threats
identified by the NM AOLO.
When a weather threat is identified,
 Coordinate with the relevant FMP mitigation measures and, if required, run a
SIMEX simulation.
 Assess the Network impact (e.g. viability of scenarios), including coordination
with potentially impacted FMPs and airports.
 Ensure that the mitigation measures are implemented following coordination
with the relevant FMP(s).
 Inform stakeholders of the applied measures by updating the NOP Portal
Headline News accordingly.
 Inform the Airport Unit via an email to [email protected].
 If necessary, organise a teleconference with ANSP(s), airport(s) and AOs
affected.
 Provide feedback in FREE.

5.6 ATFCM Measures Management

5.6.1 ATFM Regulations
To ensure that safety is not compromised whenever the traffic demand in an airspace
or an aerodrome is forecast to exceed the available ATC capacity, measures such as
ATFM regulations shall be coordinated with the relevant FMP and applied by the NM
staff to regulate traffic volumes accordingly.
The decision for implementation / cancellation and ownership of the ATFM regulation
lies with the FMP. Whereas the final decision on the regulation implementation is for

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the FMP, the details on the regulation itself should be coordinated with the NM except
if otherwise specified through particular instruction.
All flights entering into a regulated TFV during the period of the regulation will be
subject to ATFM measures, except if:
 The flight belongs to a flow that is exempted from the regulation by the traffic
volume definition.
 The flight departs from outside the ATFCM area and the ATFCM adjacent area.
 The flight is already airborne when the regulation is created, or due to FSA /
CPR a flight is pushed into an active regulation the flight will be forced into that
regulation without delay.
 The flight is ATFM-exempted.
During pre-tactical operations the NM pre-tactical team shall be responsible for the
application of regulations whereas during tactical operations, it shall be the
responsibility of the NM tactical team.
A timely notification to the NM tactical team regarding the implementation of a
regulation is crucial to ensure the effectiveness of the regulation.
All regulations shall have a reason to provide explanatory information on that
regulation to external clients and post operations analysis. Any such cause shall only
be taken from those pre-formatted descriptions available in the regulation editor, as
the information is automatically taken by the ETFMS to create a delay coding in certain
ATFCM messages for possible use by external systems.

5.6.1.1 Network Impact Assessment of Regulations

Using the Network Impact Assessment Display it is possible to evaluate the potential
on-load and off-load situation when a regulation is to be applied on ETFMS / PREDICT.
It is possible for NM staff to create / deep rectify a regulation in the ETFMS / PREDICT
and:
 Evaluate the impact on (active) traffic volumes and on-load / off-load areas.
 Evaluate the impact on Network delays. The visualisation / computation of this
data is saved automatically and is therefore available for performance
analysis.
 Visualise the regulations that are pushing traffic inside the rectified / created
regulation period and the regulations where the rectified / created regulation is
pushing traffic.

5.6.1.2 Regulations Reason

The use of the most appropriate regulation reason is important and time should be
taken to coordinate the best reason to reflect the true cause of delay.
The FMP, in conjunction with the NM, shall ensure that the cause of the regulation is
input correctly in the appropriate field (cause field) of each regulation, and,
consequently, is recorded for future analysis. In order to maintain consistency, the NM
shall offer strong guidance on the appropriate regulation reason. However, the final
decision for the regulation reason remains the responsibility of the relevant FMP. The
cause shall be qualified by use of the pre-defined classification as indicated in the table
below.

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An ANM remark should always be used in addition to one of the standard regulation
reasons.
As far as possible one of the recommended standard ANM remarks should be used.
Free text should only be used if one of the standard ANM remarks is not appropriate.
If free text is used care should be taken to ensure it clearly reflects the cause of delay.

ATC capacity / staffing

Planned capacity: as published in the Network Operations Plan.
Declared capacity: the more detailed capacity available during the strategic and pre-
tactical process.
Expected capacity: the capacities (monitoring values and sector configurations)
decided and finalised at the end of the pre-tactical process (16:00 UTC D-1).
If a regulation is applied because traffic is expected to be higher than the expected
capacity (the capacity plan of at least D-1), then ATC capacity should be the regulation
reason.
If a regulation is applied because the centre is unable to deliver the expected capacity
then ATC staffing should be the regulation reason. It is an ‘on the day shortage of
capacity’ and in general is due to controller unavailability.

Airport delay
Airport delay should be recorded as follows:
 ATC capacity for when an airport ATC problem is responsible for the
operational issue.
 Aerodrome capacity for when an airport infrastructure problem is responsible
for the operational issue.
 Aerodrome services for when a support service problem is responsible for the
operational issue (e.g. fire services, lack of de-icing equipment, ground
handling etc.).

Airspace management / special events

Airspace management is focussed on normal military operations and the flexible use
of airspace which can be both planned and unplanned.
Major military exercises, e.g. Tiger meet, are deemed special events and an ANM
remark is added to identify them.

Regulation CODE Regulation Guidelines for Application

reason Location
ATC Capacity C D En-Route: Demand exceeds or complexity
reduces declared or expected ATC capacity
E
Airport: Demand exceeds declared or expected
A
ATC capacity.

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ATC Industrial I D
Action
E Reduction in any capacity due to industrial
action by ATC staff
A
ATC R E Network solutions / scenarios used to balance
Routeings demand and capacity
ATC Staffing S D
E Unplanned staff shortage reducing expected
capacity.
A
ATC T D Reduction of expected or declared capacity
Equipment due to the non-availability or degradation of
E
equipment used to provide an ATC service.
A
Accident / A D Reduction of expected ATC capacity due to an
Incident aircraft accident / incident.
A
G D Reduction in declared or expected capacity due
to the degradation or non-availability of
Aerodrome A
infrastructure at an airport, e.g. Work in
Capacity
Progress, shortage of aircraft stands etc.
Or when demand exceeds expected aerodrome
capacity.
Aerodrome E D Reduced capacity due to the degradation or
Services non-availability of support equipment at an
A airport e.g. Fire Service, De-icing / snow
removal equipment or other ground handling
equipment.
Industrial N D A reduction in expected / planned capacity due
Action NON to industrial action by non ATC personnel.
A
ATC
Airspace M D Reduction in declared or expected capacity
Management following changes in airspace / route
E
availability due to small scale military activity.
A
Special Event P D Reduction in planned, declared or expected
capacity or when demand exceeds the above
E capacities as a result of a major sporting,
governmental or social event. It may also be
A
used for ATM system upgrades and
transitions. Large multinational military
exercises may also use this reason. This
category should only be used with prior
approval during the planning process.
Weather W D Reduction in expected capacity due to any
weather phenomena. This includes where
E

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A weather impacts airport infrastructure

capacity, but where aerodrome services are
operating as planned / expected.
Environmental V D Reduction in any capacity or when demand
Issues exceeds any capacity due to agreed local
E
noise, runway usage or similar procedures.
A This category should only be used with prior
agreement in the planning process.
Other O D This should only be used in exceptional
E circumstances when no other category is
sufficient. An explanatory ANM remark MUST
A
be given to allow post ops analysis.

Note: Regulation Location: D - Departure; E – En-route; A - Arrival.

The FIELD ‘Regulation Note’ free text shall be used to elaborate on the cause.

5.6.1.3 ANM Remarks Table

Regulation Reason Weather: Clarification to be added to ANM remark
Cloud Ceiling
Fog / Low Visibility
Heavy Rain
Removal of snow / ice on taxiway, runway
De-icing aircraft
Ground handling impaired by conditions
Thunderstorms
Wind

Regulation Reason Aerodrome Capacity: Clarification to be added to ANM remark

Work In Progress
System Maintenance
Security Alert
Technical Failure
Reduced Stand Availability
High Demand

Regulation Reason Aerodrome services: Clarification to be added to ANM remark

Reduced Fire cover
Lack of De-icing / snow removal equipment

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Non availability of ground handling.

Regulation Reason ATC Equipment: Clarification to be added to ANM remark

Radar Failure
Communication Equipment Failure
Calibration of Navigation Aids

Regulation Reason ATC Capacity: Clarification to be added to ANM remark

High Demand
High Traffic complexity
Planned sector configuration

Regulation Reason Airspace Management: Clarification to be added to ANM remark

Planned military exercise (Include the name)
Unplanned military activity

Regulation Reason Special Event: Clarification to be added to ANM remark

Sports Event (Include the name)
Governmental Meeting (Include the name)
State / VIP visit
Major military exercise (Include the name)
ATM transition (Include the name)

Regulation Reason Other: Clarification to be added to ANM remark

Volcanic Activity
Airspace closure due to extended or large scale military activity.
Traffic on-load due to disruption in neighbouring ACC (Include the name)

Standard remarks should be used as far as possible; ‘Other’ should only be used
exceptionally. The remarks included above are based on events where the use of other
is appropriate.
This list is not exhaustive and additional remarks may be used however where the
above standard remarks are appropriate they should be used.
FMP and NMOC staff should be aware that only the last ANM remark entered is
recorded for statistical purposes. Any changes to the ANM remark should ensure the
standard phrase is included.
The phrases 0 rate, zero rate or airport closed should not be used as this is the effect
of the regulation rather than the cause.

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To aid statistical retrieval the standard remarks should be added as they appear in the
above tables. Specific details should be added where available after the standard
remarks.

5.6.1.4 Apply a Regulation

The initial identification of a need to apply a regulation may come from the relevant
FMP or from the NM staff.

Procedure during pre-tactical operations

Where they identify a need for a regulation during pre-tactical operations and before
D-1 17:00 UTC in winter time (16:00 UTC in summer time),
the FMP staff shall:
 Communicate (as early as possible) with the NM pre-tactical team in order to
resolve an overload issue.
 Evaluate and consider possible alternatives to balance the foreseen traffic
demand and capacity, such as scenarios.
 Request the regulation if there is no better alternative.
 Coordinate with the NM pre-tactical team the TFVs, the time period, the
acceptance rate and the regulation reason.
 Monitor the impact of the regulation on the traffic load.
Where they identify a need to apply a regulation,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Communicate (as early as possible) with the FMP concerned in order to
resolve an overload issue.
 Suggest the possibility of a regulation if there are no better alternatives.
 Coordinate with the FMP: the TFVs, the time period, the acceptance rate and
the regulation reason.
 Decide on other regulation parameters depending on network situation (e.g.
window width, pending rate).
Following coordination with the relevant FMP,
the NM pre-tactical team shall then:
 Activate the regulation.
 Check load display (ensure that the regulation is correctly applied).
 Log in FREE any relevant details (especially if there is a high impact) for the
NM tactical team attention (Network Brief).

Procedure during tactical operations

Where they identify a need for a regulation,
the FMP staff shall:

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 Communicate (as early as possible) with the NM tactical team in order to

resolve an overload issue
 Evaluate possible alternatives and request the regulation if there is no better
alternative.
 Coordinate with the NM tactical team the TFVs, the time period, the
acceptance rate and the regulation reason.
 Monitor the impact of the regulation on the traffic load and on the flight list.
Where they identify a need to apply a regulation,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Communicate (as early as possible) with the FMP concerned in order to
resolve an overload issue.
 Suggest the possibility of a regulation if there are no better alternatives.
 Coordinate with the FMP: the TFVs, the time period, the acceptance rate and
the regulation reason.
 Decide on other regulation parameters (e.g. window width, pending rate).
Following coordination with the relevant FMP,
the NM tactical team shall then:
 Activate and publish the agreed regulation.
 Ensure that the regulation is correctly applied (check load display, slot list).
 Inform the NM DOM in case of a major impact on the Network.
 Communicate unavoidable high delays in one particular regulation to AOs via
an AIM and the NOP Portal Headline News.

5.6.1.5 Linking of Regulations

When two regulations are present in the ETFMS they may present a common set of
flights. The ETFMS issues slots according to the most penalising regulation (the one
giving the greatest delay to a specific flight). Therefore, one of the regulations may
force flights into the second regulation. Under these circumstances and to be sure that
the slot assigned by ETFMS respects both regulations, the regulations are linked in
ETFMS. This action ensures that the slot assigned respect the conditions defined in
both regulations.
In some cases it is important that certain regulations are respected regardless of
which one is the most penalising one (e.g. where there is a transition
between configurations or in some exceptional conditions).
The standard linking function of regulations was extended for these specific cases.
Regulations may be auto-linked or manually linked in the ETFMS. Auto-linking shall
only be used when a very penalising regulation is forcing flights into other regulations
that are to be protected due to operational reasons.
Overlapping of regulations, when splitting or collapsing sectors, shall never be done; it
does not improve the spreading and can only cause unnecessary delay.

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5.6.1.5.1 Splitting Regulated Sectors

When splitting a regulated sector, if there is an overload in the new sectors, these
should be regulated at their monitoring values, from the time they are active, and linked
to the original collapsed sector.

Procedure
Where considered appropriate the FMP staff may split regulated sectors under their
responsibility. In such cases,
the FMP staff shall:
 Introduce the changes in CIFLO in a timely manner.
 If an overload is detected in any of the new sectors, decide either to apply
ATFCM measures or to let ATC handle the overload locally.
 In case a regulation is needed, coordinate with the NM tactical team and
provide all the associated information for the regulation.
 Check the result and coordinate with the NM tactical team in case further
action is required.
When splitting a regulated sector, if an unacceptable bunching is observed in one or
more of the newly opened sectors,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Coordinate on the appropriate measures with the FMP staff (if the FMP staff
have not yet reported).
 If a regulation is requested, collect all associated information for the
regulation.
 Regulate the appropriate sectors from the time the splitting takes place.
 Manually link the new regulation(s) to the regulation on the original sector(s).
 Check the result and coordinate with the FMP staff in case further action is
required.

5.6.1.5.2 Collapsing Regulated Sectors

A change of sector configuration linked to a regulation(s) may make it necessary to

collapse sectors within the ETFMS description. Such an action may require regulations
to prevent any possible bunching at the end of the original regulation(s). By linking the
new regulation to the original one(s) the bunching will be regulated in a controlled
fashion. This is to ensure that all flights will have the new regulation as the most
penalising one.
When collapsing sectors, if there is an overload, these sectors should be regulated at
their MV before they become active, and linked to the original regulation(s).
When collapsing sectors usually the global capacity is reduced, e.g., from 3 sectors to
2 sectors. Therefore sufficient time must be given to enable the traffic that entered the
sector(s) during the period with a higher global rate to leave the sector(s). Note that
this also depends on sector size (the larger the sector, the longer a time margin is
needed), but 10 minutes is an initially recommended value. It is advisable to check the
occupancy counts of the regulated collapsed sector as well, and identify the number
and type of flights impacted in order to better assess the time margin needed.

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When collapsing sectors it is necessary to stop the original regulation(s) (which have
a higher global rate) earlier than the configuration change time, and immediately start
the new regulation(s) (which have a lower global rate).
For instance, if the regulated sectors A, B and C have to become a single ABC
combined at 10:00, it is advised to regulate A, B and C till 09:50 and start the ABC
regulation, linked to the other 3 at 09:50.

Procedure
Where considered appropriate, the FMP staff may collapse regulated sectors under
their responsibility. In such cases,
the FMP staff shall:
 Introduce the changes in CIFLO in a timely manner.
 If an overload is detected in any of the new sectors, decide either to apply
ATFCM measures or to let ATC handle the overload locally.
 In case a regulation is needed, coordinate with the NM tactical team and
provide all the associated information for the regulation.
 Check the result and coordinate with the NM tactical team in case further
action is required.
When collapsing regulated sectors, if an unacceptable bunching is observed in one
or more of the newly opened sectors,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Initiate coordination on the appropriate measures with the FMP staff (if the
FMP staff have not yet reported).
 If a regulation is requested, coordinate all associated information for the
regulation, and the time margin given for traffic to leave the sector.
 Regulate the appropriate TFVs taking into account the time margin for
finishing and starting the regulations as appropriate.
 Manually link the new regulation(s) to the regulation(s) on the original
sector(s).
 Coordinate with the FMP any further fine tuning of the time margin given to
reduce delays.
 Check the result and coordinate with the FMP staff in case further action is
required.

5.6.1.5.3 Linking Geographically Distant Regulations

Two heavily regulated TFVs, although geographically apart from each other, may share
such a significant amount of traffic that one could create a disruption on the other (e.g.
bunching, overload, forcing of flights). This can lead to a situation of having an
unsolved overload or bunching in one regulation because of flights forced by other
regulations. In order to avert this scenario, these regulations shall be manually linked
in the ETFMS.
Due to the complexity of the Network situation, in some cases it is not easy to detect
geographically independent regulations that are influencing each other and therefore
candidates for manual linking. The ‘Influencing Regulations’ feat ure in the ETFMS
advises the user when a regulation is hugely influenced by other(s).

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As an illustrative example, a low rate departure regulation in EDD* between 06:00 and
09:00 with significant bunching at the end, and a low rate arrival in GCTS between
12:00 and 16:00. Linking these two regulations would solve the disruption created by
the EDD* departure regulation forcing its flights into the GCTS arrival regulation.
When creating / deep rectifying a regulation the Network Impact Assessment will list
the regulations that are influenced / influencing by the regulation which is being edited.
This data may be used to create the necessary links between regulations.

Procedure
When an applied regulation has traffic bunching or an overload,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Determine if there are influencing regulations that push traffic into the
regulation under analysis.
 Contact the concerned FMP(s) associated to the bunching and coordinate
possible extension of the regulation period in order to smooth the traffic a t
the end.
In case an agreement is not reached with the FMP, then:
 Manually link the regulations accordingly if they share a significant amount
of traffic. Link the regulation having the problem with the one causing it.
 Check if the result is satisfactory.

5.6.1.5.4 Auto-Linking
In the ETFMS a very penalising regulation may force flights into a regulation that shall
be protected (e.g. zero rate regulation).
It is not possible or practical to manually link this ‘high priority’ regulation to all other
regulations likely to influence it. The auto-link function has therefore been devised to
overcome the limitations of the manual linking function.
As opposed to manual linking, auto-link is bidirectional. Auto-linking a ‘high priority’
regulation actually links it to any other existing regulation in the Network and at the
same time any other existing regulation is linked to the ‘high priority’ regulation.
Consequently,
auto-link endeavours to make sure that the ‘high priority’ regulation criteria are always
respected.
Auto-linking was not developed to replace the manual linking of regulations, but as an
exceptional measure to be used when absolutely necessary.
The auto-link shall only be used for:
 Zero rate regulations (with or without XCD);
 RVR regulations;
 Scenarios (if deemed appropriate according to the kind of scenario applied);
 Industrial actions;
 Very low rate regulations that have to be protected for operational reasons.

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It must be noted that:

 It is not possible to manually link regulations that have auto-link enabled;
 Multiple auto-links in the system may produce unusual effects as each auto-
linked regulation competes with all other auto-linked regulations present;
 Auto-linking imposes a performance penalty on the system.

Procedure
Wherever a situation exists that may require the use of auto-linked regulations,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Where possible, consult and follow the specific procedures for the situation
involved ensuring that the correct regulations are auto-linked (e.g. industrial
action procedures or scenarios).
 Carefully consider the consequences of implementing an auto-link regulation
when no specific procedures exist.
 Auto-link the required regulation(s).

5.6.1.6 Modify a Regulation

The decision for modification and ownership of the ATFM regulation lies with the FMP.
A timely notification to the NM tactical team regarding these changes is crucial to
reduce safety risks.
There are two possibilities to modify a regulation, depending on the scope of the
modification: either ‘shallow rectify’ or ‘deep rectify’.
A ‘shallow rectify’ may be used to change a subset of the fields of the regulation editor,
without impacting slot-issued flights. In order to publish changes made in the
regulation editor it is required to have updates made either in the ANM traffic volume
description or ANM remark or regulation reason.
‘Deep rectify’ may change all editable fields, and let the user decide which flights are
impacted. In order to publish changes made in the regulation editor in this case it is
required to have updates made to at least one of the following fields:
 Regulation period (Start Time or End Time);
 Delay Confirmation Threshold;
 ANM TV description;
 ANM remark.

5.6.1.6.1 Modify the Acceptance rate or Period

Modifications to the time period and the acceptance rate should reflect an
improvement or worsening of the conditions, or the necessity to avoid a bunching of
traffic at the end of the regulation.
The Network impact of a deep rectification can be substantial, as all slots in that
regulation will be recalculated. Caution is advised in these cases, especially if a high
proportion of the affected traffic has already been sent SAMs, in order to avoid
unnecessary CTOT changes.

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Whenever there is a change in the regulation period or the acceptance rate to be

implemented, the NM tactical team shall use the ‘Deep Rectify’ functionality in the
ETFMS.

Procedure
When it is required to update the acceptance rate or period,
the FMP staff shall:
 Contact the NM tactical team to inform them about the change in the
acceptance rate or the time period as soon as possible.
 Provide any additional information to be inserted in the ANM remark.
 Monitor the impact of the update on the traffic load and on the flight list.
Where they identify a need to update the acceptance rate or period,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Contact the relevant FMP to propose a change in the acceptance rate or the
time period as soon as a possible overload risk is detected.
Following confirmation with the relevant FMP,
the NM tactical team shall then:
 Deep rectify the regulation and insert the changes as appropriate.
Note: In case of a change in the regulation period, the start time of a
regulation that has already started shall not be modified.
 Check the traffic load, the delay figures and slot distribution.
 Provide feedback in FREE where appropriate.

5.6.1.6.2 Increase the Supplementary Rate

Supplementary rates are used for modification of the basic rate without changing the
main rate for a short period.
Whenever there is an increase in the acceptance rate with supplementary rate (1 / 60,
2 / 60…); the NM tactical team shall use the ‘Shallow Rectify’ functionality.
During the first period of the capacity update (closer to the current time) it is
recommended to use the supplementary rate and reflect the increase in the
acceptance rate. Deep rectification (update of the normal rate) should be used for the
remaining period. Increasing the acceptance rate by using the supplementary rate
avoids the recalculation of slots and is indicated for small increases of the acceptance
rate.

Procedure
When it is required to insert a supplementary rate,
the FMP staff shall:
 Coordinate with the NM tactical team a small increase of the acceptance rate
(supplementary rate).
 Monitor the impact of the update on the traffic load and on the flight list.

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Where they identify a need to insert a supplementary rate,

the NM tactical team shall:
 Collect the appropriate information from the relevant FMP.
 Where relevant, advise the FMP on the appropriate rate to be modified.
Following confirmation with the relevant FMP,
the NM tactical team shall then:
 Shallow rectify the regulation with the agreed value.
 Ensure that the changes took place correctly.
 Log any relevant feedback in FREE.

5.6.1.6.3 Modify the Regulation Reason

The regulation reason is used to ensure that proper and consistent information is
provided to users and also contribute to correct statistical analysis. The regulation
reason must accurately reflect the true reason for the regulation. The ANM remark field
should also be used to provide additional information on that reason.
The last introduced regulation reason will be the only one recorded for delay
attribution. See Regulation reason and ANM remarks table for more information on
regulation reason.
Whenever there is a change to be implemented in the regulation reason or ANM
remark, the NM tactical team shall use the ‘Shallow Rectify’ functionality. If the
acceptance rate has to be modified as well, the NM tactical team shall use the ‘Deep
Rectify’ functionality.

Procedure
Where it is required to change a regulation reason or remark,
the FMP staff shall:
 Contact the NM tactical team to inform them about the change in the
regulation reason or remark.
Where such a request is received,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Where necessary, coordinate with the FMP on the appropriate regulation
reason and remarks to ensure consistency.
 Shallow rectify the regulation with the new regulation reason and any
possible needed remark.
 Log the change in the regulation reason or remark and any other feedback in
FREE.

5.6.1.7 Cancel a Regulation

A regulation shall be cancelled where it is no longer necessary. The decision for
cancellation and ownership of the ATFM regulation lies with the FMP.

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The cancellation of a regulation may create a sudden increase in traffic load that, even
if handled appropriately by the requesting FMP, may negatively impact other ACCs.

Procedure
Where they decide to cancel a regulation,
the FMP staff shall:
 Contact the NM tactical team to request the cancellation of the regulation.
 Check the load after cancellation.
Where they identify a need to cancel a regulation,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Assess the Network impact.
 Contact the relevant FMP to propose the cancellation of the regulation.
Where it has been agreed with the relevant FMP to cancel a regulation,
the NM tactical team shall then:
 Run a simulation before cancelling the regulation to assess the impact on
downstream sectors in case of a very penalising regulation (e.g. low rate due
to technical failure, strikes or even staffing).
 Inform adjacent ACCs (or any other negatively impacted ACCs) in case of
heavy delays.
 Cancel the regulation in the ETFMS.
 Check the load display.
 Provide any relevant feedback in FREE.

5.6.2 Applying a Mandatory Cherry Pick Regulation

A Mandatory Cherry Pick regulation (MCP) is used as a measure to solve short peaks
(e.g. 1h or 1h 30min) of limited number of flights in congested areas. It consists of
selecting flights creating complexity and applying ATFCM measures only to those
flights. It may be used in combination with other measures (e.g. scenario) or other
options available to the FMP.
The identification of the flights to be subject to the Network cherry pick measure shall
be carried out by the FMP and the delay for cherry picked flights should not exceed 20
minutes. For predictability reasons, it is recommended to apply MCP to flights close
to the congested area and try to minimize the lead time of the MCP regulation prior the
start time of the hotspot. It is also recommended to monitor the effectiveness of the
MCP after cherry picking the selected flights.
Flights already with a CTOT will not normally be selected for cherry picking. However,
if a peak can be mitigated by bringing such a flight forwards then coordination should
take place and the NMOC will improve the flight if possible. In addition, flights
departing from A-CDM which are already in a departure sequence (‘s’ CDM status)
should not be selected if there is any other possibility.
Flights inside the MCP regulation period are exempted from it. Once the cherry pick
regulation is active, new FPLs, late updaters and ATC activated flights with ETO / CTO
inside the regulation activation period will continue to be exempted. The cherry picked

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flights are allocated a unique colour code (pink) in the slot list and flight lists (EHMI /
CHMI / NOP).

Procedure
Having decided to use a cherry pick regulation to overcome a possible overload,
the FMP staff shall:
 Assess the flight list.
 Identify from the flight list those flights that are causing complexity. If there
is more than one flight from the same AO in the peak or if one of the flights
is a candidate for FL capping, consider giving the AO a choice of which
flight(s) should be subject to the cherry pick measure.
 Provide the following information to the NM tactical team:
o The name of the sector / TFV;
o Precise time of the occupancy peak;
o Call sign of the flights to be cherry picked;
o ETO of the first flight to enter the sector;
o Required CTO of all flights to be cherry picked.
The NM tactical team shall then:
 Check if on-loaded sectors have available capacity.
 Coordinate with adjacent FMPs on what extra traffic they may get and
confirm they can safely handle the cherry-picked flights.
 Refuse the operation and report to the requesting FMP if the previous two
items are not met.
 Create the cherry pick regulation and cherry pick the flights according to the
information provided by the FMP if the first two items are met, ensuring that:
o The regulation Start Time must be 15 minutes before ETO of the first
flight to enter the sector;
o The regulation End Time must be 1 minute after the last required
CTO.
o The appropriate regulation reason is selected and the ANM remark
shall contain the comment ‘Network Cherry Pick’.
 Cherry pick those flights nominated by the FMP and force them in the slot list
to the required CTO.
 Assess the NID to ensure that there is no adverse effect due to the application
of the new CTOT to the flight (e.g. Flight pushed in a Zero Rate regulat ion,
new IFPS violations, etc.).
 Provide feedback in FREE.

5.6.3 Applying an Airport Cherry Pick Regulation

The aim of an Airport Cherry Pick regulation (ACP) is to permit a degree of flexibility to
the FMPs in order to solve short peaks of limited number of arriving traffic.
The main target of such improvements are short haul flights, therefore the procedure
applies to flights operating entirely within the airspace of one ACC or between two
adjacent ACCs. This procedure uses the same mechanisms of the Mandatory Cherry
Pick (MCP) regulation as it is described in this manual (see previous section).

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The identification of the flights to be subject to the ACP measure shall be carried out
by the FMP and the delay for cherry picked flights should not exceed 20 minutes. For
predictability reasons, it is recommended to try to minimize the lead-time of the ACP
regulation prior the start time of the congested period and the traffic selection must
be at least 30 min before EOBT. FMPs shall ensure that the required arrival capacity
(e.g. holding) will be available during the peak period.
Flights already with a CTOT will not normally be selected for cherry picking. In addition,
flights departing from A-CDM which are already in a departure sequence (‘s’ CDM
status) should not be selected if there is any other possibility.

Procedure
Having decided to use a cherry pick regulation to overcome a possible overload and
mitigate delays,
The FMP staff shall:
 Assess the flight list;
 Identify from the flight list those flights that are concerned;
 Provide the following information to the NM tactical team:
o The name of the Traffic Volume;
o Precise time where the demand exceeds the capacity;
o Call sign of the flights to be cherry picked;
o ETO (ETA) of the first flight to arrive at the airport;
o Required CTO of all flights to be cherry picked.
The NM tactical team shall then:
 Create the cherry pick regulation according to the information provided by the
FMP, ensuring that:
o The regulation Start Time must be 15 minutes before ETO (ETA) of
the first flight to arrive at the airport;
o The regulation End Time must be 1 minute after the last required
CTO;
o The appropriate regulation reason is selected and the ANM remark
shall contain the comment ‘Local Cherry Pick’.
 Cherry pick those flights nominated by the FMP and force them in the slot list
to the required CTO;
 Provide feedback in FREE.

5.6.4 Regulation Proposals via B2B

This procedure introduces the possibility of using B2B as a communication mean,
whenever regulation proposals (creation, modification or cancellation) are sent by
local FMPs via B2B.
This section covers the case of proposals for ATFM regulations sent for the pre-
tactical and tactical phases and for Mandatory Cherry Pick regulations during the
tactical phase.

5.6.4.1 Implementing periods

Accepting activities

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When the FMP has performed the necessary developments and is technically ready to
send regulation proposals via B2B, the FMP should send an official request to NM.
Any official request to apply the present procedure shall be officially addressed to the
NM email address: [email protected]
After the reception of the request, the requesting FMP shall go through a technical and
operational validation to identify technical problems and familiarise with the
procedure. This validation process should take place during the two months following
the reception of the request. Note that if technical or operational issues are
encountered this period may be extended.
The validation of the candidature shall be executed following the steps described
below:
 A technical validation with the objective of ensuring quality of the
implementation on FMP and NMOC sides and correct communication
channels.
 Once the technical test is finished, an operational evaluation will take place
with operational staff on a testing platform.

Operational implementation - phase 1

During Phase 1 any proposal for creation, modification or cancelation sent via B2B
shall be coordinated via telephone by the FMP. This phase should have a duration of
three months after which Phase 2 would be entered.
If major problems are identified during Phase 1, extended acceptance activities will be
initiated.
Operational implementation - phase 2
Phase 2 will start after Phase 1. At this moment, telephone coordination will not be
mandatory except for proposals that are part of a set of regulations where the order of
proposal acceptance plays a critical role. For example:
 Splitting or collapsing regulated sectors
 Strike regulations
 Recovery periods
 Etc.
Whenever a new FMP starts to apply phase 1, an Information Notice (IN) will be
updated accordingly. The IN will be updated as well once the FMP starts phase 2. It
will be published internally for NMOC staff and externally via the NOP Portal.

5.6.4.2 Procedure

As it is described in detail below, all active regulations shall be reviewed by NMOC staff
and the resulting proposal shall be reviewed by the FMP.
ATFM Regulation procedure
Proposal for Creation
Associated B2B service: RegulationProposalFilingRequest (CREATION without
measureCherryPicked)
Associated procedure: ATFCM Operations Manual 5.6.1.4. Apply a regulation .

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1) The FMP may submit a proposal for a new ATFM regulation

(PROPOSED) via B2B.

2) The FMP shall coordinate the proposal details with the NM pre-
tactical / tactical team via telephone according to the operational
implementation phase.

3) The NM pre-tactical / tactical team shall monitor the reception of new

ATFM regulation proposals. This is indicated by an alert - green
background highlighting of the Measures button.

4) The NM pre-tactical / tactical team shall review the ATFM regulation

proposal:

a) In the Regulation Editor

i. Check that the proposal is sent by the relevant FMP;
ii. Check that the Regulation fields are correctly filled in.
b) In the History display, compare Proposal with Regulation versions if
necessary.

Note:
Starting the review changes the status of the proposal to ‘COORDINATED’.
Note:
In case of local equipment failure, the comment “chaotic situation” can be
inserted in the ANM remark field by the FMP. This will ensure that the ‘OBT
AFTER’ is set to 30 minutes before the current clock time, in order to capture
as much traffic as possible.
5) The NM pre-tactical / tactical team shall coordinate with the FMP the
regulation details via telephone if any modification might be required.
6) In case of incorrect ATFM Regulation proposal Id, the NM pre-tactical
/ tactical team shall reject the proposal and request the FMP to
submit a new proposal with updated Regulation Id.

The NM pre-tactical / tactical team shall then either activate and publish or
reject the proposal. In case of rejection, the pre-tactical / tactical team shall
coordinate via telephone with the FMP.

If rejected, the proposal changes the status to ‘ABANDONED’ and the

regulation is not implemented.
If activated, the proposal changes the status to ‘IMPLEMENTED’ and the
regulation becomes active and published.

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7) The FMP shall visualise the accepted / rejected proposal via B2B.

Note:
Active regulation can contain additional fields or coordinated changes
applied by the NMOC.

Proposal for Modification

Associated B2B service: RegulationProposalFilingRequest (UPDATE)
Associated procedure: ATFCM Operations Manual 5.6.1.6. Modify a regulation

1) The FMP may submit a proposal for modification of an active ATFM

regulation via B2B that has either been created via a regulation
proposal via B2B or directly by the NMOC.

2) The steps 2 - 7 of the ATFM regulation Proposal for Creation (3.1.1)

section are applicable.

Proposal for Cancellation

Associated B2B service: RegulationProposalFilingRequest (CANCELLATION)
Associated procedure: ATFCM Operations Manual 5.6.1.8. Cancel a regulation

1) The FMP may submit a proposal for cancellation of an existing active

ATFM regulation via B2B.

2) The steps 2 - 5 of the ATFM regulation Proposal for Creation (3.1.1)

section are applicable.

3) The NM pre-tactical / tactical team shall then either accept the

proposal (cancel the regulation) or reject the proposal. In case of
rejection, the pre-tactical / tactical team shall coordinate via
telephone with the FMP.

Note:

If the proposal is rejected, the proposal changes the status to ‘ABANDONED’

and the regulation is not cancelled.
If the proposal is accepted, the proposal changes the status to
‘IMPLEMENTED’ and the regulation is cancelled.

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4) The FMP shall visualise the accepted / rejected proposal via B2B.

Note: Externals will also be able to send Regulation proposals

(create/modify/cancel) via the protected NOP.

Regulation naming convention

The general convention that shall be followed for a complete Regulation ID is
presented below.
The order of characters of the Regulation ID is:
1 4 2 3

where:
1. Proposed code for the ACC
2. Two characters for the date
3. Optional - One character for the period of the day:
 E = Early morning (00:00;05:59)
 M (or D, if M already used) = Morning (06:00;11:59)
 A (or L, if A already used) = Afternoon (12:00;17:59)
 N = Night (18:00;23:59)
 X (or Y or Z) = Other (if all other letters are already used)
4. Remaining characters to be used for the regulated traffic volume
In case all letters above are already used, FMP shall coordinate the Regulation ID with
the NM pre-tactical / tactical team.
Note: Regulation proposals with Regulation ID equal to existing (terminated)
regulations will be rejected.

Airport Regulation ID
The specific convention that shall be followed for an Airport Regulation ID is similar to
the general Regulation ID convention.
1 4 2 3

where:
1. The 4-letter ICAO airport designator.
2. Two characters for the date
3. Optional - One character for the period of the day:
 E = Early morning (00:00;05:59)
 M (or D, if M already used) = Morning (06:00;11:59)
 A (or L, if A already used) = Afternoon (12:00;17:59)
 N = Night (18:00;23:59)
 X (or Y or Z) = Other (if all other letters are already used)
4. Character to be used for the type of airport regulation:
 A=arrival regulation

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 D= Departure regulation
 G=Global
In case all letters above are already used, FMP shall coordinate the Regulation ID with
the NM pre-tactical / tactical team.
externals will also be able to send Regulation proposals (create/modify/cancel) via the
protected NOP.

5.6.4.3 Mandatory Cherry Pick procedure

MCP Proposal for Creation
Associated B2B services:
 RegulationProposalFilingRequest (CREATION with measureCherryPicked)
 AddFlightsToMeasureRequest (flightProposal)
 RemoveFlightsToMeasureRequest ()
 MCDMStateUpdateRequest (PROPOSED)
Associated procedure: ATFCM Operations Manual 5.6.2. Applying a Mandatory Cherry
Pick regulation
1) The FMP may create a MCP regulation proposal (DRAFT). This
permits to:
a. Add flights
b. Analyse the proposal flights before submitting the proposal to NM
c. Remove (add) flights

The list of candidate flight(s) for cherry pick shall include the following
parameters:
a. ADEP
b. IOBT
c. Desired CTO / CTOT

2) The FMP may submit a proposal for a new MCP regulation

(PROPOSED) via B2B.

3) The FMP shall coordinate the proposal details with the NM tactical
team via telephone according to the operational implementation
phase.

4) The NM tactical team shall monitor the reception of new MCP

regulation proposals. This is indicated by an alert - green background
highlighting of the Measures button.

5) The NM tactical team shall review the MCP regulation proposal:

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a. Acknowledge the notification of removed obsolete cherry picked

flights if the notification is displayed. Obsolete proposed cherry
picked flights are flights whose ETO has evolved since the
submission of the MCP regulation proposal so that their new ETO >
proposed CTO, or that they no longer cross the regulated area.
b. In the Regulation Editor
i. Check that the proposal is sent by the relevant FMP;
ii. Check that the Regulation fields are correctly filled in.
c. In the History display, compare Proposal with Regulation versions if
necessary.

Note:
Starting the review changes the status of the proposal to ‘COORDINATED’.

In case of incorrect MCP Regulation proposal Id, the NM tactical team shall
reject the proposal and request the FMP to submit a new proposal with
updated Regulation Id.

6) The NM tactical team shall then either activate and publish or reject
the proposal.

If rejected, the proposal changes the status to ‘ABANDONED’ and the

regulation is not implemented.

Note:
In this case it is not possible to add any additional flight to the measure. FMP
should create a new MCP measure.

If activated, the proposal changes the status to ‘IMPLEMENTED’ and the

regulation becomes active and published.

Note:
In this case it is possible for the FMP to add additional flights to the measure
by creating a proposal for modification (see section below).

Note:
Obsolete flights may be removed at this stage as well (as in step 5.a)).

7) The FMP shall visualise the accepted / rejected proposal via B2B.

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Note:
Until the proposal has been accepted, it will not be displayed in the
Regulation List, only in the proposal Regulation List.

MCP Proposal for Modification

Associated B2B services:
 MCDMStateUpdateRequest (DRAFT)
 AddFlightsToMeasureRequest and/or RemoveFlightsFromMeasureRequest
 MCDMStateUpdateRequest (PROPOSED)
Associated procedure: ATFCM Operations Manual 5.6.2. Applying a Mandatory Cherry
Pick regulation
1) The FMP may propose to modify an active MCP Regulation by adding
flights and modifying or removing previously accepted flights.

The list of candidate flights to be removed and the list of added or modified
candidate flight(s) for cherry pick shall include the following parameters:
a. ADEP
b. IOBT
c. Desired CTO / CTOT

2) The FMP shall contact via telephone the NM tactical team in case a
flight with an ETO outside the regulation period has been proposed.

3) The NM tactical team shall adapt the regulation period accordingly.

4) The FMP may submit a proposal to modify an MCP regulation

(PROPOSED) via B2B.

5) The steps 3 - 7 of the MCP Proposal for Creation (3.2.1) section are
applicable.

MCP Proposal for Cancellation

Associated B2B service: RegulationProposalFilingRequest (CANCELLATION)
Associated procedure: ATFCM Operations Manual 5.6.2. Applying a Mandatory Cherry
Pick regulation
1) The FMP may submit a proposal for cancellation of an active MCP
Regulation via B2B.

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2) The steps 3 - 5 of the MCP Proposal for Creation (3.2.1) section are
applicable.

3) The NM tactical team shall then either accept the proposal (cancel
the regulation) or reject the proposal.

If the proposal is rejected, the proposal changes the status to ‘ABANDONED’

and the regulation is not cancelled.
If the proposal is accepted, the proposal changes the status to
‘IMPLEMENTED’ and the regulation is cancelled.

Note:
Once a proposal for MCP regulation cancellation is created, there is no
possibility to modify the MCP anymore, except via telephone.

4) The FMP shall visualise the accepted / rejected proposal via B2B.

Note:
Until the proposal has been accepted, it will not be displayed in the
Regulation List, only in the proposal Regulation List.

MCP Regulation Naming Convention

 The naming convention shall be based on the rules defined and agreed in
ODSG#34. Specific rules are provided in an attached excel spreadsheet
document.
 The general convention that shall be followed for a complete MCP Regulation
ID is presented below.
 The order of characters of the MCP Regulation ID is:
0 1 4 2 3

Where:
1) Starting characters ‘CP’
2) Proposed code for the ACC.
3) Two characters for the date.
4) Optional - One character for the period of the day:
 E = Early morning (00:00;05:59)
 M (or D, if M already used) = Morning (06:00;11:59)
 A (or L, if A already used) = Afternoon (12:00;17:59)
 N = Night (18:00;23:59)
 X (or Y or Z) = Other (if all other letters are already used)
5. Remaining characters to be used for the regulated traffic volume.

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 In case all letters above are already used, FMP shall coordinate the MCP
Regulation ID with the NM tactical team.
Note: Regulation proposals with ID equal to existing (terminated) regulations will be
rejected.
ACP Regulation ID
The specific convention that shall be followed for an ACP (Airport Cherry Pick)
Regulation ID is similar to the general MCP Regulation ID convention.
0 1 2 3

where:
1. Starting characters ‘CP’
2. The last 3 letters of the 4-letter ICAO airport designator.
3. Two characters for the date
4. Optional - One character for the period of the day:
o E = Early morning (00:00;05:59)
o M (or D, if M already used) = Morning (06:00;11:59)
o A (or L, if A already used) = Afternoon (12:00;17:59)
o N = Night (18:00;23:59)
o X (or Y or Z) = Other (if all other letters are already used)
In case all letters above are already used, FMP shall coordinate the Regulation ID with
the NM pre-tactical / tactical team.

5.6.5 Rerouting Flights in the ETFMS

A reroute is an alternative offered to an airspace user in case of substantial delay,
unavailability of a filed route or flight efficiency purposes.
What-if Reroute and Group Rerouteing are functions within the NM that are designed
to assist the NMOC staff to find viable alternative routes.
The ETFMS considers the routes as well as the possible flight level limitations and
gives the consequent result in terms of delay, miles to fly, fuel and route charge
information.

Procedure during tactical operations

In case of significant disruption to the Network, and in order to reduce delays in a
particular area or assist a flight(s) suffering a disproportionate delay,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Identify any flight(s) that are significantly delayed.
 Set in the ETFMS the necessary parameters for the calculation of the reroute.
 Decide on how many flights should be rerouted.
 Coordinate with the responsible NM tactical team member to ensure that the
situation is not likely to change / improve in the next couple of hours.
 Assess the NID in order to identify the best CTO(T).
 Coordinate with the FMPs that could be heavily impacted.
 Select the correct option according to the purpose of the rerouteing (e. g.
ATFCM, FLIGHTEFFICIENCY, AOWIR).

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 Send RRP(s).

5.6.6 Implementation of Scenarios

NM and / or FMP staff use a number of predefined scenarios in order t o move traffic
flows out of critical sectors / areas and achieve a global decrease of delay or prevent
the implementation of regulations. This task is performed by the NM pre-tactical team
during pre-tactical operations and the NM tactical team during tactical operations.
These scenarios are prepared in advance (see Creation and maintenance of scenarios)
and may be mandatory or advisory. The list of available scenarios is promulgated on
the NOP Portal:
https://www.public.nm.eurocontrol.int/PUBPORTAL/gateway/spec/index.html
Scenarios should normally be coordinated and implemented in the pre-tactical phase.
When there is a need / request in the tactical phase, it should be investigated whether
it is really necessary or if other measures like cherry-picking of individual flights are
not sufficient. Scenarios are always auto-linked.
Criteria to be considered are:
 Number of flights captured;
 Implementation should normally be at least 3 hours in the future;
 Where possible the EOBT of the flights involved should be at least 2 hours in
the future in order to minimise the risk of late filing for AOs and give them
enough time to react.
 It is possible to determine the impact of scenarios based on the following
indicators:
 Flying time.
 Distance.
 Route charges.
 Fuel consumption.
The ETFMS produces in a regular basis results on the impact of scenarios and they
are sent to the Operations Analysis (OPA) Service for analysis.

Procedure during pre-tactical operations

During pre-tactical operations in the area of responsibility of an FMP,
the FMP staff shall:
 When considered appropriate, contact the NM pre-tactical team to request
the application of scenarios.
 Coordinate with the NM pre-tactical team the scenarios applicability as well
as other possibilities to properly balance traffic demand and available
capacity.
 Based on the FMP reason to apply a Scenario, provide:
1. Regulation reason for the Scenario application;
2. Additional details to be included in the ANM Remark of the Scenario
measure if required (use standard remarks of ATFCM Operations Manual
5.6.1.3 ANM Remarks Table as far as possible).

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Having received a request for a scenario from an FMP, or having decided on the
necessity of such an action themselves,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Examine the problem the scenario is expected to mitigate.
 Evaluate any possible alternative less penalising solutions and suggest them
as alternatives.
 If scenario application is necessary, load the relevant scenario and adjust the
time parameters and remarks to fit the current circumstances.
 Assess the Network impact.
 Coordinate and agree its use with those FMPs that will be affected.
 When agreed by all affected FMPs:
o Implement the scenario measure in PREDICT.
o Set a delay threshold value of 20 minutes.
o Auto-link the scenario (if deemed appropriate according to the kind of
scenario applied).
o As provided by the FMP:
 Modify the measure reason “ATC Routeings” to a Scenario
application reason;
 Include details on Scenario application in the ANM Remark
field of the measure if required (use standard remarks of
ATFCM Operations Manual 5.6.1.3 ANM Remarks Table as far
as possible).
o Include descriptive information on its application in the INP and on
the NOP Portal.
o Include information in the Network Brief to enable NM tactical team
to manage its use effectively.
 Check that the applied scenario functions as expected and coordinate any
further changes as necessary.
 Where a conflict has been identified between RAD and Scenario, coordinate
via CDM process with the FMP. The coordination outcome (e.g. disabling
RAD, Scenario cancellation) shall be notified to the NM Strategic team via the
Scenario Management tool, issue recorded in FREE and the Scenario
Repository updated if required.

Procedure during tactical operations

Where the situation requires the application of a scenario,
the FMP staff shall:
 Contact the NM tactical team to request the application of that scenario.
 Based on the FMP reason to apply a Scenario, provide:
1. Regulation reason for the Scenario application;
2. Additional details to be included in the ANM Remark of the Scenario measure
if required (use standard remarks of ATFCM Operations Manual 5.6.1.3 ANM
Remarks Table as far as possible).
Having received a request for a scenario from an FMP, or having decided on the
necessity of such an action themselves,
the NM tactical team shall:

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 Assess the validity of the FMP request (if requested by the FMP) or make sure
that the FMP fully understands and accepts the implications of such an
action (if proposed by the NM tactical team).
 Assess the impact on AOs.
 Check on-loaded sectors in other relevant areas.
 Inform all relevant FMPs involved of the traffic revision expected during the
time of the scenario’s validity (CDM process).
 Where an FMP refuses to accept the traffic revision resulting from the
application of the scenario, the scenario shall be rejected.
Where all affected FMPs accept the traffic revision:
 Load the appropriate scenario
 Adjust the time parameters and remarks to fit the current circumstances.
 As provided by the FMP:
o Modify the measure reason “ATC Routeings” to a Scenario application
reason;
o Include details on Scenario application in the ANM Remark field of the
measure if required (use standard remarks of ATFCM Operations
Manual 5.6.1.3 ANM Remarks Table as far as possible).
 Set a delay threshold value of 20 minutes.
 Auto-link the scenario (if deemed appropriate according to the kind of
scenario applied).
 Inform all FMPs involved of the decision and actions taken.
 Check that the applied scenario functions as expected and further coordinate
as necessary.
 Where a conflict between RAD and Scenario is identified, coordinate via CDM
process with the FMP. The coordination outcome (e.g. disabling RAD,
Scenario cancellation) shall be notified to the NM Pre-tactical team.
NM Pre-tactical team shall advise NM Strategic team via the Scenario Management
tool and record the issue in FREE.

5.6.7 Management of EU Restrictions

Amongst the different flow measures to use in the event of aerodrome or airspace
unavailability, the NM has the possibility to apply an “EU Restriction”.
The use of EU Restriction offers two main advantages:
 the FPLs are rejected by IFPS, no delay is generated in the ETFMS,
 more accurate traffic capture (out of area traffic, aircraft equipment, military...).
Compared to a zero rate regulation, the EU Restriction will invalidate FPL s, therefore
AOs will have to refile avoiding the unavailable period of the aerodrome or airspace
concerned. Although the decision to apply an EU Restriction lies with the NM, it will
only be done through a CDM process with the concerned FMP after assessin g the
criteria listed below:
 Lead Time: At least 2 hours before the time of effectiveness are required for
the measure to be fully efficient.
 Stability: It should concern only planned events at strategic and pre-tactical
level or major disruptions in tactical operations, where there is evidence that
no improvement is expected in the near future.

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 Duration: This parameter must be seen in conjunction with the stability one but
a minimum of 1 hour is considered necessary.
 Publication: EU Restriction must be supported by official information (NOTAM,
AIP supplement...).
Note: When the aerodrome or airspace unavailability is known in advance, the CDM
process should take place between the concerned National Environment
Coordinator (NEC) or RAD coordinator, or FMP and the NM AD NOSup.
The assessment and the application of the EU restriction should be done then based
only on stability, duration and publication criteria.
Note: For more information on textual description of ‘EU’ and ‘EURO’ restrictions, see
the relevant chapter of the NMOC Support Manual.

Procedure
When it is notified of an aerodrome or airspace unavailability and an EU restriction
might be applied,
Either,
the FMP staff shall:
 Collect all relevant information about the above criteria.
 Communicate (as early as possible) with the SNOC on duty to inform of a
future aerodrome or airspace unavailability.
 Assess with the SNOC the criteria listed above (lead time, stability, duration
and publication).
Or,
the SNOC shall (as soon as the event is notified via any means, e.g. NOTAM, phone
call, news...):
 Communicate (as early as possible) with the relevant FMP and confirm that
they are aware of the unavailability (if the FMP have not reported yet).
 Assess with the FMP the criteria listed above (lead time, stability, duration
and publication).
Following coordination between the FMP and the SNOC, if the criteria listed above
are met,
the SNOC shall:
 Coordinate with the NM AD NOSup the implementation of an EU Restriction.
Before enabling the restriction in the NM systems, the NM AD NOSup shall
make a FPL validation to ensure it will produce the expected effect.
 Publish information about it on the NOP once the EU Restriction is
implemented.
Note: If the criteria listed above are not met, see Management and recovery of a
disruption.

5.6.8 ATFM Measures on the ATFCM Adjacent Area

FMPs of Adjacent Areas may request the NMOC to apply ATFCM measures for the
airports within their FIR or for significant points at the interface between the FIR and

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the NM Area of operations. Requests may come in case of capacity problems or any
other disturbances to ATM.
The NMOC may also initiate ATFCM measures for flights departing from the Adjacent
Area into the NM Area of responsibility.
The NMOC provides limited ATFCM services to some FMPs of Adjacent Areas. The
service level provision to these FMPs is specified in their NM Agreement.
Flights originating from these FIRs and entering the NM Area of operations may be
subject to ATFCM measures.
This is an exceptional measure that may help in resolving problems within the Network
in the NM Area of responsibility (e.g. RR measures from Egypt to avoid Cyprus).
Even if for other reasons a detailed environment is available for such FIRs (e.g. sectors,
routes), it is not the NM’s responsibility to monitor / apply any measure on such
entities.

Procedure
A request may be made by an Adjacent FMP or the NM tactical team may contact
the FMP for the implementation of ATFCM measures. In such cases,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Refer to the NM Agreement in case of doubt regarding the service level that
may be provided.
 Contact the FMP, in case the initiative comes from the NMOC (depending on
the governing NM Agreement and type of measure this may be compulsory
or not), or evaluate the request from the FMP.
 After both parties (adjacent FMP and the NMOC) agree on the measures,
assess the impact of such measures on the Network.
 Coordinate action with any other affected FMPs should it become necessary
(e.g. reroute scenario implementation).
 Either reject the proposed ATFCM measures or introduce them into the
ETFMS, as agreed.
 Disseminate information to all parties concerned by appropriate means like
AIM, NOP Portal, ANM and emails to AOs.
 Monitor the effect and impact on the Network of the ATFCM measures
implemented in the Adjacent Area.

5.7 Managing a Flight in the ETFMS / PREDICT

5.7.1 Managing the Filed Tactical Flight Model (FTFM)

5.7.1.1 Manual Exemptions

The exemption status of a flight may, under some circumstances (e.g. wrong filing of
the flight plan), be manually modified by the NM tactical team in the ETFMS (approval
for ATFMX status). This can be done for both regulated and non-regulated flights.
It should be noted that exempted flights will be exempted from all regulations, while
excluded flights will only be excluded from a specified regulation. Exempted flights are
not subject to any ATFCM delay.

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Procedure
Where a flight is not automatically exempted and it is identified as a candidate for
ATFMX status,
the FMP staff shall:
 Contact the NM tactical team and request the manual exemption for a flight
departing from their area of responsibility.
 Justify the reason of the request.
On receipt of a request for ATFMX status from an FMP,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Check the associated information in the flight plan.
 Exempt the flight manually.
 Provide feedback in FREE.

On receipt of a request for ATFMX status from an AO,

the NM tactical team shall:
 Refer the caller to the local AIS at the aerodrome of departure from where the
request for ATFMX status can be made.
 Whenever this cannot be achieved, then refer the caller to the relevant
national AIP of the country in which the aerodrome of departure is located.
The AIP shall contain the rules for acquiring permission to use STS / ATFMX
in a flight plan message.

In exceptional cases, for a hospital flight (STS / HOSP) with delay that becomes
critical with no exemption obtained and requesting ATFMX status,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Check the associated information in the flight plan and the traffic load.
 Coordinate with the relevant FMP(s) to seek their approval.
Based on these actions,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Decide whether or not to exempt the flight manually.
 Log the call sign and city pair of that flight in FREE.

Note: A number of status indicators provide automatic exemption from

ATFCM slot allocation. These indicators are:
 [STS / HEAD] flights carrying Head of State or equivalent status;
 [STS / SAR] flights conducting search and rescue operations;
 [STS / ATFMX] flights authorised by the relevant State to include in the flight
plan;
 [STS / MEDEVAC] flights carrying a life-critical emergency evacuation;
 [STS / FFR] flights engaged in fire-fighting.
These designators shall only be used with the proper authority. Any wrongful use of
these designators to avoid flow regulation shall be regarded by the relevant states as

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a serious breach of procedure and shall be dealt with accordingly. The relevant
National AIP should indicate an appropriate office dedicated to issuing STS / ATFMX.
Each month, the data on all flights using STS / … indicators are sent to states for
analysis. It is expected that follow-up action will be taken where evidence shows that
there has been a misuse of this important facility.

5.7.1.2 Flight Deactivation

It is possible for a flight to be wrongly activated in the ETFMS. Such a situation may
result from:
 ATC activated. This situation may result from an erroneous FSA or CPR
generation.
 TACT activated:
o This situation may result from a flight reaching its ETOT / CTOT with no
other notification (FSA, CPR) necessary, or
o An erroneous TTOT from an A-DPI.
 Terminated. This case may happen after the ATA of a flight that was wrongly
ATC activated or TACT activated is reached, but the flight did not depart. Undo
activation of a terminated flight may as well be necessary in order to enable
processing of an ACH message in case of a diverted flight (CPRs continue to
correlate to the initial FPL until ACH message is processed).
The IFPS is unable to process any messages (DLA, CHG and CNL) for any flight while
it is ATC activated, TACT activated (only due to A-DPI) or Terminated. Where an AO
has a necessary flight plan update for such a flight but it is not yet airborne, that flight
must be deactivated in order to apply the update. FMP/TWR staff, AOs, or IFPS staff
may identify and report such flights to the NM tactical team.

Procedure
Where a flight is identified as wrongly ATC activated, TACT activated or Terminated,
the FMP/TWR staff shall:
 Contact the NM tactical team and request flight deactivation.
Upon notification of a wrongly ATC activated, TACT activated or Terminated flight,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Verify the status of the flight(s), for example, if CPRs are being received for
that location and / or contact the TWR at the aerodrome of departure.
 Deactivate (undo activation) the flight in the ETFMS.
Where a flight departing from a CDM airport and is identified as wrongly TACT
activated,
The TWR staff shall:
 Submit a C-DPI with reason UNDOADPI, which will automatically deactivate
the flight, or;
 Contact the NM tactical team and request flight deactivation, in case a C-DPI
would severely disrupt operations at the airport, or cannot be send due to
technical reason.

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The NM tactical team shall:

 Verify the status of the flight(s)
 Deactivate (undo activation) the flight in the ETFMS.

Note: As a consequence of the C-DPI, the flight will get an FLS message with comment
“Suspended by Departure Airport”. Normal DLA/CHG will be accepted by ETFMS.
Note: Currently, if the EOBT (from the Undo Flight Activation window) is before the last
TOBT + 15 minutes, the deactivation will update the FTFM but will not remove the
CTFM. Therefore, FPL updates will remain impossible. Otherwise, the deactivation will
be correctly applied and will remove the CTFM and FPL updates are possible.
Note: After deactivation, the TOBT/TSAT must be updated on the A-CDM platform. A
new DPI will be generated.

5.7.1.3 Cancel a Flight in the ETFMS

In certain circumstances flights which have been cancelled in the IFPS may be present
in the ETFMS due to a discrepancy between the IFPS and the ETFMS.
A flight cancelled in the IFPS but wrongly ATC / TACT activated remains active in the
ETFMS. This happens because the ETFMS rejects cancelling an ATC / TACT activated
flight. In this case, the flight must be manually cancelled in the ETFMS.
Note that when a flight is cancelled in the ETFMS it is only cancelled in that system
alone and not in the IFPS or for ATC.
This procedure is aimed to free capacity in such circumstances.

Procedure
Where a request to cancel a flight in the ETFMS is received from IFPS staff,
The NM DOM shall:
 Ensure that the flight is not airborne.
 In case the flight has been wrongly activated, deactivate the flight.
 Cancel the flight in the ETFMS.
 Log the event in FREE.

5.7.1.4 Exclude / Include a Flight from / in a Regulation

The exclusion of a flight from one or more regulations will normally happen when a
flight has been wrongly captured by the traffic volume or can be handled as an extra
by the FMP. A flight may be manually excluded only after coordination with the relevant
FMP(s). Requests for exclusion of a flight from a regulation may be made via the
telephone, the e-Helpdesk or the B2B interface.
It should be noted that flight exclusions may cause an inaccurate sector load count,
so caution should be used with this procedure.

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A flight may be excluded from one or more regulations only in the Area of
Responsibility of the requesting FMP, while if it is exempted, the flight will be
exempted from all regulations and all other ATFCM measures.
Excluded flights can be re-included if requested by the relevant FMP.

Procedure
Where a flight is identified to be excluded / included,
the FMP staff shall:
 Contact the NM tactical team to request exclusion / inclusion from / in a
regulation and provide valid reasons.
Note: A request for exclusion from multiple regulations simultaneously may be
performed via the telephone, the e-Helpdesk or the B2B interface.
the NM DOM / NM SNOC / NM NOC shall:
 Assess the impact of such an action on the Network.
 Exclude the flight from the regulation(s) where there is no impact on the
Network.
 Refuse exclusion where there is a negative impact on the Network.
 Re-include a flight in a regulation on FMP request (only if it was previously
excluded).
 Log the event in FREE.

5.7.1.5 Last Minute Improvement

The aim of this procedure is to take advantage of very short notice improvements
made available in a particular ACC or sector. The main targets of such improvements
are short haul flights with disproportionate delays (compared to flying time).
The procedure applies to flights operating in the following conditions:
 Entirely within the airspace of one ACC or between two adjacent ACCs and
 Entering the concerned sector in the next 30 minutes.
Based on the operational conditions, the following scenarios may occur:
 Flight(s) will receive a slot cancellation message (SLC).
 Should the flight(s) be subject to other regulation that is not pa rt of the
procedure it (they) may keep the current CTOT.
 Should the flight(s) be subject to other regulation that is not part of the
procedure it (they) will receive a slot revision message (SRM).
Excessive use of this procedure may indicate that the TFV description should be
reviewed.
In order to maintain necessary records of such events, confirmation by fax / email may
be required by the NM Tactical team.

Procedure
The FMP staff shall:
 Monitor the slot allocation list.

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 Detect flights with disproportionate delay.

 Coordinate with the sector(s) and / or adjacent FMPs concerned.
 Request by phone the NM tactical team to apply the slot exclusion for a
specific flight and if requested by the NM tactical team, confirm by fax / email
in the following format: ‘............... FMP, request exclusion for flight ...............
from regulation ...............‘
Having received a request from an FMP,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Verify that the flight meets the conditions listed above.
 Where it meets the conditions, exclude the flight, otherwise reject the request.
 Log the event in FREE.

5.7.2 Managing the Regulated Tactical Flight Model (RTFM)

5.7.2.1 Manual Creation of a Slot

On occasions it may be possible to allocate an additional slot to the existing rate at a
specific time period. This slot may be:
 allocated (to a coordinated flight) or
 released (for ETFMS use).
Such extra slots must be given by an FMP and manually created by the NM tactical
team.
When the Network Impact Display (NID) is displayed there is a possibility to perform a
what-if analysis for different slot times that permits:
 Move forward or backward the CTO(T) in 1 or 5 minute intervals.
 Move the CTO(T) forward or backward from/to the first encountered IFPS
error(s) to any CTO(T) that presents error changes.
Note: The maximum evaluated referenced time interval that is 4 hours

Procedure
Having agreed an extra slot with an FMP,
the NM tactical team shall:
Create that new slot in the slot list.
Identify the status of the new slot (not blocked / blocked / booked).
Request the FMP to update the monitoring value, or update the monitoring value as
agreed.

5.7.2.2 Manual Deletion of a Free Slot

The NM tactical team may identify unused slots in a time period where bunching has
occurred and decide to delete these slots in order to protect from an over -delivery.
They may inform the relevant FMP when they have deleted such slots.
Note: Free slots are not visible to FMPs.

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Procedure
Where NM tactical team identify any unused slots in a time period where bunching
has occurred, they shall:
 Delete the slot(s) in the slot list.
 Check the results and inform the FMP if relevant.

5.7.2.3 Manual Sending of a SIP and Assigning a Free Slot

When a regulation has available slots (e.g. after an improvement in the acceptance
rate of the regulation) and the ETFMS is not reacting automatically to improve flights,
a Slot Improvement Proposal (SIP) may be manually sent.
The reasons for doing so can be the result of requests from AOs and / or the
responsible FMP or the NM tactical team after monitoring a slot list and identifying the
need for a manual intervention.

Procedure
The FMP staff shall:
 Monitor the delayed flights flight list.
 Identify the flights with excessive delay or flights that can be improved
(including those flights proposed by AOs).
 Identify any period in the regulation where additional traffic can be accepted.
 Contact the NM tactical team and propose improvements for the identified
flights.
The NM tactical team shall:
 Monitor the delayed flights flight list / slot list.
 Identify the flights in slot issued status with excessive delay or flights that
can be improved (including those flights proposed by AOs or FMP staff).
 Ensure that the improvement respects the taxi time (MINLINEUP if in REA
status) of the departing aerodrome.
 For aircraft originating from A-CDM, ensure that the improvement is not
before the last known TTOT.
 Check the slot list for available slots and where any are found:
Either:
If the flight is in SWM status, send a SIP to that flight for the available slot.
Or:
If the flight is in REA or RFI status, allocate the available slot to that flight.

5.7.2.4 CTOT Improvement Management

CTOT improvement is an action to improve a slot-issued flight in the ETFMS by

proposing a new CTOT closer to its ETOT (or last received TTOT for A-CDM departures)
without creating an overload. This action will result in the allocation of a new CTOT for
that flight.

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CTOTs may be manually modified in the ETFMS upon request from FMP / TWR staff
or AOs.
This procedure does not apply to the slot swap procedure.
It is important that flights are not manually forced into low visibility arrival regulations
unless they have a compliant RVR value.
Note: When a flight is manually forced and a profile update (due to a CHG or DLA)
takes the flight outside of the regulation it was forced into, the flight will be
unforced and re-calculated based on the new profile.
When the Network Impact Display (NID) is presented there is a possibility to perform
a what-if analysis for different slot times that permits:
 Move forward or backward the CTO(T) in 1 or 5 minute intervals.
 Evaluate the impact on IFPS errors.
 Evaluate the impact on regulations and active traffic volumes.
Note: The maximum evaluated referenced time interval by the NID is 4 hours from
the reference TOT.
Note: Requests for CTOT improvement may be made via the telephone, the E-e-
Helpdesk or the B2B interface.

Procedure
The FMP staff shall:
 Monitor the Regulation flight lists.
 Identify the flights with excessive delay that could be improved within Most
Penalising regulations of their respective area of responsibility .
 Contact the NM tactical team and propose new CTO(T)s for the identified
flights (such a flight must be in slot issued status and REA or RFI status).
Note: Request may be made via the telephone, the e-Helpdesk or the B2B interface.
The TWR staff shall:
 Monitor the departure flight list.
 Identify the flights with excessive delay that could be negatively impacting
TWR operations.
 Contact the NM tactical team and propose new CTO(T)s for the identified
flights (such a flight must be in slot issued status and REA or RFI status).
The NM tactical team shall:
 Monitor the delayed flights flight list / slot list.
 Identify the flights with excessive delay that could be improved or flights
proposed by AOs or FMP / TWR staff.
 Ensure that the flight is in slot-issued status and REA or RFI status.
 Ensure that the improvement respects the taxi time (MINLINEUP if in REA
status) of the departing aerodrome.
 For aircraft originating from A-CDM, ensure that the improvement is not
before the last known TTOT. Coordination between the NM tactical team and
FMP / TWR (A-CDM) may be triggered to advance the TTOT (if the desired
CTOT is before the last TTOT).
 Identify any available capacity in the counts and select the most appropriate
period to force the flight.

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 Assess the Network impact before confirming the ‘force CTO(T)’ action by
checking the Network Impact Display (NID).
 In case of a negative impact on the Network, contact the relevant FMP(s)
about the possibility of improvement for such a flight.
 Force the flight if there is no significant impact on the Network or if the
FMP(s) accepts the new CTO(T).
 Release the forced flight for further processing in the ETFMS.
 If no improvement is possible for a flight, check the rerouteing / level capping
possibilities and ensure that any possible proposal found is sent to th e AO.

Note: CTOT improvement may be requested via the telephone, the e-Helpdesk or the
B2B interface. For A-CDM / Adv TWRs CTOT improvements can be requested for
which a T-DPI-s has been received.

5.7.2.5 CTOT Extension Management

CTOT extension requests are managed differently depending on whether the flight is
departing from an A-CDM (CDM or Advanced ATC Tower) or a non-CDM (Standard)
airport.
Note: Requests for CTOT extension may be made via the telephone or the e-Helpdesk.

Departures from non-CDM (Standard) airports

Where an aircraft is departing from a non-CDM airport and cannot be released in time
to respect its slot tolerance window (default is -5, +10min), the AO or the FMP / TWR
may request a slot extension for that flight. Provided the flight qualifies for an
extension, it should be given. Otherwise the AO shall send a DLA message. These slot
extensions are limited to a maximum of 10 minutes.
A request for a CTOT extension for traffic departing from non-CDM airports qualifies
when these conditions are met:
 The request comes within 20 minutes of the COBT required to achieve the slot
(CTOT - taxi time - less than 20 minutes) and no later than the COBT (such a
request may originate from the AO, FMP or TWR).
 The request comes when the current clock time has reached COBT (such a
request may only originate from the FMP / TWR).
 No prior slot extension has been given.
The delay due to CTOT extension requests will not be attributed to the FMP that
requested the regulation.

Procedure
For traffic departing from non-CDM airports, having received a CTOT extension
request from an AO or having decided to request it,
the FMP/TWR staff shall:
 Check if the flight meets the conditions above and check with the AO if the
request has not already been done by the AO itself and if not,

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 Pass the request to the NM tactical team.

Note: Request may be made via the telephone or the e-Helpdesk.
For traffic departing from non-CDM airports, having received a CTOT extension
request from an AO or FMP / TWR,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Check if the flight meets the conditions above.
 Assess the Network impact.
o Check the extension does not generate IFPS errors.
o Check the extension does not generate an overload. The capacity
should be respected in all regulations, not just the most penalising
one.
 If time allows, examine whether the flight can be swapped with a flight which
is ready to depart.
And then either:
 Give the slot extension if the conditions are met and there is no significant
impact on the Network and select the slot extension checkbox.
 Exclude the flight from the regulation if there is no significant impact on the
Network in case the flight is at the end of the regulation and the
extension would place the flight outside the regulation period.
Or:
 Refuse the extension if the conditions are not met and / or there is a negative
impact on the Network:
o The FMP/TWR shall:
 Contact the NM tactical team to coordinate to send the next
available CTOT, or
 Request the AO to send a DLA message.

Departures from Advanced ATC Tower airports

Flights departing from Advanced ATC Tower airports are also limited to a maximum
of 10 minutes slot extension. The AO or the FMP / TWR may request a slot extension
for the flight.
A request for a CTOT extension for traffic departing from Advanced ATC Tower
airports qualifies when these conditions are met:
 The request comes within 20 minutes of the COBT required to achieve the slot
(CTOT - taxi time - less than 20 minutes) and no later than the AOBT (such a
request may originate from the AO, FMP or TWR).
 The request comes when the current clock time has reached COBT (such a
request may only originate from the FMP / TWR).
 No prior slot extension has been given.
The delay due to CTOT extension requests will not be attributed to the FMP that
requested the regulation.

Procedure

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For traffic departing from Advanced ATC Tower airports, having received a CTOT
extension request from an AO or having decided to request it,
the FMP/TWR staff shall:
 Check if the flight meets the conditions above and check with the AO if the
request has not already been done by the AO itself and if not,
 Pass the request to the NM tactical team.
Note: Request may be made via the telephone or the e-Helpdesk.
For traffic departing from Advanced ATC Tower airports, having received a CTOT
extension request from an AO or FMP / TWR,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Check if the flight meets the conditions above.
 Assess the Network impact.
o Check the extension does not generate IFPS errors.
o Check the extension does not generate an overload. The capacity
should be respected in all regulations, not just the most penalising
one.
 If time allows, examine whether the flight can be swapped with a flight
which is ready to depart.
And then either:
 Give the slot extension if the conditions are met and there is no significant
impact on the Network and select the slot extension checkbox.
 Exclude the flight from the regulation if there is no significant impact on the
Network in case the flight is at the end of the regulation and the
extension would place the flight outside the regulation period.
Or:
 Refuse the extension if the conditions are not met and / or there is a
negative impact on the Network:
o If the flight is not yet taxiing, NM tactical team shall:
 Request the AO to send a DLA/CHG message.
o If the flight is already taxiing, the FMP/TWR shall:
 Contact the NM tactical team to coordinate to send the next
available CTOT, or
 Apply the return to the stand procedure.
Note: If the return to the stand procedure is applied, the AO
shall send a DLA/CHG message.

Departures from CDM airports

Flights departing from CDM airports are also limited to a maximum of 10 minutes slot
extension. Only the FMP / TWR may request a slot extension for the flight.
A request for a CTOT extension for traffic departing from CDM airports qualifies when
these conditions are met:
 The request comes after the ASAT (A-DPI sent) (such a request may originate
from the FMP or TWR).
 No prior slot extension has been given.

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The delay due to CTOT extension requests will not be attributed to the FMP that
requested the regulation.

Procedure
For traffic departing from CDM airports, having received a CTOT extension request
from an AO,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Not give a slot extension.
 If received via telephone or at the e-Helpdesk, give (or send) the following
answer: ‘Your flight is departing from a CDM airport. If your flight has received
start-up approval only the pilot can call the TWR (over the frequency) for a
slot extension. If your flight has not received start-up approval an update of
the TOBT is required’.
For traffic departing from CDM airports, if there is an operational need for a CTOT
extension request,
the FMP/TWR staff shall:
 Check if the flight meets the conditions above,
 Pass the request to the NM tactical team.
Note: Request may be made via the telephone or the e-Helpdesk.
The NM tactical team shall:
 Check if the flight meets the conditions above.
 Check the extension does not generate IFPS errors.
 Check the extension does not generate an overload. The capacity should be
respected in all regulations, not just the most penalising one.
 Assess the Network impact.
And then either:
 Give the slot extension if the conditions are met and there is no significant
impact on the Network and select the slot extension checkbox.
 Exclude the flight from the regulation if there is no significant impact on the
Network, in case the flight is at the end of the regulation and the extension
would place the flight outside the regulation period.
Or:
 Refuse the extension if the conditions are not met and / or there is a negative
impact on the Network:
o If the flight is not yet taxiing, NM tactical team shall:
 Request the update of the TOBT.
o If the flight is already taxiing, the FMP/TWR shall:
 Contact the NM tactical team to coordinate to send the next
available CTOT or,
 Apply the return to the stand procedure.
Note: If the return to the stand procedure is applied, the AO
shall send a DLA/CHG message and update the TOBT.

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5.7.2.6 Slot Swapping

The ETFMS slot swapping functionality is used to swap flights requested by AOs or
FMPs/TWRs. Additionally, it may be used to improve another flight if an aircraft
operator requests a slot extension (i.e. instead of forcing the flight).
AOs shall only request swaps concerning flights for which they are the responsible
operator (OPR in Item 18 of the FPL) or where there is a formal agreement between
both AOs to swap flights.
The NM tactical team will neither check that these flights are from the same operators
nor that a formal agreement exists.
FMPs may request swaps for two flights of the same AO or, during critical events at
airports, also between any different AOs.
Conditions:
 A request for a swap from an AO, TWR or FMP is received.
 For flights departing from A-CDM, the flight must not be pre-sequenced (not in
‘s’ CDM status).
 The two concerned flights must be in slot-issued status.
 The two flights must be subject to the same most penalising regulation.
 Up to three swaps per flight shall be accepted, except critical events upon FMP
request and NM OM approval.

Procedure
The concerned FMP / TWR (according to the most penalising regulation) may:
 Request the NM tactical team to swap two specific flights.
Having received a request for a swap from an AO or FMP / TWR,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Identify the flights.
 For aircraft originating from A-CDM, ensure that the improvement is not
before the last known TTOT.
 Check the Network Impact Display (NID).
 In case of a negative impact on the Network, refuse the action u nless all
impacted FMPs agree.
 Swap the two flights if the conditions are met and there is no significant
impact on the Network.
 Where the swap may be performed, leave forced the improved flight and
unforced the deteriorated flight.

5.7.2.7 Managing the REA Status of a Flight

The REA message is designed to enable local ATC / ARO units to inform the ETFMS
that a regulated flight is fully ready to depart before its EOBT / CTOT. Depending on
the time of reception of the message in the ETFMS, the flight may receive a CTOT of
up to 15 minutes earlier than the original EOBT according to the FPL. The flight set to
REA status allows the shortest available parameters for improving the new CTOT (the
ETFMS will prioritise a flight in REA status over a flight in RFI status under the same
conditions).

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Note: A flight in REA status will only receive a new improved CTOT if there is available
capacity, otherwise the CTOT will not change.
The message may modify the relevant taxi time by specifying a minimum line-up time
(MINLINEUP). If no time is specified in the message, the system will use the default
taxi time of the relevant aerodrome. The time at which the ETFMS receives a REA will
be used as the NEWEOBT.
On reception of the message for a regulated flight, the ETFMS will look for a CTOT no
earlier than the clock time of the reception plus the taxi time / MINLINEUP (NEWCTOT
= NEWEOBT + taxi time / MINLINEUP + delay). If an improvement is possible, the AO
and ATC will receive an SRM.
The conditions that apply are:
 The concerned flight is regulated.
 The message is sent up to 15 minutes prior to the EOBT of the flight.
 The message is not sent later than the CTOT - taxi time / MINLINEUP - SRM
minimum improvement time (5 minutes). The True Revision Process will also
try to improve the flight until then.
 Only ATC / ATFCM units can send a REA message. The REA message is sent
via SITA / AFTN or via the CHMI. AOs shall contact and coordinate with these
units in case they want to benefit from this functionality.

Traffic departing from A-CDM may send a REA message by following the same
process as for non-CDM airports. This may result in recalculating the CTOT and
deleting relevant information received in previous DPI messages. Most CDM airports
provide a T-DPI-s message instead of a REA message and ETFMS will react in the
same way if TTOT is before the STW. If the TTOT is inside the STW the REA status of
the flight is kept but ETFMS will no longer search for an improved CTOT.
Note that the ATFM delay calculation is expressed as:
 For REA messages: ATFM delay = CTOT – (last EOBT received in IFPS + taxi
time);
 For T-DPI-s messages: ATFM delay = CTOT – TTOT (the TTOT in the last E-DPI
/ T-DPI-t received).

Procedure
After being informed by an AO ready to depart before its EOBT / CTOT (e.g. doors are
closed and flight ready to depart),
the FMP / TWR staff shall:
 Decide if ground situation permits an earlier departure taking into account the
conditions set in the aforementioned list.
 In case an earlier departure is possible, specify the minimum line-up time
needed to let the aircraft go from the current position to the RWY and, if the
time needed is less or more than the current taxi time, add it in the REA
message (MINLINEUP).
 Send the REA message to the ETFMS.

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5.7.2.8 CASA Does Not Push Flights Into Closed Airspace

When a flight is regulated, the CTOT may delay the flight into one or more IFPS time
dependent constraints (e.g. RAD restrictions, CDR1 closed), hence violations appear in
en-route and / or airspace restrictions.
The ETFMS tries to take the IFPS validity period of each flight into account to prevent
flights from being pushed into a closed airspace by an ATFM delay. This validity period
will act as a ‘Slot not after…’. This behaviour solves most of the IFPS violations.
However, there are two marginal situations that can trigger coordination between the
different actors:
a) Some flights limited by the same IFPS restriction (Case of ‘V’ flights). In this case,
CASA might allocate slots so that these flights will arrive exactly at the beginning
of the IFPS validity period, creating a bunching at the beginning of the IFPS
closure and, possibly, inside the regulation. These flights for which the delay has
been limited to meet the IFPS constraint will be marked in the slot list and the
flight list with a ‘V’ in the CTOT column.
b) In some rare cases it is impossible for the CASA algorithm to meet both the
ATFCM constraint(s) and the IFPS validity period constraint(s) (Case of ‘X’
flights). For example, a zero rate regulation or RVR sub-period that would bring
the flight into an IFPS invalid period. In such a situation where the constraints
cannot be reconciled, the priority has been given to the ATFM constraint.
Therefore, the flight that presents IFPS violation(s) will be marked in the slot list
and the flight list with an ‘X’ in the CTOT column.
Note: The ETFMS, CHMI and the NOP Portal displays indicate that a CTOT Limit (CL)
given by CASA and the CTOT characteristic type.
The following displays will indicate that a CTOT Limit (CL) has been put in place:
 ETFMS / NOP Portal / CHMI flight list
 ETFMS Slot List
 NOP portal / CHMI ARCID list
 NOP Portal Measure Editor flight list
 NOP Portal / CHMI Flight Details
Procedure for ‘V’ flights during pre-tactical operations
The NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Monitor in pre-tactical operations the possible bunches produced by ’V’
flights that need to be fixed (especially during high delays situations).
 Note the characteristics of the ‘V’ flights for possible actions (e.g. to be
communicated to the NM tactical team via the Network Brief).
 If the bunching is considered excessive, coordinate with the FMP an
alternative solution (e.g. disabling temporarily the environment restriction).
The communication should be: ‘Do you accept the following flights … via the
restricted area / route / point... for the next … hours?’).
 If there is a need to coordinate with adjacent FMPs, take the appropriate
actions.

Procedure for ‘V’ flights during tactical operations

In case of a bunching of ‘V’ flights that needs to be fixed,

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the FMP staff shall:

 Contact the NM tactical team and communicate the bunching to be solved.
The staff in NM SNOC position (SNOC during the day / DOM during the night) shall:
 Monitor in tactical operation the possible bunches produced by ’V’ flights that
may need to be fixed (especially during high delays situations) or reported by
the FMP.
 If the bunching is considered excessive, further advance some flights to
reduce the bunching.
 If the bunching is such that the ‘V’ flights, after advancing, would occupy a
significant number of consecutive slots in the regulation (in case of high
delay and low rate) the following action will mitigate the problem:
o Select the ‘V’ flights, force them to CTOTs with a new delay equal to half
of the initial delay. For example: Initial CTOT 1200, delay 60m, force it to
a new CTOT=1130, that means 1200-30min. This technique will keep the
initial ‘natural’ spreading of the demand.
o If the previous solution is not possible then coordinate with the FMP an
alternative solution (e.g. temporarily disabling the environment
restriction). The communication should be: ‘Do you accept the following
flights … via the restricted area / route / point... for the next … hours?’).
 If the disable action of the restriction is accepted, coordinate with the
NM AD supervisor to disable the restriction.
 Coordinate with adjacent FMPs, if deemed necessary.
 Re-compute the FTFM Validity of the ‘V’ flights producing the
bunching.
 Deep rectify the regulation.
 Check that the ‘V’ flights concerned have received a SRM and have
been pushed forward in the slot list.
o If the previous solution is not possible, then coordinate an alternative
solution as follows:

A. If time permits (OBT of ‘V’ flights more than 1 hour in the future),
the staff in NM SNOC position (SNOC during the day / DOM during the night) shall:
 Create the list of flights to be re-routed and communicate it (via email) to the
NM AOLO and the NM IFPS supervisor (note that disabling of restrictions may
be necessary).
The NM AOLO shall:
 In coordination with the NM IFPS operator, analyse the IFPS error(s) and
produce, using the ‘What if’ tool or Group Rerouting Tool (GRRT), a Rerouting
Proposal (RRP) for each flight.
 Check Off-Block Time (OBT) validity period of the RRP in order to make sure
that the possible new delay is not limited by IFPS restriction (no new ‘V’ flights
are produced as a result of the RRP).
 Send RRPs inserting warning information by using the ETFMS email function.
 Inform the NM IFPS Supervisor and the NM SNOC of the RRPs sent.
 Contact by phone the AO to explain the situation.
The staff in NM SNOC position (SNOC during the day / DOM during the night) shall:
 Suspend the corresponding ‘V’ flight by using the ‘Suspend V Flights’ feature.

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 The system will process FPL messages modifying the flight trajectory of
manually suspended ‘V’ flights and automatically de-suspend the flights if the
V condition is removed as a result of the FPL message processing.
In case a flight remains manually suspended, the NM IFPS supervisor will check
incoming messages related to the ‘V’ flight concerned and:
 Verify that the CHG or CNL followed by FPL is consistent with the RRP.
 Inform the SNOC, if the revised or new FPL is consistent with the RRP, who
will manually de-suspend the flight.
 If the revised or new FPL is not consistent with the RRP, manually modify the
FPL (MAN), inform the SNOC after the ACK, who will manually de-suspend
the flight.

B. If time is critical (OBT of ‘V’ flights less than 1 hour in the future),
the staff in NM SNOC position (SNOC during the day / DOM during the night) shall:
 Create an MCP regulation using the same TFV as the regulation where the
bunching needs action. This will be used to remove the bunching by further
delaying the flights and give additional time to execute the RRP process
described above.
o Reg id: CPVF + date
o Start time: 5 min before first flight in the bunching.
o End time: start time + 3 hours
o Traffic Volume Set : NETWORK
o Reason: Other
o ANM remark: NETWORK CHERRY PICK DUE TO ATFM DELAY
INDUCING IFPS VIOLATION
 Inform the FMP owner of the overloaded regulation about the MCP creation.
 Manually force the flights to the end of MCP regulation period minus 15 min.
 Start the re-routing steps as described in case A above.

Procedure for ‘X’ flights during tactical operations

In case of ’X’ flights,
the NM tactical team shall immediately contact the originator of the restriction and
advise to manage the incoming traffic.

5.7.3 Flight Activation Monitoring (FAM)

In the areas in which Correlated Position Reports (CPRs) are received and flight
activation monitoring (FAM) is enabled, those flights which are expected to be airborne
but are not actually reported as airborne at the expected time will be regularly ’shifted’.
When a pre-determined maximum time shift is reached, any such flight will then be
suspended and will receive an FLS.
In normal circumstances such a flight shall not receive a departure clearance (for more
details on FAM refer annex A, Flight data).
An FMP may request the NM to disable FAM only for technical reasons, in such cases
the NM Customer technical Service desk and Operations (CSO) shall be informed.

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5.7.3.1 Undo FAM

The undo Flight Activation Monitoring (FAM) functionality has been designed to avoid
shifting and suspending flights when no CPRs are received.
Due to intermittent radar coverage, it is possible that an Entry Node ( EN) sends plots
for a part of the covered airspace but not at all for another part of the airspace. This
could happen in case of radar malfunction. In this case, the FAM will assume that the
entry node is still working properly because plots are received from this EN. The FAM
will then unduly shift and suspend flights.
If a flight is wrongly shifted by the FAM, after undoing FAM the flight will be un-shifted
back to its FTFM (and ETOT) if it is not regulated. If the flight is regulated, the ETFMS
will recalculate its slot and the flight will be shifted to its new CTOT with a new RTFM.
If a flight is wrongly suspended by the FAM, after undoing FAM the flight will be de-
suspended. If the flight is not regulated, the current tactical flight model (CTFM) will
be set to the ETOT of the FTFM before suspension. If the flight is regulated, the ETFMS
will recalculate its slot and the flight will be shifted to its new CTOT with a new RTFM.
As a result, undo FAM can only be performed after ETOT / CTOT or ETO / CTO.

Procedure
After establishing that FAM is not working correctly,
the FMP staff shall:
 Identify and select the flight(s) which are wrongly shifted / suspended by
FAM.
 Report the affected flight(s) to the NM tactical team.
Having been informed by an FMP that flights are not shifted or suspended as
appropriate,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Undo FAM for the selected flight(s).

After establishing that FAM is not working correctly,

the NM tactical team shall:
 Identify and select the flight(s) which are wrongly shifted / suspended by
FAM.
 Coordinate with the appropriate FMP any further action.
 Inform the NM DOM.
 Undo FAM for the selected flight(s).

5.7.4 FLS Triggered by DPI-Transmitting Aerodromes

Aerodromes that provide Target Take-Off-Times (TTOT) to the NM via DPI messages
(e.g. A-CDM) also occasionally send Cancel DPI (C-DPI) messages. This is done in
case there is an interruption in the departure / turn-around process for a particular
flight and the new Take-Off-Time is not yet known. The C-DPI message will result in an
FLS being sent by ETFMS.

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At reception of a new E-DPI, T-DPI-t or T-DPI-s message triggered by e.g. a TOBT

update or a DLA/CHG updating the EOBT, the flight will receive a new SAM, DES or FLS
sent by the ETFMS.
The AO is expected to communicate the updated TOBT (via his Handling Agent) to the
A-CDM platform, which will transmit a new TTOT to the ETFMS by DPI messaging. An
A-DPI message is rejected for suspended flights. However, an A-DPI TWRUPDATE
message will be accepted from Advanced ATC Tower airports and from A-CDM
airports using this feature. The flight will receive a new SAM, DES or FLS sent by the
ETFMS.
If the flight has already departed, the first received ATC message (DEP / FSA) or the
first received CPR will automatically de-suspend the flight in ETFMS (no SAM or DES
is sent).
Procedure
In case the flight is suspended by the airport via a C-DPI,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Request the FMP / TWR or AO staff to:
o Request the handling agent to provide a new TOBT or
o Take manual action to put the flight back into the pre-departure
sequence or to trigger an A-DPI TWRUPDATE (from Advanced ATC
Tower airports).
o Request the AO to send a DLA or CHG message to align EOBT with
TOBT. Although the DLA or CHG will trigger a de-suspension
message, the TOBT update is required.

5.7.5 Monitoring of Tactical Delay Savings

Delay savings achieved via individual flight improvements may be monitored via the
ETFMS flight list display. With this enhancement, it is possible to see the list of all
flights that were manually treated.
Actions that deliver direct delay impact are: Force CTO/T, Force SLOT, Flight ‘x’ on Slot
‘y’ (Override Slot) and exclusions.

Procedure
To better monitor the tactical delay savings,
the NM DOM shall:
 Monitor throughout the day of operations a flight list filtered with Force
CTO/T, Force SLOT, Flight ‘x’ on Slot ‘y’ (Override Slot) and Exclusion actions.
 Where the Network situation allows, support the annual en-route delay
reduction objective by keeping the ‘delay delta’ for al ATFM delays above a
certain percentage (10-15%).

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5.7.6 Flights Pushed Outside Regulations

Flights shifted outside a regulation (e.g. by FAM) will be highlighted in red in the
regulation list, in order to trigger action from the NM tactical team and to inform the
AO about the status of their flight.
Procedure
When a flight is shifted outside a regulation, and a call is received by a TWR for th e
exclusion of this flight,
The NM tactical team shall:

 Exclude the flight from the regulation to send a SLC message to the
AO;

When a flight is shifted outside a regulation, and a call is received by an AO

about this flight,
The NM tactical team shall:

 Confirm that the flight is no longer subject to a regulation, and

 Ask the AO to send a DLA message.

Note: The AO may receive a SLC message with comment: “REASON OUTREG” if the
flight is not subject to other regulations.

5.8 Flow Management (FM) Helpdesk

The FM Helpdesk is provided to assist and encourage Flow Management Positions,
Towers, Aircraft Operators and Flight Handling Agents to follow the correct procedure
for their situation, and to help them solve their problem whenever it cannot be solved
by use of ATFM message exchange.
The FM Helpdesk service is available via telephone and via the NOP Portal (via the
e-Helpdesk).
For FMPs and TWRs, the e-Helpdesk allows requests for slot improvement and slot
extensions. FMPs are also allowed to request the exclusion from one or more of their
regulations.

5.8.1 Answering Helpdesk Queries

The Helpdesk attempts to answer queries as follows:
 Assistance to follow the correct procedure for particular problems;
 When possible, assistance to reduce delays;
 Providing information concerning ATFCM measures.
The e-Helpdesk will be treated with priority over FM Helpdesk phone calls. The
telephone service is reserved for business aviation and those who do not have internet
access.

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Note: Flights that are in “Ready” status will be marked in the queue in the details area
of the e-Helpdesk request (only HMI impact, these requests will be processed
as any other).

Procedure
The NM tactical team assigned to Helpdesk tasks shall:
 Advise the NM DOM when the number of waiting calls increases.
 Respond to Helpdesk queries regardless of the way the request arrives, but
prioritising the queries received through the e-Helpdesk and those phone
calls with the label ‘BIZJET’.
 Use the drop down menu items when responding if possible. In case a
suitable menu item does not exist or further explanation is required, use the
free text box and explain the reason in plain English (avoid copying directly
from the ETFMS).
 Notify [email protected] of possible missing response types.
 Use the flag for general interest in cases where there are, or are expected to
be, multiple queries for the same reason.
 Report to the NM DOM if the caller becomes abusive, while not responding to
that abuse. A claim shall be submitted through the NM DOM if deemed
appropriate.
 In the event of internet connection problems, notify CSO immediately.
The NM DOM shall:
 Reinforce the Helpdesk accordingly in case the workload increases.
 Set a rule on the e-Helpdesk in case of major problems on a specific area, in
order to send automated answers and decrease the response time to other
queries.

5.8.2 e-Helpdesk automatic processing of requests

The automatic processing of e-Helpdesk requests, from TWRs, FMPs and AOs, is
possible through the setting of:
1. Permanent rules
 Duplicate requests;
 Requests for slot extension, slot improvement and slot swap
before SIT1;
 Slot extension non-CDM;
 Slot extension A-CDM;
 Not suitable for manual improvement from A-CDM;
 Most penalising regulation changed;
 Not regulated.
2. Regulation based rules
 Delay improvement requests, based on:
o Regulation Slot Improvement rejection rule based on:

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 Fixed delay value;

 Local average delay percentage factor.
3. General auto response rules – user defined response rule (possible
default selection)
The automatic processing of requests enables the NM tactical team to focus on other
tasks with a high added value for the Network.

Procedure
Management of automatic processing rules
The NM DOM (or NM SNOC if NM DOM is unavailable) shall:
 Monitor the Network situation and the saturation of the e-Helpdesk with
requests and as necessary manage (enable/disable/set parameters) the
e-Helpdesk automatic processing rules described in the following
sections.

 Manage the automatic processing via the Scenario Display.

The Scenario Display manages all types of e-Helpdesk rules. An e-Helpdesk rule may
be applied on multiple Regulations.

Permanent rules
Duplicate Request Rejection rule
In the Scenario Display shown as: “Duplicate_Request_Rejection”
Function:
The same requests for slot extension, slot improvement or exclusion from a
Regulation within a defined time parameter are either automatically rejected or
supersede the same existing request in the e-Helpdesk queue based on the criteria
of:
 Request originator priority (TWR, FMP or AO)
 Processing status of the preceding request (Proposed or
Coordinated)
Default setting:
 Elapsed Time between requests = 15 min.

Rule management
The NM DOM shall:
 Monitor the Network situation and saturation of e-Helpdesk with
requests;
 If necessary, set the elapsed time between requests

Requests for slot extension, slot improvement and slot swap before SIT1

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In the Scenario Display shown as: “Sit1_Request_Rejection”

Function:
Requests for slot extension, slot improvement and slot swap received before the
flight’s SIT1 are automatically rejected.

Slot extension non-CDM and A-CDM rejection rules

In the Scenario Display shown as: “Slot_Extension” (non-CDM) and
“Slot_Extension_CDM” (CDM)
Function:
The e-Helpdesk distinguishes two separate Slot extension rejection rules. The
following applies:
 Non-CDM or Advanced ATC TWR departures: Slot extension requests
outside the 20 min window before COBT or when clock time reached
COBT are automatically rejected (“Slot extension” rejection rule).
Requests from the originator type TWR or FMP after COBT will not be
rejected.
 CDM departures: Slot extension requests from originator type AO are
automatically rejected (“Slot extension A-CDM” rejection rule).
Requests from the originator type FMP and TWR will not be rejected.

Not suitable for manual improvement from A-CDM

In the Scenario Display shown as: “Not_Suitable_For_Manual_Improvement”
Function:
A-CDM departures: Requests for improvements are rejected where the flight’s TTOT
(from T-DPI-s)=minCTOT falls within the Slot Tolerance Window. Such request is not
rejected when it is submitted by the originator type TWR.

Most penalising regulation changed

In the Scenario Display shown as: “Most_Penalising_Regulation_Changed”
Function:
When something changes regulation-wise for a flight in the queue it will auto-reject
the request.

Not regulated
In the Scenario Display shown as: “Not_Regulated”
Function:
This rule is only valid for request for improvement and extension, but the flight
already has a provisional take off time (PTOT) assigned it will auto-reject the request.

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Regulation based rules

Regulation Slot Improvement Minimum Delay rejection rule

After a right click, selecting New/e-Helpdesk Rule in the Scenario Display shown as:
“Regulation Slot Improvement Minimum Delay”
Function:
Regulation Slot Improvement Minimum Delay rejection rules in the Slot Improvement
tab:
a. Regulation Delay
b. Average Regulation Delay %
1) If only one of the 2 possible rules (Regulation Delay (fixed) and Average
Regulation Delay (MLAD) are enabled for the selected specific
regulation(s), all delay improvement requests for flights regulated by the
specific regulation(s) will be automatically compared with the Regulation
Delay parameter set as a fixed value or a selected percentage factor of the
Local Average Regulation Delay (MLAD).
Delay improvement requests with a delay lower than the Regulation Delay or MLAD
parameter are automatically rejected.
Delay improvement requests with a delay higher than or equal to the Regulation Delay
parameter or MLAD are submitted for manual processing by the NM tactical team.
2) Both Regulation Delay (fixed) - and Average Regulation Delay (MLAD)
rejection rules are enabled for the same regulation
All delay improvement requests for flights regulated by the specific regulation(s) will
be automatically compared with the fixed parameter and also with the MLAD
parameter.
Delay improvement requests with a delay lower than the parameters are
automatically rejected.
Delay improvement requests with a delay higher than or equal to parameters are
submitted for manual processing by the NM tactical team.
Note: The automatic rejection based on Regulation Slot Improvement Minimum Delay
rejection rule does not apply on flights in READY status.
Default setting:
 Rule = Disabled;
 Regulation slot improvement delay parameter in the Slot Improvement
tab
o Fixed value selected according to delay generated by the
Regulation(s) and the Network situation (default 10’), or
o LAD Factor (%) = selected percentage of the Local Average Delay
(possible values are between 50 and 150 %, default 120%).
 Application period = according to Network situation;
 Regulation Id = specific selected Regulation(s) in the Regulations tab;
 Application Period =

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o Select Activity period determined by regulations (default), or

o Manually (deselect “Activity period determined by regulations”
checkmark);
Rule management:
The NM DOM shall:
 Monitor the Network situation and saturation of e-Helpdesk with
requests;
 If necessary enable the rule, request the approval of the OM on duty
(in case the OM is not available, a mail should be sent to the OM Group
with the Head of NOS or the manager on call in copy.)
 If approval is given, enable the rule and set the:
o Application period end time and;
o Regulation delay and/or Average Regulation Delay parameter.
The rule becomes disabled when reaching the end time.
 If necessary, disable the rule, or to advance the expiration of the rule,
the end time can be modified.

Note: When Activity period determined by regulations checkmark is deselected and

the Regulation period is modified (reduced/extended in the Regulation Editor),
modify the end time of the rule;
Note: It is possible to set one rule for multiple regulations by selecting more
regulations in the Regulations tab (type the first character of the regulation id to
invoke a drop down regulation selector).

General Auto Response rule

In the e-Helpdesk application shown as: “General Auto Response”
Function:
By setting the General Auto Response rule it is possible to set predefined responses
to selected request types.
This rule can be activated for multiple regulations by selecting the regulations in the
Regulations tab.
Default setting:
 Rule = Disabled;
 Regulation Id = specific selected Regulation(s);
 Application Period =
o Activity period determined by regulations (default),
or
o Manually (deselect “Activity period determined by
regulations” checkmark);
 Request Types in the Auto Response tab

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o Select manually
o Select using the “Default” button preset where
automatically:
 8 predefined responses are included;
 Select manually:
 the predefined response type “Sorry,
no improvement possible. Regards.”
in the Settings tab is selected;
 General Interest checkmark in the
Auto Response tab.

Rule management:
The NM DOM shall:
1) Monitor the Network situation and saturation of e-Helpdesk with
requests;
2) If necessary, enable the rule and set the:.
a. Rule application end time or enable the “Activity period
determined by regulations ” checkmark
b. Regulation Id(s);
c. Request types;
d. Response
The rule becomes disabled at expiration of the rule application end time.
3) When Activity period determined by regulations checkmark is
deselected and the Regulation period is modified (reduced/extended
in the Regulation Editor), modify the end time of the rule;
4) if necessary, disable the rule. To advance the expiration of the rule,
the rule application end time can be modified.

Note: It is possible to set one rule for multiple regulations by selecting more
regulations in the Regulations tab (type the first character of the regulation id to
invoke a drop down regulation selector).

Queue management
The MCDM Orig. column specifies the delegator (TWR type and TWR identification)
with a ‘d’ on whose behalf the request was made.
Requests are sorted automatically based on the following order:
1) Request originator: A-CDM > Adv.TWR > other airports > FMP > AO
2) Within each originator by request types (Extension > Improvement >
Exclusion > other
requests)
3) Within Extension requests: sorted by time closest to CTOT

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4) Within Exclusion from regulation requests: sort by difference between

highest flight delay and the LAD
5) Within Improvement requests: sorted by difference between highest
flight delay and the LAD
6) Within all other requests - sorted by submission time
Therefore the request on top of the queue should be treated first.
The NM NOO, NM AOLO shall only process requests of originator type AO,
unless instructed otherwise by the NM OM / NM DOM.

The NM SNOC, NM NOC shall process request of all originator types (FMP,
TWR, AO), unless instructed otherwise by the NM OM / NM DOM.

The NM DOM shall normally process request of all originator types (FMP,
TWR, AO).

Publication of active rules

The NM DOM shall assess whether it is necessary, in exceptional
circumstances, to publish any information about active automatic processing
rules via the NOP/AIM and propose the publication to the NM OM.

5.8.25.8.3 Flight Criticality Indicator

Airspace users have the possibility to flag e-Helpdesk requests as critical for:
 Specific flight schedules which are key for airspace users’ operations plans, or;
 Flights for which reducing ATFM delay is critical for their business.

Each airspace user can submit a critical request for:

 5% of its regulated flights;
 A minimum of 1 flight, and;
 A maximum of 20 flights.

Critical requests are highlighted in the NOP flight list and e-Helpdesk queue to the
NMOC staff for processing in magenta colour. Critical e-Helpdesk requests will not be
subject to e-Helpdesk automatic processing rules (e.g. automatic rejection). This
functionality is also available via the B2B communication channel.

Critical e-Helpdesk requests are subject to Network constraints depending on:

 The number of filed flight plans during the day of operations;
 The number of regulated flights in the system.

The criticality flag (magenta colour) will be presented in the following

displays:
 ETFMS flight list

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 ETFMS Flight Request window (MCDM Flight List)

 NOP flight list
 NOP E-Helpdesk queue
As specified above, this flag indicates the criticality of a specific flight for
AO operations. However, the final decision on improving the flight is in
the hands of the NMOC coordinator, who will decide based on Network
constraints.

Procedure
Any critical flight arriving in the e-Helpdesk shall not be dealt with by e-Helpdesk
staff (NOO), since it requires coordination with FMP/TWR, it shall be referred to
one of the NOC, SNOC, AOLO or DOM positions.
NM NOO staff shall:
- Have the following filter applied in the MCDM Flight List:
 Right click in the Stat column
 Wildcards / Configure…
 In Excluding patterns add *C*
 OK
- Refer any criticality request requiring coordination with FMP/TWR to
one of the NM NOC, SNOC, AOLO or DOM positions

NM NOC, SNOC, AOLO or DOM shall:

- reduce the ATFM delay of the critical flight as much as possible (i.e.
irrespective of average delay), by:
1. Forcing the flight to the earliest possible CTOT using all available
means without penalising other flights – if the load allows. […]

The other FM Staff should reduce the ATFM delay of the critical flight as
much as possible (i.e. irrespective of average delay etc.):
1. If the load allows, force the flight to earliest possible CTOT using
all available means without penalising other flights;
2. If the above would cause an overload or any other issue, after
mandatory coordination with FMP, force or exclude the flight or
increase the rate accordingly;
3. If the above is not possible request the AOLO to send an RRP.
In case the critical flight is subject to several ATFCM regulations, the
impact on all regulations needs to be assessed.
 Criticality flag may be communicated only via the E-Helpdesk
application, it is not possible to communicate criticality flag via the
phone.

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5.8.35.8.4 Earliest Minimum Take-Off Time

Via the e-Helpdesk airspace users are able to provide the earliest take-off time that
they can achieve and help the NM Tactical team when finding the most suitable
improvement. This can increase the likelihood of getting the requested improvement
and reduce the time of response.

5.9 Local Procedures for Participating FMPs

The following options are available for those FMPs that have formal agreements to
make use of them.
The FMP tactical ATFCM measures are a reflection of the NM Agreements where
applicable.
In addition, there are a number of ATFCM local procedures agreed and published with
the FMPs concerned.

5.9.1 FMP Tactical ATFCM Measures

ACCs may use a range of Tactical Capacity Measures (TCM) before and after
departure intended to optimise available capacity.

5.9.1.1 Level Capping (Internal)

Such measures may affect vertical profiles within an ACC and in the immediately
adjacent ACC. ACCs shall ensure that the necessary inter ACC coordinations are
carried out before initiating such measures.
Where such measures are proposed to traffic below or adjacent to an ACC, affected
flights shall be requested to by the ACC to refile accordingly with the IFPS.
Where early descents are coordinated with adjacent ACCs or within an ACC AFP
messages are not required unless the RFL of the flight between adjacent ACCs has
been altered.
Individual coordination of such measures with the NMOC is not required.

5.9.1.2 Reroute Scenarios (Internal)

Tactical rerouteing is applied within the ACC in order to better distribute traffic and to
reduce sector complexity and occupancy. Such measures do not require AFP
messages.
Individual coordination of such measures with the NMOC is not required.

5.9.1.3 Minimum Departure Intervals (MDI)

Minimum departure intervals (MDIs) are occasionally coordinated between ACCs and
adjacent airports and FMPs. These measures can avoid the requirement for
regulations in the ACC area. Application of such measures does not alleviate the
requirement for EOBT and CTOT adherence.

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The measures are normally used in the tactical phase for short durations and may be
requested to major aerodromes / aerodrome groups below or adjacent to the AoR of
the ACC. These measures are coordinated directly between the ACC and adjacent
FMPs / airports.
Prior coordination with the NMOC for these measures is not obligatory.

5.9.1.4 Miles in Trail (MIT)

Miles in trail (MIT) are occasionally coordinated between sectors in an ACC and
adjacent ACCs.
The measures (MIT) are normally used in the tactical phase for short durations and
may be requested to adjacent ACCs below or adjacent to the AoR of an ACC. These
measures (MITs) are coordinated directly between the ACC and adjacent FMPs.
Prior coordination with the NMOC for these measures is not obligatory.

5.9.2 Cross-Wind Exclusions at Amsterdam Schiphol

Amsterdam Schiphol (EHAM) operates as a hub-airport with high capacities during the
peak hours. During inbound mode two landing runways are used and one departure.
The outbound mode means one landing and two departure runwa ys
In situations where high westerly winds restrict the use of the airport heavily, only one
runway for landing will be available. More runways are available but only for traffic
which can accept high cross-wind components. ATC cannot offer these runways due
to legal reasons. However, AOs with destination EHAM may request the use of these
runways before taking off.
In such cases a regulation for EHAM arrivals will be applied with the appropriate rate
for the single runway in use for landing. Extra capacity can be found in the use of extra
runways with high cross-wind component. To make use of this extra capacity the
following conditions apply:
 During regular briefings with EHAM, Met-office, aircraft operators (AOs) and
ATC-supervisors it will be decided which runways will be used.
 A runway with a high cross-wind component will be available for aircraft which
can accept the high cross-wind component.
 AOs will identify flights which could accept high cross-wind and communicate
the flights with Amsterdam FMP.
 If the aircraft excluded cannot land, it will be diverted to the alternate airport in
the FPL (e.g. EHRD) and will not re-enter the normal arrival sequence.
 The exclusion request will only come from Amsterdam FMP.
 AOs may use the procedure only after having signed a Service Level Agreement
(SLA) with LVNL.

Procedure
In cases of heavily westerly winds and where an arrival regulation is applied at EHAM,
the Amsterdam FMP staff shall:

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 Coordinate with the NM tactical team which flights will be excluded from the
EHAM arrival regulation.
 Request the NM tactical team to add the line below to the ANM remark of the
EHAM arrival regulation.
The NM tactical team shall:
 Include the following line in the ANM remark of the EHAM arrival regulation
(if already applied, shallow rectify the regulation, add the text to the ANM
remark and Activate Publish it):
o HHMM-HHMM UTC EHAM CROSSWIND EXCLUSIONS IN USE SEE
DUTCH AIP
Note: ‘HHMM-HHMM UTC’ is the period when this procedure is active, where ‘HH’ is
hours and ‘MM’ is minutes.
 Exclude the coordinated flights from the EHAM arrival regulation.
 Increase by one the arrival monitoring value (MV) during the concerned hour
each time a flight is excluded from the regulation. This is done for monitoring
purposes.
 Information on activation of cross-wind procedure to be published on
the NOP Portal – Headline News – Tactical update accordingly.

5.9.3 Paris Charles de Gaulle Diversion Plan

This procedure is designed to prioritise flights that have diverted to re-position to their
original destination: LFPG. This procedure has been agreed with DSNA, LFPG, LFFF
FMP and the NMOC.
The AO concerned for each diverted flight shall contact the CDM@CDG.
The assumption is that an arrival regulation will be in force at LFPG. If not already
applied, LFFF FMP will request the NMOC to apply an arrival regulation. The rate will
be defined through coordination between CDM@CDG and Paris-FMP according to the
number of diverted flights, to the CDG Arrival actual Capacity and to the Paris-ACC
sectors demand / capacity balancing.
A priority flight list will be established by the CDM@CDG in collaboration with the AOs.
This list will be communicated to Paris-FMP (by phone + email), who will then
communicate the list to the relevant NMOC tactical position (by phone + fax).
In all cases, flight plans must be updated to reflect the CDM process and the normal
CTOT adherence rules apply.

Procedure
In case of an arrival regulation is required to manage diverted flights and re-position
them to their original destination,
the LFFF FMP staff shall:
 Contact the NM tactical team and request an arrival regulation with the
agreed acceptance rate between CDM@CDG and LFFF according to the
number of diverted flights / CDG arrival actual capacity / Paris ACC sectors
demand and capacity balancing.

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 Communicate the priority flight list established by the CDM@CDG in

collaboration with the AOs.
 Send the priority flight list by fax.
The NM tactical team shall:
 Apply the arrival regulation.
 Collect the relevant information on the priority flight list.
 Force the priority flights into the LFPG arrivals regulation.
 Ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to achieve minimal delay for the
diverted flights affected by other regulations.
 Advise AOs that flight plans must be updated to reflect the CDM process and
the normal CTOT adherence rules apply.

5.9.4 DSNA Traffic Volume Set

As part of a project to improve performance and optimise the balance between safety
and traffic flow DSNA uses a TFV Set attributed to DSNA globally instead of a particular
French FMP.
This TFV Set (named LFDSNA) is used when a French FMP decides to apply a specific
measure to help reduce the delay in another French ACC, thus treating a flow globally
inside France instead of a specific sector. The delay will be attributed to France rather
than a specific FMP.
The request for the use of LFDSNA may be for a variety of reasons and the appropriate
regulation reason should be applied in coordination with the FMP.

Procedure
In the case a French FMP requests the implementation of an ATFCM measure (e.g.
regulation or scenario) to protect a global flow in France,
the DSNA FMP staff shall:
 Request the NM pre-tactical / tactical team to allocate this delay to the TFV
Set: LFDSNA instead of its own local TFV Set using the phraseology: ‘Allocate
delay to TFV Set LFDSNA’.
The NM pre-tactical team during the pre-tactical phase and the NM tactical team
during the tactical phase shall:
 Apply the regulation and replace the original TFV Set associated with the TFV
being regulated with LFDSNA.
Note: If the FMP does not specifically state that the regulation should be allocated
to LFDSNA, the original TFV Set shall be left unchanged.

5.9.5 Regulation and Delay Management for Canarias ACC

5.9.5.1 Canarias ACC Sector Regulations – Southerly Wind Conditions

The impact of southerly winds causes a reduction in capacity of GCCCINZ (from a
standard 35 to 26) or GCCCIGZ (from a standard 30 to 25).

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Procedure
Where southerly wind conditions apply,
the GCCC FMP staff shall:
 Request a regulation for either:
 GCCCINZ.
or
 GCCCIGZ.
The NM tactical team shall:
 Apply the regulation on the required TFV using ‘Weather’ as regulation reason
and either:
 Rate: 26/60 for GCCCINZ.
or
 Rate: 25/60 for GCCCIGZ.

5.9.6 Regulation Application at Ibiza Airport

In order to reduce the overall delay at Ibiza (LEIB) and while avoiding the saturation of
the airport apron, there has been an agreement between the NMOC and Palma FMP to
apply regulations at Ibiza (LEIB) only on arrivals.
In addition, GA traffic (around 30% of the traffic) has a huge impact on operations and
causes an imbalance between capacity and demand and a lack of traffic predictability.
Ibiza (LEIB) TWR will manage the departure sequencing including the use of variable
and progressive taxi times applied through Palma FMP. In addition, the NMOC will
assist with manipulation of CTOTs as necessary (and where possible) to expedite the
sequence.

Procedure during tactical operations

Where a demand peak is expected in the arrival traffic on the day of operations,
the LECP FMP staff shall:
 Contact the NM tactical team and request to apply a regulation for LEIB arrivals
as early as possible.
The NM tactical team shall:
 Apply the regulation with the following details:
o Rate 16/60 when arrival regulation does not exceed 80 minutes, or
o Rate 14/60 when arrival regulation exceeds 80 minutes.
o In cases where there is no negative impact on the Global Airport
capacity or ATC sectors, rates can be higher during the following hours
with the possibility to modify the rate in order to use the whole global
capacity of 28/60 of the airport (depending on the foreseen departures).
Regulations’ Period: As requested by LECP FMP staff.
Where required and in order to expedite the departure sequence at LEIB,
the LEIB TWR Supervisor must:
 Contact LECP FMP staff and request modifications to the taxi time.

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 Contact LECP FMP staff and request CTOT extension(s) (see CTOT extension
management) or modifications to the DTW / STW default parameters (see
Short-term ATFCM solutions).
The NM tactical team shall:
 Assist LECP FMP.
 Perform the CTOT extension(s) or modifications to the DTW / STW parameters
(see Short-term ATFCM solutions).
In order to comply with the working arrangement outlined in this procedure,
the LECP FMP staff shall:
 Timely update the taxi time and MVs for the relevant TFVs in order to comply
with the working arrangement outlined in this procedure (see Updating CACD
data in PREDICT / ETFMS and Runway criteria update) according to the pre-
tactical information.

5.9.7 Manual suspension for traffic overflying Swiss territory

The objective of this procedure is to ensure that all flight plans for State and Military
flights overflying Swiss territory shall be checked for a valid diplomatic clearance
issued by the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA).
A flight plan filed for a State or Military flight intending to fly over Swiss territory without
having valid diplomatic clearance will be suspended.
The decision to suspend a flight plan in case of no valid diplomatic cleara nce shall be
made by FMP Zurich or Geneva. The FMP shall request the Network Manager
Operations Centre (NMOC) for a flight plan suspension via dedicated telephone lines
indicating the details of the flight plans concerned. In case the request for Manual
Suspension concerns flights departing outside the IFPZ, NM cannot ensure the FLS
will reach the AO in question.

Procedure during tactical / pre-tactical operations

When Zurich or Geneva FMP identify a flight with no valid diplomatic clearance, they
shall:
 Contact the tactical operations position on telephone number (+32 2 745
1900) with a request for SUSPENSION
 Confirm the request by sending an E-mail to [email protected]
As soon as the request to suspend a specific flight is received, the NM DOM (or
SNOC) shall:
 Verify the telephone number FMP ZRH +41 44 801 1302 / FMP GVA +41 22
417 4013 to confirm that the request is indeed originating from the
competent FMP.
 Select the specified flight.
 Push the ‘Action…’ button, bottom-right of the Command Display.
 Select the Action Type: ‘Manual Suspend’.

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 Insert the following text in the appropriate text box:

“NO VALID DIPL CLR FOR LS. CHECK SVC MSG. REF AIP LS GEN1.2.5"
 Apply
In case that suspended flights are accepted to operate over Swiss territory at a later
stage, on explicit request from the above-mentioned FMP, the NM DOM (or SNOC)
shall:
 Select the specified flight from flight list of the traffic Demand
 Push the ‘Action…’ button, bottom-right of the flight list
 Select the Action Type: ‘Remove Manual Suspend’
 Apply

Note: NMOC tactical operations personnel are not required to perform any
assessment before executing it. The responsibility for identifying individual
flights lies entirely with Zurich or Geneva FMP.
Note: It is essential that coordination in regard to the above procedure shall only take
place between NM DOM (or SNOC) and Zurich or Geneva FMP (see above
telephone numbers). No other positions within Skyguide or other agencies in
Switzerland are empowered to suspend flights without valid diplomatic
clearance or de-suspend when the diplomatic clearance has been validated.

5.9.8 Zürich Departure Priority Window

Due to safety reasons LSAZ FMP will stop arrivals during certain periods in the hours
of the morning rush in order to allow a higher number of departures.
Flights departing from out of area or any other flight in exempted status may not be
captured by a regulation.

Procedure during pre-tactical operations

Pre-tactically, before weekend days and Baden-Württemberg (Germany) holidays for
LSZH arrivals,
the LSAZ FMP staff may:
 Contact the NM pre-tactical team and request an arrival zero-rate regulation:
o for the landing configurations DVO34,
o from 06:00 UTC in winter time (05:00 UTC in summer time). The
regulation duration may vary daily, but not exceeding 45 minutes,
o with regulation reason ‘Environmental issues’ and ANM remark
‘PRIDEP’.
 If required, request a regulation for the period immediately following the zero-
rate regulation and provide its rate.
The NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Apply the zero-rate regulation as requested by the FMP with auto-link
enabled.

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Procedure during tactical operations

On the day of operations,
the LSAZ FMP staff may:
 Contact the NM tactical team and cancel the zero-rate arrival regulation in
case of bad weather conditions or other local issues.
 If required, request before 04:30 UTC in winter time (03:30 UTC in summer
time) a regulation for the period immediately following the zero-rate
regulation and provide its rate.
The NM tactical team shall:
 Apply the modifications to the regulation as requested by the FMP.
 Not perform any coordination with the FMP in case an exempted flight
appears in the slot list.

5.9.9 Manual Suspension for Traffic to/from Nice Airport (LFMN) and
Lyon Airport (LFLL)
The objective of this procedure is to ensure that all flight plans for flights arriving at or
departing from LFMN and LFLL shall be checked against allocated slots by the DGAC
or a competent authority.
The consistency check between flight plan and airport slots shall be strictly limited to
“No-slot” occurrences, i.e. a flight plan filed for a flight intending to take off or land at
LFMN or LFLL, during the coordinated period without having an airport slot allocated
by COHOR (Association pour la Coordination des horaires, the slot coordinator for
French airports).
The decision to suspend a flight plan in case of a ‘no slot’ occurrence shall be made
by DGAC and COHOR. This authority shall request the Network Manager Operations
Centre (NMOC) for a flight plan suspension via dedicated telephone lines indicating
the details of the flight plan concerned. Flight plans that have been activated by ATC
shall not be suspended.
Procedure
When the competent authority (COHOR) have decided to suspend a flight, they shall:
 Contact the tactical operations position on telephone number (+32 2 745
1900) with a request for SUSPENSION
 Confirm the request by sending an E-mail to [email protected]
As soon as the request to suspend a specific flight is received,
the NM DOM (or SNOC) shall:
 Verify the telephone number (+33 1 49 75 88 10, +33 1 85 08 69 29, or +33 6
47 04 83 92) to confirm that the request is indeed originating from the
competent authority, COHOR.
 Select the specified flight.
 Push the ‘Action…’ button, bottom-right of the Command Display.
 Select the Action Type: ‘Manual Suspend’.
 Insert the following text in the appropriate text box:
“No Airport Slot, contact COHOR +33149758810 , AIC FR. A12/17”

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 Apply
In case that suspended flights are accepted to operate at LFMN or LFLL at a later
stage, on explicit request from the above authority,
the NM DOM (or SNOC) shall:
 Select the specified flight from flight list of the traffic Demand
 Push the ‘Action…’ button, bottom-right of the flight list
 Select the Action Type: ‘Remove Manual Suspend’
 Apply
In exceptional circumstances and for either operational or safety reasons,
the NM DOM (or SNOC) shall:
 De-suspend flight plans on their own initiative

Note: The above procedure is NOT an ATFCM measure. NMOC tactical operations
personnel are not required to perform any assessment before executing it.
The responsibility for identifying individual flights lies entirely with DGAC or a
mandated authority.
Note: It is essential that coordination in regard to the above procedure shall only
take place between NM DOM (or SNOC) and COHOR (see above telephone
numbers). No other positions within DGAC or other agencies in France are
empowered to suspend flights without airport slot or de-suspend when a slot
has been allocated.

5.9.10 LFPB Arrivals Management under Application of RNP APCH

Procedures
Under specific conditions, some airports require Performance Based Navigation (PBN)
equipment. At Le Bourget airport (LFPB), procedures based on RNP LNAV / VNAV –
LPV or LNAV will be used in the event of a planned or unplanned outage of the ILS.
Depending on the RWY configuration, the type of failure or technical intervention, a
specific regulation will be used to capture the not properly equipped flights and impose
them a different landing rate. It will work in conjunction with an arrival regulation
capturing all inbound flights.
The operational objective is to limit the amount of non-equipped flights within a
specified arrival rate during the PBN period. To achieve this, two regulations have to
be created based on two different traffic volumes. The first traffic volume (LFPBARR)
captures all arrivals to LFPB whereas the second one (LFPBR N27 or LFPBRN25 or
LFPBRN07) captures exclusively non-equipped flights. The RNP traffic volumes at
LFPB are defined as follows:
LFPBRN27: this captures non-equipped aircraft with a lower rate (traffic which are
neither – ‘B’ in field 10a NOR S2 in field18)
LFPBRN07: this captures non-equipped aircraft with a lower rate (Traffic which are not
B in field 10a)
LFPBRN25: this captures non-equipped aircraft with a lower rate (traffic which are
neither – ‘B’ in field 10a nor S2 in field18 nor S1 in field 18)

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Procedure
LFPG Approach Supervisor shall:
 Monitor LFPB ILS 27 or ILS 07 or LOC 25 availability and contact the LFFF
FMP, that will inform NM tactical team of a planned or unplanned outage of
the ILS that could lead to the application of the PBN procedure.
LFFF FMP shall:
 Contact NM Tactical team and request the application of an arrival regulation
to set a global arrival rate and a second arrival regulation to set a rate for the
non-equipped aircraft.
LFPB, LFPG Approach Supervisor and LFFF FMP shall:
 Evaluate the required lead time in order to capture the necessary traffic.
The NM tactical team (DOM / SNOC) shall:
 Implement the regulations based on the LFFF FMP request;
 Publish an AIM (see examples below procedure).
LFFF FMP shall:
 Monitor the regulation flight lists and communicate to the NM tactical team
and LFPG approach when necessary.
LFPG Approach Supervisor shall:
 Inform LFPB accordingly.
The NM tactical team (DOM / SNOC) shall:
 Monitor and perform the necessary updates after coordination with LFFF
FMP.

There are two cases to be considered:

 Case 1: There is already a LFPBA ‘normal’ regulation applied.
 Case 2: There isn’t any LFPBA regulation applied yet.

When Case 1: There is already a LFPBA ‘normal’ regulation applied is applied:

The NM tactical team (DOM / SNOC) shall:
 Update the existing regulation and create the new one for non-quipped flights
as follows:

Regulation_1 (Deep Rectify)

 TFV: LFPBARR
 Reg. Id: LFPBA22A
 Reg. period: as requested by LFFFFMP (sub-period where the PBN procedure
is applicable).
 Rate: as requested by LFFFFMP
 Auto link: NO

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Regulation_2 (New) - this captures non-equipped aircraft with a lower rate

TFV LFPBRN27 or LFPBRN07 or LFPBRN25
 Reg. Id: LFPBP22A regulation
 Regulation Period: as requested by LFFFFMP (where the PBN procedure is
applicable).
 Rate: as requested by LFFFFMP
 Auto link: YES
 ANM Remark:
In case of LFPBRN27: RNP APPROACH PROCEDURES AT LFPB, NON LNAV/VNAV
OR LPV EQUIPPED MAY ENDURE ADDITIONAL DELAY IN ARRIVAL TMA
In case of LFPBRN07: RNP APPROACH PROCEDURES AT LFPB, NON LPV EQUIPPED
MAY ENDURE ADDITIONAL DELAY IN ARRIVAL TMA
In case of LFPBRN25: RNP APPROACH PROCEDURES AT LFPB, NON LNAV OR
LNAV/VNAV OR LPV EQUIPPED MAY ENDURE ADDITIONAL DELAY IN ARRIVAL TMA

When Case 2: There isn’t any LFPBA regulation applied yet:

The NM tactical team (DOM / SNOC) shall:
 shall create the following regulations:

Regulation_1 (New)
 TFV: LFPBARR
 Reg. Id: LFPBA22A
 Reg. period: as requested by LFFFFMP (sub-period where the PBN procedure
is applicable).
 Rate: as requested by LFFFFMP
 Auto link: NO

Regulation_2 (New) - this captures non-equipped aircraft with a lower rate

TFV LFPBRN27 or LFPBRN07 or LFPBRN25
 Reg. Id: LFPBP22A regulation
 Regulation Period: as requested by LFFFFMP (same as Regulation 1, where
the PBN procedure is applicable)
 Rate: as requested by LFFFFMP
 Auto link: YES
 ANM Remark:
In case of LFPBRN27: RNP APPROACH PROCEDURES AT LFPB, NON LNAV/VNAV
OR LPV EQUIPPED MAY ENDURE ADDITIONAL DELAY IN ARRIVAL TMA
In case of LFPBRN07: RNP APPROACH PROCEDURES AT LFPB, NON L PV EQUIPPED
MAY ENDURE ADDITIONAL DELAY IN ARRIVAL TMA
In case of LFPBRN25: RNP APPROACH PROCEDURES AT LFPB, NON LNAV OR
LNAV/VNAV OR LPV EQUIPPED MAY ENDURE ADDITIONAL DELAY IN ARRIVAL TMA

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When applying the procedure, the AIM publication should be as follows:

In case of LFPBRN27:
LFPB ARRIVALS (RNP APCH) PROCEDURES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REF : RNP APPROACH PROCEDURES AT LFPB
VALID : WEF: UTC.... UNTIL.... UTC
REG ID: LFPBP22A
TFC : TRAFFIC DESTINATION LFPB WITHOUT RNP APPROACH AUTHORISED
CAPABILITIES - S2 (FIELD 18) OR B (FIELD 10A) - MAY ENCOUNTER ADDITIONAL
DELAYS
REMARKS:
• FLIGHTS REQUIRING ADITTIONAL INFORMATION SHALL CONTACT LFFF
FMP
• FLIGHTS DIVERTING AND NOT YET DEPARTED SHALL CNL THE FPL AND
RE-FILE TO ALTERNATE AERODROME
• FLIGHTS NOT INTENDING TO OPERATE SHALL CNL THEIR FPL BY SENDING
A CNL MESSAGE

NETWORK MANAGER OPERATIONS CENTRE - BRUSSELS

In case of LFPBRN07:
LFPB ARRIVALS (RNP APCH) PROCEDURES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REF : RNP APPROACH PROCEDURES AT LFPB
VALID : WEF: UTC.... UNTIL.... UTC
REG ID: LFPBP22A
TFC : TRAFFIC DESTINATION LFPB WITHOUT RNP APPROACH AUTHORISED
CAPABILITIES - B (FIELD 10A) - MAY ENCOUNTER ADDITIONAL DELAYS
REMARKS:
• FLIGHTS REQUIRING ADITTIONAL INFORMATION SHALL CONTACT LFFF
FMP
• FLIGHTS DIVERTING AND NOT YET DEPARTED SHALL CNL THE FPL AND
RE-FILE TO ALTERNATE AERODROME
• FLIGHTS NOT INTENDING TO OPERATE SHALL CNL THEIR FPL BY SENDING
A CNL MESSAGE

NETWORK MANAGER OPERATIONS CENTRE - BRUSSELS

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In case of LFPBRN25:
LFPB ARRIVALS (RNP APCH) PROCEDURES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REF : RNP APPROACH PROCEDURES AT LFPB
VALID : WEF: UTC.... UNTIL.... UTC
REG ID: LFPBP22A
TFC : TRAFFIC DESTINATION LFPB WITHOUT RNP APPROACH AUTHORISED
CAPABILITIES – S1 OR S2 (FIELD 18) OR B (FIELD 10A) - MAY ENCOUNTER
ADDITIONAL DELAYS
REMARKS:
• FLIGHTS REQUIRING ADITTIONAL INFORMATION SHALL CONTACT LFFF
FMP
• FLIGHTS DIVERTING AND NOT YET DEPARTED SHALL CNL THE FPL AND
RE-FILE TO ALTERNATE AERODROME
• FLIGHTS NOT INTENDING TO OPERATE SHALL CNL THEIR FPL BY SENDING
A CNL MESSAGE

NETWORK MANAGER OPERATIONS CENTRE – BRUSSELS

5.9.11 Management of bad weather events of short duration at EGLL

If a bad weather event of short duration, normally due to fog or low cloud, is forecast
at EGLL, the UK FMP may apply a special low visibility procedure. In that case the UK
FMP will request the NMOC to apply TFV EGLLTCWX (based on the LTC airspace as
the reference location).
The operational goal of these TFVs is to exempt traffic departing from DA**, DT**,
GC**, GM**, HE**, LC**, LG**, LL**, LT**, OL** and UD**.
Note: Because in this case the exemption is done by means of a flow (in a traffic
volume), flights originating from these areas remain subject to other en -route ATFCM
measures.

Procedure
Having received a request from the UK FMP
the NM Tactical team shall:
 Apply an arrival regulation based on EGLLTCWX traffic volume.

Note: Detailed NATS procedure has been extracted for information from the UKFMP
MATS Pt 2., chapter 3.7.9. and set out below (valid at the day of issuing of this
OOI).
3.7.9 Management of short term bad weather at Heathrow
When considering a regulation for Heathrow arrivals due to weather the Airspace
Capacity Manager or ACMS will confirm from the TC Operations Supervisor
whether the weather conditions can be regarded as sh ort term. Short term

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weather would normally include fog or low cloud triggering low visibility
operations. The only exception to this would be if the met forecast clearly
indicates that the condition is expected to persist for most or all of the day.
Strong winds, snow or ice do not qualify as short term. Traffic volumes have
been created which will exempt traffic and are as stated in the current Grid.
3.7.9.1 Reversion to normal operations
Once the weather condition triggering this procedure has cleared it may be
necessary to reapply the Heathrow arrival regulation in order to ensure that
traffic from the above departure points are treated equitably and issued with
CTOTs in the normal way. In this case there will need to be a short period of
overlap and the 2 regulations will need to be linked.

5.10 ASM / ATFCM Network Impact Assessment

The application of the FUA concept ensures that, through the daily allocation of flexible
airspace structures, any necessary segregation of airspace is based on real usage
within a specific time period and airspace volume.

Civil-military coordination
Airspace Use Plan (AUP) and Updated Airspace Use Plans (UUPs) are produced by
AMCs to allow concurrent civil-military operations.
These plans need to be incorporated into pre-tactical and tactical operations with
minimum disruption to civil traffic as well as allowing effective military operations.
Within the NMOC Network impact assessment procedures the AUP / UUP process
defined in the ASM Handbook is described as the following procedures.

5.10.1 Management of the AUP / EAUP (ASM / ATFCM Procedure 1)

Optimising capacity usage via an assessment on the impact on the network of
expected airspace allocation during activities the day before operation. This procedure
is finalised with the publication of the European AUP (EAUP).

Procedure
Having received a draft AUP on D-1 and together with the NM pre-tactical team,
the MILO shall:
 Update PREDICT with the draft AUP.
 Analyse the draft AUP impact on previously identified hot-spots.
 Identify potential additionally created problem areas.
 Assess the impact of the request at network level (e.g. on-loading sector,
sector reconfiguration, complexity, work load etc.).
 Optimise requested airspace allocation (e.g. changing the activation time,
flight level band, CDR 1 closure details).
 Coordinate requested changes with the responsible Airspace Management
Cell (AMC).

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 Inform the NM pre-tactical team about the result of the coordination with the
AMC.
 Brief FM Tactical staff and the NM AOLO for the next day.
The NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Inform the MILO of any identified en-route areas of high density traffic
demand that exceed the available capacities by a significant margin (hot-
spots).
Having been informed by the MILO regarding the AUP intention to implement
airspace segregation,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Analyse the draft AUP impact on previously identified hot-spots.
 Identify potential additionally created problem areas.
 Verify with the responsible FMP if this new situation has got capacity impact
resulting in monitoring/capacity value update in ETFMS.
 Assess the impact of the request at network level (e.g. on-loading sector,
sector reconfiguration, complexity, work load etc.).
 Coordinate with the MILO for optimisation of airspace allocation (e.g.
changing the activation time, flight level band, CDR 1 closure details).
 Brief FM Tactical staff and the NM AOLO for the next day.
Should the optimisation be refused by the AMC,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Look for and evaluate all possible ATFCM solutions in order to minimise
Network disruptions.
 Coordinate the resulting ATFCM solutions with all relevant parties.
 Update the draft ATFCM Daily Plan (ADP).
 Update the Network Brief.
Having received a briefing from the NM pre-tactical team and the MILO on D-1,
the NM tactical team shall:
o Prepare a briefing document for the day of operations in coordination
with the NM AOLO. The document shall include:
o Expected situation from the D-1 plan.
 AUP/UUP opportunities identified.
 Ensure that this information is disseminated externally if deemed
appropriate.
Having received a briefing from the NM pre-tactical team and the MILO on D-1,
the NM AOLO shall:
 Contribute towards the briefing document prepared by the NM tactical team for the
day of operations.

5.10.2 Management of the UUP / EUUP (ASM / ATFCM Procedure 2)

Making better use of airspace opportunities (alteration of airspace restrictions,
increase route availability) on the day of operations in order to provide additional route
options to aircraft operators. This procedure is finalised with the publication of
European Updated Airspace Use Plan (EUUP) whenever required.

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Note: This procedure is, according to the ASM Handbook, not compulsory to all
states.

Procedure during pre-tactical operations

On D-1, having received new UUPs,
the MILO, in conjunction with the NM pre-tactical team, shall:
 Analyse the UUPs impact on previously identified hot-spots.
 Analyse the UUPs for additional route availability and advise the NM AOLO.
 Contribute to briefing by NMOC Pre-tactical to the NM tactical team and NM
AOLO for the next day on:
o Expected situation from D-1 plan
o AUP/UUP opportunities identified
Having received new UUPs,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Analyse the UUPs impact on previously identified hot spots.
 Adapt the draft ADP for increased availability given by the UUP.
Having received a briefing from the NM pre-tactical team and the MILO on D-1, in
coordination with the NM AOLO,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Prepare a briefing document for the day of operations. The document shall
include:
o Expected situation from D-1 plan.
o AUP / UUP opportunities identified.
 Ensure that this Information is disseminated externally if appropriate.
After receiving a briefing from the NMOC Pre-tactical and MILO,
the NM AOLO shall:
 Contribute towards the briefing document prepared by the NM tactical team for
the day of operations. The document shall include:
o Expected situation from D-1 plan.
o AUP/UUP opportunities identified.

Procedure during tactical operations

On the day of operations, having received a UUP,
the MILO, in conjunction with the NM tactical team, shall:
 Analyse the impact of the UUP on previously identified hot-spots.
 Analyse the UUPs for additional route availability and advise the NM AOLO.
The NM tactical team shall:

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 Ensure that NM tactical team members brief themselves from the briefing
document produced on D-1.
 Analyse the tactical situation and re-evaluate opportunities.
 Continue to review and re-evaluate opportunities with each released UUP.
The NM AOLO shall:
 Brief themselves from the briefing document produced on D-1.
 Review and re-evaluate opportunities with each released UUP.

5.10.3 UUP Requesting Additional Airspace / Route Segregation (ASM

/ ATFCM Procedure 3)
Ensuring more flexible use of airspace on the day of operations in order to better
respond to ad-hoc military needs while minimising the negative impact on the network.
This procedure is finalised with the publication of EUUPs according to the procedures
described in the ERNIP Part 3 ASM Handbook.
Note: This procedure is, according to the ASM Handbook, not compulsory to all
states.
Procedure during pre-tactical operations
In the event of a UUP requesting additional airspace or route segregation,
the MILO shall:
 Assess the impact of the request at Network level (e.g. on-loading sector, sector
reconfiguration, complexity, work load etc.).
 Optimise requested airspace allocation (e.g. changing the activation time, flight
level band, CDR 1 closure details).
 Coordinate requested changes with AMC responsible.
 Inform the NM tactical team about the result.
The NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Assess the impact of the request at network level (e.g. on-loading sector, sector
reconfiguration, complexity, work load etc.).
 Look for and evaluate all possible ATFCM solutions in order to minimise
Network disruptions.
 Coordinate the resulting ATFCM solutions with all relevant parties.
 Update the draft ADP.
 Update the Network brief, INP and NOP Portal.
In coordination with the MILO,
the NM pre-tactical team, shall:
 Brief the NM tactical team and the AOLO for the day of operations:
o Expected situation from D-1 plan.
o AUP/UUP opportunities identified.

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Procedure during tactical operations

In the event of a UUP requesting additional airspace or route segregation,
the MILO shall:
 Coordinate with the NM tactical team.
 Assess the impact of the request at Network level (e.g. on-loading sector, sector
reconfiguration, complexity, work load etc.).
 Optimise requested airspace allocation (e.g. changing the activation time, flight
level band, CDR1 closure details).
 Coordinate requested changes with AMC responsible.
 Inform the NM tactical team about the result.
Having been informed by the MILO regarding the intention to implement new or
increase already published airspace segregation,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Verify with the responsible FMP if this new situation has got capacity impact
resulting in monitoring/capacity value update in ETFMS.
 Assess the impact of the request at network level (e.g. on-loading sector, sector
reconfiguration, complexity, work load etc.).
 Coordinate with the MILO for optimisation of airspace allocation (e.g. changing
the activation time, flight level band, CDR1 closure details).
When optimisation is refused by the AMC,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Identify the flights impacted by the route closure.
 Try to reduce Network impact by looking for opportunities.
 Suggest rerouteing.
 Inform the NM AOLO.
Having been informed by the NM tactical team regarding an additional airspace or
route segregation,
the NM AOLO shall:
 Identify the flights impacted by the new UUPs update.
 Look for the opportunities.
 Send RRPs in coordination with the NM tactical team.

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6 Procedures in Unusual
Circumstances
6.1 Adverse Operating Conditions at Aerodromes
Normal operating procedures at aerodromes can be affected by events which make
compliance with ETOTs and CTOTs difficult or which may have an impact on arrivals.

6.1.1 Short-Term ATFCM Solutions

The NMOC may be able to minimise the impact of adverse operating conditions by
coordinating short term modifications to the normal criteria for ETOTs and CTOTs and
/ or releasing individual flights by exempting them.
In situations where departures are affected by deterioration in local operating
conditions and ETOT or CTOT cannot be met within the approved tolerance windows,
the procedure described below may apply.
The procedure is designed to be in effect for a maximum of a 1 hour period of time,
but it can be extended if necessary. The request has to be repeated every hour to
confirm that the adverse condition continues and to verify if the current Network
situation allows for further extensions. The maximum values of the Slot Tolerance
Window (STW) / Departure Tolerance Window (DTW) are shown in the table below
(except for traffic departing from A-CDM where a discretionary extension may be
applied after assessing the Network impact).
Default Minima Maxima
Before After Before After Before After
DTW 15 15 0 0 15 30
STW 5 10 5 10 15 30

The procedure is aimed to cope with situations such as:

 Emergencies at the aerodrome;
 ATC system failures at the aerodrome or at the ACC not yet reflected in ATFCM
measures but which may prevent departures for a short period;
 Departure rate significantly lower;
 Adverse weather (e.g. unmanageable de-icing conditions);
 Any other situation that may be identified as affecting the opera tion of the
aerodrome.
The procedure shall not be used in case of an individual flight that cannot make its
CTOT or ETOT, low visibility conditions or routine de-icing procedures.
The application of this procedure will modify the DTW for non-regulated flights and the
STW for regulated flights. Values for both STW and DTW should normally be equally
extended by the agreed amount of time.

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Departures from non-CDM aerodromes

Departures from non-CDM aerodromes are not subject to any other conditions apart
from those mentioned above.

Procedure
Where a need for a temporary modification of the taxi time or increase of the DTW /
STW and / or exemption for one or more affected regulated aircraft from one of the
non-CDM aerodromes of their responsibility,
the FMP staff shall:
 Check that the situation applies.
 Coordinate with the NM DOM,
o to update the taxi time (see Runway criteria update);
o to obtain approval for short term modifications to the STW / DTW;
o for the exemption of specific flights from the departure regulation
(see Manual exemptions).
The NM DOM shall:
 Assess the Network impact, especially in adjacent sectors of neighbouring
ACCs.
 In case the Network impact analysis shows no particular problems, approve
an extension of STW and DTW and introduce these values in the ETFMS and
/ or exempt the specific agreed flights.
 In exceptional circumstances (e.g. sector loads already close to or at their
limits), coordinate with the FMP, devise alternative solutions (e.g. application
of a regulation).
 Neither grant STW / DTW flexibility nor exemptions for any specific flight
going into congested areas (high delay and adverse conditions).
 Inform the airport(s) / FMP(s) associated with receiving the main traffic flow
about the new STW / DTW values (e.g. via AIM).
 Log the corresponding agreement in FREE.

Departures from A-CDM

Departing flights from CDM airports, affected by this procedure shall have their profiles
updated by the TTOTs if they fall within the new STWs and DTWs.
Updates coming from E-DPI, T-DPI-t, T-DPI-s falling within the STW will be accepted
and profile updated. Should the updates bring the take-off time after the STW, the
ETFMS will consider it as a DLA message and may recalculate the CTOT, cancel the
slot or suspend the flight.
T-DPI-s bringing the flight before STW will be taken as ‘No slot before’, the flight will
receive REA status and the flight should not be forced before the provided TTOT time.
In case of unmanageable de-icing problems, DTW / STW extension is possible for de-
icing flights (if the de-icing status is present in the DPI message only those flights
should be selected). If the slot extension for de-icing flights is not sufficient to improve
the situation, a general DTW / STW extension may be requested. In such cases an
extension of 10 minutes to the upper boundary is possible (see De-icing).
Depending on how difficult the adverse situation is at the affected A-CDM, the
maximum values for the upper boundary of the DTW / STW may be further extended,

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but only where capacity is reduced at least to a 20% of its nominal value (as stored in
CACD).

Procedure
Upon the expectation of adverse conditions, when a decrease of departure capacity
is expected (e.g. single RWY operations, adverse weather operations, etc.) at an
A-CDM,
the FMP / TWR in charge shall:
 Contact the NM DOM and increase awareness on an upcoming adverse
situation.
The NM DOM shall:
 Inform the network about the potential delay at the specific airport (e.g. via
AIM, NOP Portal).
In the event of confirming the adverse operating conditions,
the FMP / TWR in charge shall:
 Inform the NM about the specific deterioration in service provision (see
INFORMATION REQUIRED FROM FMP / TWR FOR CDM AERODROMES).
 Identify the problems they are encountering.
 Coordinate with the NM DOM,
o to update the taxi time (see Runway criteria update);
o to obtain approval for short term modifications to the STW / DTW;
The NM DOM shall:
 Assess the Network impact, especially in adjacent sectors of neighbouring
ACCs.
 In case the Network impact analysis shows no particular problems, approve
an extension of STW and DTW and introduce these values in the ETFMS and
/ or exempt the specific agreed flights.
 In exceptional circumstances (e.g. sector loads already close to or at their
limits), coordinate with the FMP, devise alternative solutions.
 Neither grant STW / DTW flexibility nor exemptions for any specific flight
going into congested areas (high delay and adverse conditions).
 If necessary, inform the airspace users via AIM, NOP Portal.
 Inform the airport(s) / FMP(s) associated with receiving the main traffic
flow about the new STW / DTW values (e.g. via AIM).
 Log the corresponding agreement in FREE.

In case of severely disrupted operations at an airport,

the NM DOM may:
 Force a small number of flights to depart after the STW but with a CTOT
equal to the updated TTOT.

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6.1.2 Management of Low Visibility Conditions

Whenever low visibility conditions are forecast for an aerodrome in the area of
responsibility of a particular FMP, such conditions may reduce the capacity so as to
require ATFCM measures to be applied.
Reduced landing rates at certain busy European airfields during low visibility
conditions can lead to excessive holding and a reduction in ATC capacity in adjacent
ATC sectors.
There are three main possibilities:
 Do nothing.
 Apply a regulation without XCD.
 Apply a regulation with XCD.
The ‘do nothing’ option is available if, despite the demand, the capacity is still sufficient
and enough airborne holding is available to accommodate traffic demand.
Note: The risk of the ‘Do nothing’ or the implementation of measures too late
is that traffic will be held in the vicinity of the aerodrome and when the
holding stacks become full, en-route holding and possible refusal of
aircraft from adjacent ACCs may occur. If this happens, it may be
almost impossible to recover efficiently. The only possible action is to
apply measure(s) immediately with a rate of 0 / 60, only gradually
increasing the rate as the situation stabilises.
The FMP, after coordination with the TWRs is aware of the achievable landing rate for
inbound traffic associated to RVR capabilities. Then a regulation without exceptional
conditions (XCD) may be effective, as confirmation is not necessary.
Note: Caution should be exercised if low visibility conditions are forecast for
a limited time, as forecasts may be inaccurate. In these circumstances
a simple regulation may be applied as a precautionary action. It is easier
to apply and improve / cancel if the situation improves than to apply
when it is too late and the aircraft are already airborne.
If the landing capabilities of the demand are not know n or thought to be largely made
up of aircraft that are likely not to meet the expected RVR, then a regulation with XCD
may be more effective.
Note: The role of the FMP is essential in these conditions as the NM is
effectively ‘blind’ and must rely on continuous assessment of the traffic
situation by the FMP in order to adjust in real time. The RVR value used
may not be directly related to the actual RVR at the aerodrome. It is a
figure that may be used to filter the traffic which can be permitted to
proceed.

6.1.2.1 Low Visibility Condition – Without Exceptional Conditions (XCD)

The procedure is aimed at situations where a regulation is not deemed appropriate or

a regulation without XCD is considered more beneficial.

Procedure
The FMP staff shall:

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 Monitor actual and forecast weather for the aerodromes of their

responsibility and promptly notify the NM tactical team of potential problems
arising.
 Analyse demand and capacity in impacted aerodromes and airborne
holdings.
 Analyse existing regulations.
 Where considered appropriate, request a regulation.
 Where a regulation is requested:
o Provide the NM tactical team with the rates, time period and all other
associated information (see Apply a regulation).
o Monitor the load after the implementation of the regulation.
 If actual conditions deteriorate or improve, notify the NM tactical team as
soon as possible and provide updates as required.
The NM tactical team shall:
 Monitor actual and forecast weather and promptly notify FMP staff of
potential problems arising.
 Obtain relevant information from the FMP and issue a low visibility alert
message (AIM) to warn the AOs of the possible application of ATFCM
measures and invite them to send an FCM with their RVR minima.
 Apply a regulation as requested by the FMP.
 Monitor the load after the implementation of the regulation.

6.1.2.2 Low Visibility Conditions – With Exceptional Conditions (XCD)

The low visibility XCD is implemented as follows, a single regulation should be created
for the required TFV:
 with XCD and a rate for the low visibility period, and
 without XCD and a rate as necessary when resuming normal operations.
There are three main cases indicating how flights can be affected by this XCD-
regulation:

Case 1
Flights estimating during the XCD time are suspended, if RVR is not known. The FLS
for suspended flights will contain a RESPBY time (clock + 20 minutes), enabling the
AO to keep any present CTOT if the FCM with sufficient RVR is received by the NM in
due time. The FLS will include the comment: ‘RVR UNKNOWN’.
Note: Exempted flights (but not long haul) will also receive an FLS. If, later, the RVR
is known and sufficient a DES will be sent or if it is insufficient a SAM will be
sent.
Note: In the event of ETFMS failure the booking period is extended to ETFMS recovery
time +30 minutes.

Case 2
Flights, estimating during the XCD time with RVR in FCM or flight plan not compliant
with the requirement, will be delayed to arrive in the TFV after the XCD period. The SAM
/ SRM will include the comment: ‘RVR CRITERIA NOT MET’.

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Note: Exempted flights (but not long haul) will receive a SAM in order to arrive outside
the XCD period. If later the RVR value of the exempted flight becomes sufficient
an SLC will be sent.

Case 3
Flights estimating during the XCD time, having replied with an FCM or flight plan giving
an RVR value which is compliant to the one that is stated in the XCD, will receive a
SAM / SRM message in order to get a slot for landing during the low visibility period.
Note: Exempted flights (but not long haul) will not receive a SAM but will be displayed
inside the XCD period with no delay.
The fact that the EOBT of a delayed flight (because RVR criteria not met) is no longer
shifted will increase the visible delays. Care should be taken that these flights with a
large visible delay are not manually forced into an XCD period where they are unable
to land.
The decision for implementation and ownership of the ATFM regulation lies with the
FMP.

Procedure
The FMP staff shall:
 Coordinate with the NM tactical team the need of a regulation and provide
the traffic volume (arrival), rates, time period of validity, regulation reason and
RVR value.
The NM tactical team shall:
 Coordinate the traffic volume (arrival), rates, time period of validity and RVR
value with the FMP staff.
 Inform the NM DOM.
 Create a new regulation:
o With XCD as ANM remark.
o Select ‘XCD’ and ‘Shift’.
o Introduce the agreed values: rate, time of applicability, reason, RVR
 Activate and publish the regulation.
 Auto-link the regulation (it will avoid that non-compliant RVR aircraft are
pushed into the regulation).
 Keep the Helpdesk informed.
The NM DOM shall:
 Ensure that an AIM is prepared and issued with information about the new
XCD regulation.

Modify an XCD low visibility regulation

If a modification to the XCD regulation is required to adapt to new circumstances
(improvement or deterioration),
the FMP staff shall:
 Request these changes to the regulation.

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The NM tactical team shall:

 Coordinate the new values: rate, RVR and ending time of the regulation.
 When modifying only RVR, do not change any times.
 Modify the rate as agreed with the FMP.
o If the regulation has not started, modify the rate, end time of the
regulation and RVR (if necessary).
o If the regulation has started, add a sub-period with XCD selected and
new rate and RVR (if necessary).
 Inform the NM DOM.
 Keep the Helpdesk informed.
The NM DOM shall:
 Ensure that an AIM is prepared and issued informing the users of the
modifications.

6.1.3 De-Icing
The management of de-icing conditions at aerodromes within an FMP’s area of
responsibility requires close coordination between those involved in de-icing, ATC and
ATFCM.
Modifying the taxi time parameters in ETFMS ensures that any additional time for de-
icing at the aerodrome is absorbed by the taxi time and not generated as ATC delay. It
also offers ATC and the AO greater flexibility in such conditions. It is expected that the
coordination process will be reflected in the taxi time.
The NM will not normally give additional slot tolerance increases to flights depar ting
from aerodromes where de-icing procedures are in force.
Only when the situation at a particular aerodrome becomes unmanageable due to
unforeseen events such as the breakdown of de-icing rigs, the DTW and STW could be
extended for a maximum period of 1 hour. It can be extended if necessary. The request
has to be repeated every hour to confirm that the adverse condition continues and to
verify if the current Network situation allows for further extensions.

Procedure
The FMP staff shall:
 Agree with ATC at the aerodrome on any changes to the taxi time for the
aerodrome.
 Coordinate with the NM tactical team as soon as possible which actions
should be taken:
o Increase the taxi time (see Runway Criteria Update) and ensure that
the changes are notified to the NM tactical team at least two hours
prior to the likely implementation of de-icing procedures for that
aerodrome.
o Consider modification to the slot tolerance window (STW) or
departure tolerance window (DTW) (see Short-term ATFCM
solutions). Only when the situation at a particular aerodrome
becomes unmanageable.

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o If the problem is foreseen to extend beyond 1 hour then, for non-CDM

airports, apply a departure regulation with a monitoring value which
can be accepted (see Apply a regulation).
The NM tactical team shall:
 Coordinate and advise the FMP staff upon reception of such a request.
 Apply the agreed solution.
 Monitor its implementation.
 If the situation at the airport becomes unmanageable, extend the DTW and
STW for a maximum period of 1 hour (as it is described in Short-term ATFCM
solutions).

6.1.4 Interruption of DPI Messages

The interaction between the NMOC and CDM aerodromes requires two conditions to
be met:
 a functional local A-CDM implementation governed by thorough local CDM
procedures and
 fully operational systems on both sides (NMOC and Airport) combined with a
flawless system-to-system communication.
However, operational issues or technical system failures can deteriorate the quality of
the DPI messages, to the extent that they are no longer providing valuable progress
status of the flights and / or resulting in further disturbance of operations at the airport.
This procedure allows the temporary interruption of DPI messages.
In case of disrupted operations at the CDM airport, Short-term ATFCM solutions
Departures from A-CDM, as an initial mitigation measure. In order to judge the severity
of the disruption, consult LEVELS OF IMPACT ON NETWORK OPERATIONS OF CDM
AIRPORTS as reference. If the operational consequences are further degraded than
the conditions set out in this section (TSAT / TTOT transmitted via the DPI messages
are less reliable than the FPL EOBT / ETOT) this procedure may apply.
Several systems are involved in the A-CDM information sharing process. Hereunder is
a list of possible unplanned issues that might affect the systems and the
communication line:
 Technical failure of one of the airport CDM systems.
 Instable pre-departure sequencer used by the FMP / TWR.
 Loss of communication between airport CDM systems.
 Technical failure affecting the communication between ETFMS and the Airport
systems.
 Failure of the NM B2B Web Service.
 And others.
In such cases of technical system failures, this procedure may apply.
Planned interventions / outages such as technical maintenance could also cause a
temporary interruption of the DPI transmission during a known period of time. In such
cases this procedure may apply.
Note: The NMOC does not monitor the quality and completeness of the reception of
DPI messages on a continuous basis.

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Procedure
Where a deterioration of the quality of DPI messages is identified,
the FMP / TWR staff shall:
 Contact the NM DOM.
 In coordination with the NM DOM:
o Identify the cause for DPI deterioration: severely disrupted operations,
technical system failure or planned technical maintenance / outage.
o Verify if all other options for dealing with this type of situation have
been evaluated (see Short-term ATFCM solutions).
 Inform the NM CSO of technical system failures or any planned technical
maintenance / outage.
 In case of planned technical maintenance / outage, allow a notice period of
at least one day before the start of the intervention.
 If required, request the NM DOM to interrupt the DPI connection by using the
following terminology: ‘Disable all DPI message processing from <hh:mm>,
<ICAO code> airport in Local Mode’.
 Coordinate with the NM DOM:
o The time period when the interruption of the DPIs is in place.
o A time when the coordination will be resumed in order to reassess the
situation.
 After the disabling of DPI processing in the ETFMS, follow the procedures
defined for non-CDM aerodromes.
 If it is decided to disable the transmission of DPI messages, use the following
terminology to inform the NM DOM: ‘<ICAO code> airport will disable
transmission of DPI messages for departure starting at <hh:mm> for
approximately <time in hours> hours (or Until Further Notice) due to <specify
reason>’.
The NM DOM shall:
 Contact the FMP / TWR staff (in case the FMP / TWR staff have not reported
yet).
 In coordination with the FMP / TWR:
o Identify the cause for DPI deterioration: severely disrupted operations,
technical system failure or planned technical maintenance / outage.
o Verify if all other options for dealing with this type of situation have
been evaluated (see Short-term ATFCM solutions).
 Inform the NM OM, in case of a request to interrupt DPI messages.
 Coordinate with the FMP/TWR:
o The time period when the interruption of the DPIs is in place.
o A time when the coordination will be resumed in order to reassess the
situation.
 Inform the NM CSO of technical system failures.
The NM OM shall:
 Approve the interruption of DPI messages from the concerned aerodrome.
 Contact the NM APT Unit if the issue remains unsolved.
The NM DOM shall:
 Disable DPI processing in the ETFMS for the concerned aerodrome.
 Ensure that an AIM is sent and the Headline News is updated.

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o In case of planned technical maintenance / outage, a single AIM with

the period of intervention needs to be sent.
o In case of planned technical maintenance / outage with duration of
less than 3 hours, it is not needed to disable the DPI processing in the
ETFMS. Otherwise, the same procedure applies as for unplanned
issues described before.

Once the FMP / TWR staff decides that DPI messaging can be resumed,
the FMP / TWR staff shall:
 Request the NM DOM to enable DPI processing in the ETFMS.
The NM DOM shall:
 Enable DPI processing in the ETFMS for the concerned aerodrome.
 Ensure that an AIM is sent.

6.2 Management and Recovery of a Disruption

The objective of this operational procedure is to improve the management and the
recovery process following a major disruption (mainly for ANSP system failures, but
the same concept is applicable to any other kind of disruption affecting the Network).
The decision for implementation and ownership of the ATFM regulation lies with the
FMP.

6.2.1 Disruption Phase

The NM and FMPs will apply measures (zero rate or any other rate agreed with FMP)
with an initial standard duration of 2 (two) hours, to be reviewed every 30 minutes.
However, a different initial zero / low rate regulation duration could be set, depending
on the type or location of the disruption and taking into account the flight list (high
number of long haul flights). This procedure can be applied for en-route sectors, AUA
and aerodromes.
FMPs will nominate a disruption focal point that will be responsible to coordinate with
the NM point of contact - Head of Operations or NM OM - the information to be
published in NOP ref the disruption reason and any other relevant information on the
end of disruption and start of the recovery phase. The ANSP focal point will contact
the Head of Network Operations (+32 499 942365) or the NM OM (+32 2 745 1931).
All the technical coordination about ATFCM measures application, possible extension
and, mitigation measures will be performed by NM DOM / SNOC and FMP (except the
initial application of the regulation when disruption is notified, assuming that the first
call to NMOC will be done with the NM NOC – CASA position).

The use of Flight Confirmation Message (FCM)

If FCM is used: XCD must be selected as well and all flights, including the exempted
flights, originating from the ATFCM Area and the Adjacent Area will be affected by the
regulation during the non-availability and will be suspended (FLS). At the reception of
an FLS, AOs must send an FCM if the flight still intends to operate. They will receive a

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SAM / SRM in order to arrive after the re-opening time. The SAM / SRM will include the
comment: ‘AERODROME OR AIRSPACE OR POINT NOT AVAILABLE’. Flights not
confirming will remain suspended. Where AOs prefer to operate to an alternate
destination for flights not yet departed, they must cancel the FPL and refile to the
alternate aerodrome (in case of aerodrome not available).

The use of delay threshold mechanism

If the delay threshold mechanism is used: flights with a delay larger than the threshold
(usually 3 hours in this case) will be suspended (FLS) and those with a delay lower
than the threshold will receive a SAM. Exceptional conditions (XCD) may be used
together with delay threshold mechanism to capture exempted flights.

The use of Exceptional Conditions

In the event of the non-availability (zero-rate regulation) of an aerodrome or airspace,
NM exceptional conditions (XCD) should be used. FPLs will be accepted in the IFPS
and processed by the ETFMS accordingly. The ETFMS will either suspend flights or
delay flights originating from the ATFCM Area and the Adjacent Area (including the
exempted flights) to arrive when the aerodrome or airspace is available. After t he non-
availability period, the regulation should continue without XCD to regulate a possible
bunching if needed.

The use of ‘Chaotic situation’

Setting ‘Chaotic situation’ will automatically set the ‘OBT AFTER’ to 30 minutes before
the current clock time and de-select ‘Protect A-DPI flights’ in order to capture as much
traffic as possible. Depending on the nature of disruption, the OBT AFTER may be
further adjusted – check the flight list and coordinate / evaluate with the FMP if
necessary.
Any zero-rate regulation extension has to be applied with deep rectification and
‘Chaotic situation’ set in the Slot Change Control Display in order to ensure that all
flights still on the ground but close to or after OBT will be captured.
Any of the above practices require prior coordination with FMP and relevant
information published in NOP Portal or via AIM.

Procedure
The FMP staff shall:
 Coordinate with the relevant CASA position (manned by the NM NOC) the
need of a zero-rate regulation (or any other low rate decided by the FMP) and
provide the traffic volume(s) and the regulation reason, based on local
contingency plans/procedures. The regulation should not exceed 2 hours
duration, unless other reasons require a different duration.
 Contact the NM DOM / SNOC every 30 minutes to update the ATFM
regulation, if necessary.
 Provide the expected end time of the disruption, as available, if not done by
the ANSP focal point.
The NM NOC in CASA position, following the first call from the FMP, shall:

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 Apply the ATFM measure(s) not exceeding 2 hours:

o For a zero rate regulation:
 Select ‘XCD’ and ‘Shift’ and add ‘XCD’ as ANM remark.
 Introduce the agreed values: zero rate, time of applicability,
regulation reason.
 Set ‘Chaotic situation’ in the Slot Change Control Display.
o For a low rate regulation:
 Introduce the agreed values: rate, time of applicability,
regulation reason.
 Auto-link, activate and publish the regulation.
 Handover the NM DOM / SNOC on duty.
The NM DOM / SNOC shall then:
 Take-over any further coordination and action agreed with the FMP and open
a dedicated disruption position if necessary.
 Coordinate the diversion management in order to accommodate rerouted
flights.
 Depending on the amount of flights bunching at the end of the ATFCM
measures and considering the impact on AOs and the Network impact,
evaluate, in coordination with the FMP, the use of FCM or Delay Threshold
Mechanism (with a value of 3 hours).
 Inform adjacent ANSPs the Network impact of the bunching.
 Inform stakeholders via the NOP Portal Headline News and AIM of:
o any ATFCM measure applied,
o the reason of the disruption as communicated by the ANSP focal
point to Head NOS or NM OM (avoid the word ‘’closure” but rather
use airspace or aerodrome unavailability),
o information on airports capability for diversion management,
o information for long haul flights (see the note below),
o the prognosis for the coming hours,
Note: Even if there is no info, there should be communication that ‘news is expected
in ‘x’ minutes’ or ‘no news available at this stage’.
 Keep the Helpdesk informed about the delay situation.
Note: Advise long-haul flights (via Headline News or AIM) not captured by the initial
2 hour regulation, that landing at destination is not granted as the end of the
disruption is unknown, so inviting them to fuel for the alternate or the nearest
available airport.
 Inform the Aircraft Operators Liaison Cell (AOLC) as soon as the disruption is
notified to the NMOC. The AOLC will provide AOs info on the disruption, if
delegated by the Head of NOS or by the NM OM.

If no contact is received 30 minutes after the initial application of the ATFCM

regulation,
The NM DOM / SNOC shall:
 Call the FMP asking whether to extend the regulation by one hour or any other
agreed period, considering the available end of the disruption expected time.
 Extend any zero-rate regulation with a deep rectification and ‘Chaotic
situation’ set in the Slot Change Control Display.

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This procedure will be applied until the end of the disruption period.

6.2.2 Recovery Phase

At a certain point in time, the FMP will communicate to the NMOC that the problem is
going to be solved and therefore it will be necessary to replace the disruption
measures with recovery measures. If the recovery sector configurations / capacities
are updated frequently at short notice by the FMP, often not taking into account the
flights bunching at the end of the disruption measures, it may cause heavy fluctuations
to individual flight delays and departure time uncertainty for AOs (receiving several
SRMs). The application of the recovery procedure will address the bunching issue and
it will minimise CTOT fluctuations, giving AOs more stable departure times, and
improving Network predictability. However, a stable CTOT will only be achieved when
full capacity/sector configuration will be provided by the FMP.
As the duration of the recovery measures depends on the capacity values and sector
configuration availability, it is not possible to set any fixed value beforehand.
The ANSP focal point will continue to coordinate with Head of Netw ork Operations or
the OM any possible relevant info on the recovery phase (the technical coordination
will still be performed by DOM/SNOC and FMP).

Procedure
At a certain point in time the FMP will communicate the DOM / SNOC that the
disruption is (going to be) solved and ATFCM regulations need to be updated. Usually
there is a bunching at the end of the zero / low rate regulations.
The FMP staff shall:
 Provide DOM / SNOC the most realistic sector configuration / capacities until
the end of the tactical day (and beyond, if necessary) and coordinate the
application of the recovery measures.
 Any other relevant update of the situation.
The DOM / SNOC shall:
 Apply the recovery ATFM measures until the bunching disappears from each
applied ATFM measure.
 Take into account, if necessary, airport(s) night curfew, and whenever
possible, coordinate curfew extension with the relevant airport authority
(coordination can also be done by the NM Airport Unit staff, if / when available
in the NMOC).
 Assist AOs with individual (or flow) alternative routeing solutions (in
coordination with the NM AOLO and IFPS staff) in order to minimise the
ATFM delays given by the recovery measures.
 Keep stakeholders up to date through the NOP Portal Headline News and AIM
on any applied measure and prognosis on the Network situation and delays
until the conclusion of the recovery phase.
 Keep the Helpdesk informed about delay situation.

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6.2.3 Priority Repositioning of Diverted Aircraft

When an aircraft is diverted due to an aerodrome closure, severe capacity constraints
or any other reasons, AOs may suffer extreme crewing difficulties if the aircraft cannot
re-position to their original destination.
The following procedure is designed to give these flights a priority back to their original
destination in case they are delayed by one or several regulations.
These difficulties can be a critical loss of crew / aircraft without possible recovery the
same day if the flight is penalised by heavy delays because of ATFCM measures.
At all times the NM DOM may identify in the ETFMS the diverted flights and where they
have diverted to.

Procedure
Having received a request (via phone or e-Helpdesk) for assistance regarding a
diverted flight,
the NM tactical team shall:
 Inform the requester that the flight will be considered for priority re-
positioning.
 Transfer the request to the NM AOLO (or the NM DOM, in case the NM AOLO
is not on duty).
The NM AOLO (or the NM DOM) shall:
 Confirm that the flight has indeed diverted and will be experiencing severe
crewing difficulties.
 Pass all relevant information to the NM DOM and indicate earliest and latest
possible times of departure.
 Log the call sign in FREE.
The NM DOM shall:
 Check all relevant details to determine the severity of the situation together
with information on the latest possible departure time.
 Coordinate with the relevant FMPs and execute agreed actions to ensure that
all reasonable steps are taken to mitigate delay for the diverted flight to return
to its original destination.
 Respect the acceptance rate agreed with the affected FMPs.
 Continue monitoring the number of diverted flights in the flight list and the
impact on the Network.
 Update the NOP Headline News and issue AIMs concerning diversions and
airport status, where necessary.
Upon completion of the steps above,
the NM AOLO (or the NM DOM) shall:
 Inform the AO concerned with feedback and any supplementary instructions
whether or not any assistance was provided.
The FMP staff shall:
 Coordinate at local level any operational disruptions and severe capacity
constraints possibly resulting in flight diversions.
 Identify the number of diverted flights.

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 Ensure that information on diverted flights is correctly updated by sending

ATC Flight Plan update messages (ACH, ARR).
 Evaluate the impact on local airport operations and coordinate significant
changes with the NM tactical team (limited availability for diversions, delays
in ground operations…).
 Coordinate with the NM tactical team to ensure that all reasonable steps are
taken to mitigate delay for the diverted flight to return to its original
destination.
 Continuously report to the NM tactical team concerning the severity of the
situation and anticipate its evolution.

6.3 Industrial Actions

6.3.1 General Pre-Tactical Tasks for ANSP Industrial Action
After confirmation of strike action (NOTAM), coordination should be affected between
the NMOC and the relevant FMP in order to ascertain the level of protection that is
required both during and after the strike period. Legal procedures may govern ANSP
strike action.
Note: In case of French, Greek or Italian industrial actions, there are specific
procedures with details agreed with the respective ANSPs that shall be
followed.

Procedure
The FMP staff shall:
 Communicate to the NM those details of the planned strike action that they
have available.
Following information received on strike action,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Verify that a strike NOTAM has been issued.
 Ascertain if a minimum service is to be provided.
 Coordinate with the affected FMPs on what protection is required and
ascertain the associated acceptance rates.
 Apply regulations as agreed with the FMPs impacted by the industrial action.
Note that regulations may need to be auto-linked and use FCM or a delay
threshold value (3 hours).
 Assess the Network and investigate opportunities for alternative options for
traffic to avoid the industrial action area: alternative routes that can be
exceptionally open, RAD measures that can be modified (relaxed), use of
EURO restrictions, ASM / ATFCM coordination… and agree as appropriate
with concerned FMPs and AOs.
 Brief adjacent FMPs and coordinate an action plan to be prepared for
probable on-loaded traffic.
 Participate in all relevant conferences.
 Include all details in the D-1 INP and Network Brief and all industrial action
days.

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The NM OM shall:
 Ensure that a news flash is issued in the NOP Portal Headline News with
information regarding the strike, using the NOTAM as reference.
 Decide on the conferences and the participants required in order to have
appropriate coordination.
 Ensure that the NOP Portal Headline News is updated with the conferences
and their agendas.
 Chair all related conferences.
 Ensure that the NOP Portal Headline News is updated with a summary of the
conferences (even publish the conference) and any other relevant
information if deemed appropriate.
 Ensure that applicable telephone numbers are shared between:
o NM manager on call, and
o NMOC Operations Manager, and
o The locally responsible manager.

6.3.2 French Industrial Action

A strike in France is consecutive to an advanced notice (5 days) given by one or several
ATCOs or Civil Service Unions.
DSNA will provide information regarding the strike via the blog
http://dsnado.canalblog.com. Additionally, DSNA may host teleconferences (in
French) with AOs to inform airspace users of the ATFCM measures.
DSNA staff cannot be asked about their intention to take strike action until the official
start time of their duty. According to the importance of the expected action, the French
administration will decide prior to the strike one of the following possibilities:

With Minimum Service

Controllers are requisitioned.
A NOTAM is issued that may include flights restrictions on airports. The airports
applying minimum service are:
LFPO / PG / RG / RS / LC / LL / ML / MN / BO / BD / BI / BL / SB / KJ / KB / KC / ST
and overseas airports.

Procedure during pre-tactical operations

The DSNA staff shall:
 Issue a general NOTAM informing of the industrial action and describing the
ATFM measures and minimum service.
 Coordinate with the NM pre-tactical team the sector configurations, sector
opening scheme and regulations (with their associated information) that will
provide the required minimum service during the strike.
 Coordinate with the NM pre-tactical team possible ATFCM measures after
the strike to avoid bunching.
 Participate in the teleconferences hosted by the NM and provide information.
The NM pre-tactical team shall:

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 Introduce in PREDICT the sector configurations, sector opening scheme and

regulations for all French ACCs with the updated rates during and after the
strike, as coordinated with DSNA. Note that regulations may need to be auto-
linked.
 Prepare possible mitigation alternatives for AOs and coordinate with
impacted FMPs as required, such as:
o Rerouteing via DAAA and DTTC.
o Alternative routes within GCCC.
o Rerouteing via T routes (T9, T213 and T16).
o Relaxation of RAD restrictions (e.g. Swiss RAD).
 Prepare information and updates for any possible teleconference.
 Reflect the ATFCM measures and possible mitigation measures in the INP
and Network Brief.

Procedure during tactical operations

The DSNA staff shall:
 Monitor the application of the regulations and report to the NM tactical team
on any possible modification to the regulations according to actual staffing.
 Request cancellation of ATFM measures on specific sectors regulations that
are not required anymore.
The NM tactical team shall:
 Monitor the application of the regulations and perform any modifications as
reported by DSNA in the ETFMS.

Without Minimum Service

If the level of anticipated strike action in different ACCs is not very high, the French
administration may decide not to implement ‘Minimum Service’, in which case, the
situation is less predictable.
There are no requisitioned controllers. The problem with this scenario is that the
situation is liable to change at short notice during the strike period, as different sectors
are affected by strike action.
Note: A specific ACC or a TOWER (for example LFPO) may decide of an industrial
action (with an advanced notice of 5 days). It depends on the decision of the
French administration whether a minimum service is implemented or not.

Procedure during pre-tactical operations

The DSNA staff shall:
 Issue a NOTAM informing of the industrial action.
 Coordinate with the NM pre-tactical team the sector configurations, sector
opening scheme and regulations (with their associated information) for each
impacted ACC. Each individual FMP decides the protection they will require.
 Coordinate with the NM pre-tactical team possible ATFCM measures after
the strike to avoid bunching.
The NM pre-tactical team shall:

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 Introduce in PREDICT the sector configurations, sector opening scheme and

regulations for all French ACCs with the updated rates during and after the
strike, as coordinated with DSNA. Note that regulations may need to be auto-
linked.
 Prepare possible mitigation alternatives for AOs and coordinate with
impacted FMPs as required, such as:
o Rerouteing via DAAA and DTTC.
o Alternative routes within GCCC.
o Rerouteing via T routes (T9, T213 and T16).
o Relaxation of RAD restrictions (e.g. Swiss RAD).
 Prepare information and updates for any possible teleconference.
 Reflect the ATFCM measures and possible mitigation measures in the INP
and Network Brief.

Procedure during tactical operations

The DSNA staff shall:
 Monitor the application of the regulations and report to the NM tactical team
on any possible modification to the regulations according to actual staffing.
The NM tactical team shall:
 Monitor the application of the regulations and perform any modifications as
reported by DSNA in the ETFMS.

6.3.3 Greek Industrial Action

When an industrial action is decided in Greece by ATCOs’ unions, an advanced notice
of four working days must be given. In the meantime, the Civil Aviation may take legal
action. If the court rules that the industrial action is illegal, it cannot take place.
Alternatively if the court accepts the action, a NOTAM is issued 24 hours before the
industrial action, controllers are requisitioned and a pre-tactical plan is created.
Overflying traffic is not affected, only arrivals and departures to / from Greek
aerodromes. Usually exclusion for some flights are applied and communicated in the
NOTAM.
Examples of Greek industrial action:
a) 0900-1300;
b) 2201-2159R (R=next day).
Usually the industrial action is of 3, 4 or 24 hours duration.
The purpose of the pre-tactical plan is to ensure that departures and arrivals are not in
the airspace during the industrial action period (in this case 0900-1300 or 2201-2159R)
by using the DEP, ARR and global airspace regulations.
Note: In Greece, unlike in Italian industrial actions, arriving traffic does not have 30
minutes grace to reach its destination after entering the airspace.
Note: Although, according to the NOTAM, only military flights participating in mil
exercises are not affected by the industrial action, in most cases all mil flights
are excluded after coordination with Athens FMP.

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Procedure during pre-tactical operations

The HCAA staff shall:
 Issue a NOTAM to inform of the call for the strike 24 hours in advance.
 Promptly send the updated list of authorised flights to the NM (where
appropriate).
 Coordinate with the NM pre-tactical team.
The NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Apply the following in PREDICT:
o 4 zero rate regulations for arrivals to cover the starting period of the
industrial action, application for the first 2 hours would be enough.
Traffic volumes (TFVs) are LGSTRAR1-4, with reference locations 4
aerodrome sets, so the zero rate periods refer to landing time.
Examples: a) 0900-1100; b) 2201-0000R or preferably 2201-0300R to
avoid complications with overlapping of regulations starting the day
before and linking with the global zero rate that continues to the end
of the industrial action.
o 13 zero rate regulations for departures to cover the starting period of
the industrial action, application for 2 hours would be enough. TFVs
are LGSTRDE1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / LGSTDE10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14
(reference locations are the adjacent ACCs LWSSCTA, LBSRCTA,
LAAACTA, LIBBCTA, LMMMCTA, HECCCTA, LCCCCTA, LTAAWALL,
LTBJTMA, LTAASALL, LTFETMA, LTBSTMA, LTFMTMA), so the zero
rate periods refer to exiting the Greek airspace. Examples: a) 0900-
1100; b) 2201-0000R or preferably 2201-0300R to avoid
complications with overlapping of regulations starting the day before
and linking with the global zero rate that continues to the end of the
day.
o 1 zero rate regulation for the global Greek airspace to cover the
period to the end of the industrial action, starting by overlapping the
departure and arrival regulations for 1 hour. TFV is LGALL with
reference location consisting of all Greek airspace including
LGGGCTA, LGMDCTA, TMAs, aerodrome zones, military areas, etc.
From this traffic volume the departures / arrivals from / to Greek
military airports are excluded. Examples: a) 1000-1300; b) 2300-
2159R or preferably 0100R-2159R to avoid complications with
overlapping of regulations starting the day before.
o The regulation for LGALL is the only one that shall be auto-linked.
o Select ‘XCD’ and ‘Shift’ (for all strike regulations).
o Select ‘FCM’ (for all strike regulations).
 Prepare possible mitigation alternatives for AOs and coordinate with
impacted FMPs as required.
 Reflect the ATFCM measures and possible mitigation measures in the INP
and Network Brief. Include the following information in the INP:
o As the NM is unable to restrict out-of-area flights with ATFCM
measures, AOs must ensure these flights conform to published
NOTAMs regarding airspace and airport non-availabilities.
o Authorised flights (as in the NOTAM) will be suspended as well and
they are requested to call Athens FMP in order to be de-suspended
and excluded from the zero rate regulations.
o LGGG / LGMD telephone contacts:

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FMP operations room: +30 210 9972654 / +30 210

9972693
ACC Supervisor: +30 210 9972603
ATFM-ASM division (office hours): +30 210 9972656 / +30 210
9972404 / +302109972405

Procedure during tactical operations

The HCAA staff shall:
 Monitor the flight list.
 Notify the NM tactical team any flight that shall be excluded.
 Coordinate with the NM tactical team the ATFCM measures before or after
the industrial action period and any possible modification to the pre-tactical
regulations.
The NM tactical team shall:
 Manually exclude from the regulations those flights communicated by HCAA
staff.
 Coordinate with the HCAA staff the ATFCM measures before or after the
industrial action period and any possible modification to the pre-tactical
regulations. Note that Athens FMP requests not to apply pre-tactical ATFM
measures before or after a 4-hour period industrial action, but tactical
regulations may be required.
 Log any relevant feedback in FREE.

6.3.4 Italian Industrial Action

The Italian law 146 / 1990 regulates ATC industrial actions.
Italian ATCOs’ unions must notify ENAV of the call for action not later than 10 calendar
days before the strike day. The final decision might be taken at D-1. NOTAM is issued
by ENAV (notified to the NM).
Normally ATC strike periods do not exceed 4 hours.
During an ATC strike a minimum service is applied. ATS services must be granted to
the flight categories listed below during the strike period:
 State, humanitarian, medical, emergency, military, SAR, essential services.
 All intercontinental arrivals (including those transiting via Italian domestic
aerodromes). According to Italian law, departures from HE, OL and LL are
considered as intercontinental.
 All domestic flights in progress at the time of the commencement of the strike.
 All flights over-flying the Italian airspace (all departure / destination non-Italian
airports).
 The arrivals to Italian airports of International flights (departing from ECAC
states) whose Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) is not more than 30 minutes
after the commencement of the strike as in FPL.
 All departures from Italian airports that are scheduled (EOBT) prior to the
commencement of the strike and delayed for reasons beyond the control of the
parties.

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 All flights authorised as published in the list issued by ENAC (part of

intercontinental departures, part of the domestic flights to / from Italian
islands) including updates that might be received during the strike day.
 Any other flight as requested by the Italian Network Manager position in LIRR
ACC.
The requests for flight authorisation shall be received by ENAC - the Italian Civil
Aviation Authority - (sent by the AO) not later than 8 working days prior the strike day.
Although it is mandatory for AOs to respect the ‘8 days prior’ rule, a few fligh ts can be
(in exceptional circumstances) authorised by ENAC after the deadline. ENAC will
promptly send the updated list to ENAV that will forward it to the NM (by mail to the
NM OM and the NM DOM) after changing the IATA call signs in ICAO code:
All FPLs of the flights not part of the categories listed above may be cancelled by AO
or may be operated after the end of the strike period.
The role of the NM (NMOC) is to comply with the Italian law 146 / 1990 requirements
and to ensure that all authorised flights listed above are regularly operated by AOs.
The contact points with ENAV and ENAC dealing with industrial actions are:
 The Italian Network Manager position in Rome ACC for ATFCM pre-tactical /
tactical issues (via a VCS dedicated number in NMOC).
 ENAC strike coordinator office for issues related to the authorised flight list:
+39 06 4459 6402
If the strike is confirmed by NOTAM, the NM will apply at D-1 a number of ATFM
measures (zero rates), all applied with ‘XCD / FCM: YES’. All zero rates have been
agreed with ENAV and ENAC.
Note: By applying the ‘XCD / FCM: YES’ flights that are ATFM Exempted will be
suspended as well.
The purpose of the zero rates is to close the Italian airspace (during the strike period)
to all flights not being part of the categories to which ATS services must be granted
(as in the list above).
The zero rates shall be applied pre-tactically and reflected in the ADP. The TFV set
LISTRIKE contains all the TFVs prepared in advance that should normally be used for
Italian industrial actions.
Due to the high workload involved, a fixed strike position in the FM area will be
necessary to deal with all the exclusions and coordination during the strike day. ENAV
may request the exclusion of flights during the day of operations. Note that th e
responsibility of the exclusions is entirely attributed to ENAC / ENAV.
A different general rule is applied in case of airport handling or other air transport
personnel strike: The services must be granted to 20 per cent of all the flights planned
during the strike period.

Procedure during pre-tactical operations

When a strike will be performed in an area of Italian responsibility,
the ENAC (or ENAV) staff shall:
 Notify to the NM the call for strike as soon as it is received from the unions.
 Promptly send the updated list of authorised flights to the NM OM and the
NM DOM after changing the IATA call signs into ICAO code.

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Upon reception of the call for strike,

the NM OM shall:
 Publish the information on the strike in NOP Headline News as soon as
received, together with the ENAC note to AOs (as an attachment).
In case of a national strike
The NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Apply 14 zero rates:
o 5 zero rates based (as reference location) on A / D sets (category:
departure), one for each Italian ACC except for LIRR that has two zero
rates for departures because this kind of AD set may include only 10
aerodromes. TFVs are: LIBBDST1, LIMMDST, LIPPDST1, LIRRDST1,
and LIRRDST4.
o 5 zero rates based on A / D sets (category: arrivals, 2 AD sets for LIRR).
TFVs are: LIBBAST1, LIMMAST, LIPPAST1, LIRRAST1 and LIRRAST2
(start time + 30 minutes).
o 4 zero rates based on airspaces TFVs for a national strike with
intercontinental flights from Adjacent Areas (North Africa, Middle East)
excluded. TFVs are: LIBBSTR, LIMMSTR, LIPPSTR, LIRRSTR (start
time of these regulations at least 3 hours before the strike end time and
auto link).
o Select ‘XCD’ and ‘FCM’ (for all zero rate regulations).
o Auto-link the regulations.
 Prepare possible mitigation alternatives for AOs and coordinate with
impacted FMPs as required.
 Reflect the ATFCM measures and possible mitigation measures in the INP
and Network Brief.

In case of a local ACC strike (one or more than one, but not all Italian ACCs),
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Apply the same zero rate regulations, but only those applicable for the striking
ACCs.
 Prepare possible mitigation alternatives for AOs and coordinate with
impacted FMPs as required.
 Reflect the ATFCM measures and possible mitigation measures in the INP
and Network Brief.

In case of local aerodrome strikes (individual aerodromes or group of aerodromes),

The NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Apply zero rate regulations to the appropriate TFVs included in LISTRIKE.

In case of non-ATC industrial actions (e.g. airport handling or other air transport
personnel strike),
the ENAC staff shall:

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 Inform the NM in a timely manner on all planned industrial actions by

providing a list of authorised flights.
Upon reception of such information,
the NM OM shall:
 Publish the information on the strike in the NOP Headline News as soon as
received to inform all airspace users.

Procedure during tactical operations

During the strike day,
the ENAV staff shall:
 Detect inbound military flights originating from foreign aerodromes (except
OOA).
 Detect all flights departing from Italian airports having an EOBT prior to the
commencement of the strike that are delayed for reasons beyond the control
of the parties (e.g. delayed by any other ATFM measure in force during the
day of the strike or any other delay not depending from the AO). These flights
shall be granted ATS services.
 Coordinate with the NM tactical team and promptly notify the previous flights
and any other suitable flights, in order to exclude them from the zero rates by
phone contacting the NM OM / NM DOM or the dedicated strike position
(VCS), without the need of a fax or email confirmation.
The NM tactical team shall:
 Manually confirm and exclude all the authorised flights (as in the
aforementioned list) from the zero rates.
 Together with ENAV, detect and exclude from the zero rates inbound military
flights originating from foreign aerodromes (except the OOA) and exempted
flights.
 Promptly exclude from the zero rates any other flights as notified by ENAV.
 It could happen that one (or more) ACC(s) or aerodrome(s) cancel the strike,
in such case just cancel all zero rates related to the ACC(s) or aerodrome(s)
no longer on strike.
 In the event of tactical modifications to the strike configuration (e.g. shifting
of some of the time periods), check if the predefined TFVs in the LISTRIKE
TFV set may be used.
 Provide feedback in FREE.

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7 Post Operations Phase

7.1 General
The post operational phase of operations may begin as an event takes place, but is
generally considered to commence on D+1 and continues for as long as needed to
ensure completion of analysis.
The post operations phase in NOS and the NMOC is managed by the Operations
Analysis (OPA) Service team, which provides the following:
 Operational support to the NMOC.
 Lessons learning following foreseen and unforeseen events, including follow -
up of agreed actions to ensure implementation.
 Monitoring of the execution of the ADP in Tactical Operations via a rolling
monitoring of the INP. This includes a daily briefing between the DOM and
Operations Analysis (OPA) Service to discuss the Tactical situation and which
also addresses any capacity constraints identified at D-1 together with any
mitigation actions applied during Tactical Operations.
 Production of regular and ad-hoc reports to Agency staff and stakeholders on
the performance of the European ATM Network, including ATFM delay, number
of ATFM restrictions and mitigation measures taken to reduce the impact of
hotspots.
 In depth analysis of hotspots and constraints in the Network to assist in
resolution.
 Monitoring and analysis of day to day actions and procedures to ensure best
practices are compatible with performance targets.
 Providing an overview of all incident reporting and analysis, complaints and ad-
hoc enquiries to identify trends.
 Assist with the analysis of requests submitted under the Post Operations
Performance Adjustment Process to PFR/OAR.
 Operational input to PFR / OAR for monitoring and reporting.

7.2 Provision of Information

The Operations Analysis (OPA) Service will obtain statistical information from the NM
Data Warehouse (DWH) but requires further feedback from relevant stakeholders and
any other reliable information sources such as FREE to enable full analysis.

Procedure
The NM operational staff shall:
 Provide feedback on operational occurrences or issues via FREE.
 The feedback should include:
o A timeline of the event.
o Actions taken and the reasons why. This should include details of
actions that were proposed but unable to be implemented. Additional
information relating to the situation at the time of the occurrence (e.g.
coordination between ATS Unit and NMOC, professional opinion of
any other relevant information) may also be included.

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o It is not necessary to give delay figures or details of regulation

application times or rates as these are available to post operations
via the Network Manager Interactive Reporting (NMIR).
o A signature (3 letter identifier) to allow follow-up action.
The NM OM shall:
 Produce a daily report giving basic details of events in the Network that had
an impact on performance.

In the case of the missing or incomplete information as detailed in the procedure

above, the Operations Analysis (OPA) Service shall address follow-up questions to the
relevant NMOC staff based on the three letter identifier associated to the measures.
Any subsequent information on the occurrence shall be added to FREE by Operations
Analysis (OPA) Service.
Feedback via email from FMP or AO staff is also acceptable using the post operations
functional address. Personal email accounts should not normally be used. The
Operations Analysis (OPA) Service may instigate contact to the FMP or AO concerned
for supporting information to support any analysis of the situation.
Unsolicited requests for feedback and analysis by FMPs or AOs are welcome and
should be made using the post operations functional address.

7.3 Lessons Learnt

The Operations Analysis (OPA) Service is responsible for analysing operational events
where a significant Network impact occurred.
During the post operational phase the Operations Analysis (OPA) Service will collate
all information relevant for a particular event with the emphasis on the oper ational
feedback from both internal and external stakeholders.
If necessary a lessons learnt debriefing will be held to aid understanding of particularly
complex events with a wide range of concerned participants.

Procedure
The NM Operations Analysis (OPA) Service team shall:
 Produce and publish a report containing:
o A timeline of relevant events.
o Relevant statistics including but not limited to: delay, flight efficiency
impact and flight cancellations.
o Issues arising / lessons learnt.
o Recommendations and specific actions to resolve outstanding
issues.

The actions shall give a clear requirement, specific accountability to an individual or

function and a date for expected completion.
Lessons learnt and associated actions are recorded by the Operations Analysis (OPA)
Service and reviewed in an annual meeting with the Head/Operations Analysis Service

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and senior NM management to discuss trends in line with the lessons learnt
procedure: \NOM\Network Operations Services\NOS Post Operations.

7.4 Incident Overview

Whilst the Operations Analysis (OPA) Service is not responsible for incident
investigation there is a responsibility for maintaining an oversight of all incidents and
customer complaints. NOM\NOS\DOM shall produce annual statistics and data
detailing the number and nature of incidents investigated over the previous year.
The Operations Analysis (OPA) Service will use this data to identify trends and in
collaboration with senior management implement corrective actions.

7.5 Support to PFR

The Operations Analysis (OPA) Service will provide operational input to reports
produced by Performance, Forecasting and Reporting (PFR) including but not limited
to the monthly and annual operational reports.
The Operations Analysis (OPA) Service shall also provide support in the analysis of
requests submitted as part of the Post Operations Performance Adjustment Process
as defined on the following webpage: https://www.eurocontrol.int/publications/post-
operations-performance-adjustment-process.

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8 Communication / CDM Processes

8.1 Incident Reporting
For details concerning the submission of incidents to the NM see the Network
Operations Handbook, Operational Problem Reporting.

8.2 Ad-Hoc Internal Tactical Briefings on ATFCM Events

The NMOC may hold internal tactical briefings addressing specific situations as
considered necessary. These briefings are intended to brief internal staff about the
current state of the Network or some of its details.
When such an ad-hoc briefing takes place it may be necessary to use teleconference
facilities in case off site internal staff need to be invited.

Procedure
The NM DOM shall:
 Decide whether to have a tactical ad-hoc briefing or not.
 Make sure relevant participants are available and invite them.
 Request the NM NOO to set the teleconference facility if required.
 Initiate and chair the briefing.
The NM NOO shall:
 Assist the NM DOM if required.

8.3 Teleconferences
The NM may hold teleconferences with relevant stakeholders where circumstances
are deemed to require it, e.g. to distribute information regarding industrial actions. In
such cases the NM will inform of the access means to the teleconference and, where
possible, release an agenda in advance. This information is normally made available
via the NOP Portal Headline News and AIM. A recording of the teleconference may
also be made available on the NOP Portal afterwards.
Teleconferences may be requested by ANSPs or AOs to the OM (via email or phone)
on any subject.
In case a teleconference is requested, the following procedure shall be followed on D-
1.

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Procedure
The NM OM shall:
 Ensure that the conference is prepared and the relevant partners invited.
 Initiate and chair the conference.

The NM pre-tactical team shall:

 Accept or invite on-line interaction by the external clients that would be of
anticipated value for the expected Network situation.
 Check that the WebEx application for pre-tactical is functional and correctly set
up in adequate time.
 Ensure that the briefing includes information, explanation and explanatory
graphics where possible as per INP.
 Ensure that all the necessary documents / graphics… are set up in WebEx prior
to the conference delivery time.
 Deliver the briefing when prompted by the conference leader.
 Following the conference incorporate a link to the recording on the NOP Portal.

The FMP staff invited to the conference should:

 Attend and participate in the conference. Uninvited FMP staff wishing to
participate may do so.

The NM tactical team shall:

 Attend the conference and may provide an update on the expected and current
Network situation.

Note: For more information on teleconferences where sensitive information could be

shared, see the relevant chapter of the NMOC Support Manual.

8.3.1 Attendance at FAA National System Review Conference (NSR)

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Daily System Review web
conference is hosted by the FAA’s New York Regional Office. This conference involves
weather briefings, ATFCM measures, briefing of yesterday’s North Atlantic operations,
expected North Atlantic issues for today and tomorrow, any important issues from the
East Coast ACCs (Boston, New York, Washington, Cleveland, Philadelphia,) AOs and
sometimes individual airports.
The UK FMP also attends to give daily feedback and briefing on North Atlantic tracks
and issues affecting their area of responsibility.
The NM (Tactical and/or Pre-tactical team) will attend the conference when a situation
requires coordination with the FAA. Attendance at the conference increases
communication between the NM and the FAA, and increases awareness of the current
and future status of operations on the East coast of the United States. It is a source of
information on any issues affecting the NAT for the next few days, and also a forum to
discuss matters with NAT operators where necessary.

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From the FAA's point of view, it is a chance for them to ask any pertinent questions on
operations in Europe, both for traffic about to depart eastbound and for westbound
departures the following day.
For the AOs it is an opportunity to address any matters which are affecting them either
on arrival early morning in Europe or on departure.

Procedure
From Monday to Friday at 15:00 UTC in winter time (14:00 UTC in summer time) and
depending on current events,
the NM (tactical and/or pre-tactical team) may:
 Attend the FAA's National Daily System Review conference
 When prompted by the presenter, report only pertinent information relating to
North Atlantic operations or affecting the North Atlantic flow (i.e. major weather
systems, industrial action etc. and how it will affect the North Atlantic flow)
 Pass on relevant information within the European Network.

8.4 NAT CDM Process

A Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) process has been designed to improve
efficiency, reduce delays and provide greater flexibility and predictability for North
Atlantic traffic operations.
The ‘East / West NAT tracks and loading’ should give the NM DOM and concerned
FMPs a clear indication of where any potential problems may arise. This information
should facilitate mitigation of possible overloads.
A teleconference hosted by NAVCanada will be set every day at 23:00 UTC regarding
the NAT Eastbound flow into Europe. Issues concerning the Westbound traffic will be
raised by the NMOC and concerned FMPs as relevant.
The ‘East / West NAT tracks and loading’ gives an indication of preferred routes and
the demand on each track based upon the filed flight plan data.

Procedure
Upon reception of the predicted tracks,
the Shanwick Operations Supervisor (OS) shall:
 Send the predicted tracks by fax to the NMOC and European FMPs
concerned.
Upon receipt of these tracks,
the NM DOM shall:
 Confirm reception of the predicted tracks sent by Shanwick OS.
 Revise the ATFCM daily plan (D-1) and any additional information handed
over from the late shift NM DOM prior to attending the NAT teleconference.
The aim is to share relevant information affecting the Network.
Those FMPs concerned and the NM DOM shall:

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 Attend the NAT teleconference at 23:00 UTC, where the loading of the tracks
will be communicated as well as any other significant issues affecting the
Eastbound flow (departure delays, significant weather, possible
cancellations…).
Following the teleconference,
the NM DOM shall:
 Update the NOP Headline News with any significant information concerning
the Eastbound flow (such as departure delays).
 After having studied received data, coordinate with FMPs and / or AOs
concerned to improve the efficiency of the Network to:
o Reduce overloads in certain sectors.
o Consider diversions and re-positioning of flights due to weather.
o Any other appropriate actions.

8.5 Information and Messages Produced by the NMOC

8.5.1 Updating the NOP Portal Headline News
During tactical operations the NOP Portal Headline News shall be used to:
 Inform Network users about significant events affecting the Network (e.g.:
major capacity shortfall, strikes, volcanic ash, etc.).
 Inform Network users about actions taken as a result of the events affecting
the Network and give appropriate advice to minimise the impact.
 Reduce unnecessary queries to the e-Helpdesk through information sharing.
Internal NM issues must not be communicated through the NOP Portal Headline News.
The NM shall communicate only those events that give added value in a timely manner.
Previously-issued news should be found under the tab ‘Archive News’ if correctly
stored.
NM DOMs are responsible to ensure that all NM tactical team members are competent
to input text in the Network Headline News.

Procedure
During the day of operations,
all NM tactical team shall:
 Provide updates on the situation of the Network to the NM DOM/SNOC.
The NM DOM/SNOC (or NOC on night shift) shall:
 Request updates on the situation from all other NM tactical team members.
 Identify which events require publishing according to the use defined above.
 Ensure appropriate information is prepared for those events.
 Check the validity period of the Headlines News.
 Approve content and ensure publication in the Headline News of the NOP
Portal.
For sensitive issues the NM OM shall be involved during the preparation of the text.

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8.5.2 Maintaining Pre-Tactical Information on the NOP Portal

The NM pre-tactical team is responsible for some of the information presented in the
NOP Portal to externals. This information usually relates to pre-tactical planning and
scenario data.
All data in the NOP Portal needs to be correlated between all sources to avoid
conflicting or outdated information from multiple sources on the same subject.

Procedure
The NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Ensure that the following data is correctly loaded on to the NOP Portal and
upload it where needed:
o D-1 plan.
o Latest agreed axis plans and statistics.
o Special events (such as the agreed and correct scenario list with correct
descriptions and graphics).
 Ensure that the data on the NOP Portal is updated and no outdated or
misleading information remains in the Portal.

8.5.3 ATFCM Information Message (AIM)

An AIM may be used to send information to NM customers about NMOC daily
operations such as possible disruptions.
AIMs may be accessed via CHMI interfaces and the NOP Portal.

8.5.3.1 Sending AIMs

The reason for sending an AIM is to inform the Network about possible disruptions
such as airfields with weather issues, where to expect delays, available alternate
routes, but also to bring attention to information of a more general nature such as RAD
amendments, ETFMS / IFPS maintenance outages or important NOTAMs.
Several AIM templates are available in the AIM application under the ‘Templates’ tab.

Procedure during pre-tactical operations

Where an AIM is to be sent,
the NM pre-tactical team shall:
 Prepare the text or ask support to prepare the text if needed.
 Specify a validity period (avoid UFN as much as possible).
 Release the AIM.

Procedure during tactical operations

Where FMP staff require an AIM to be sent, they shall:
 Contact the NM tactical team and provide the associated information.

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Upon receipt of such a request,

the NM tactical team shall:
 Prepare the text or ask support to prepare the text if needed.
 Specify a validity period (avoid UFN as much as possible).
 Inform the NM DOM.
 Release the AIM.

Where the NM OM or NM DOM decides to send an AIM they shall:

 Prepare the text or ask for support to prepare the text if needed.
 Check and correct the draft accordingly.
 Specify a validity period (avoid UFN as much as possible).
 Release the AIM.

Where the proposal comes from other NM staff, those staff shall:
 Prepare the text or ask support to prepare the text if needed.
 Specify validity period (avoid UFN as much as possible).
 Send it to the NM OM and the NM DOM to be reviewed and released.

8.5.4 ATFCM Notification Message (ANM)

The ATFCM Notification Message (ANM) is a message issued by the NM to inform all
concerned of the measures in the ATFCM Daily Plan (ADP). The ADP is finalised the
day before the day of operations and released around 17:00 UTC in winter time (16:00
UTC in summer time). An ANM will be sent on the day of operations, either by 'Change',
'Cancellation' or 'New' messages when a regulation is modified, cancelled or published.
The ANM is available on the NM NOP Portal.

8.6 NOTAM Monitoring on Route Availability

NOTAM monitoring will take place between 07.00 and 22.00 local time, 7 days a week
(shift hours AD).
NOTAMs issued outside the above mentioned time period will be handled the day after
by the Early morning team. NOTAM daily output (D+1). If required (depending on
effective / end date), those NOTAMs will be implemented in the CACD.
Note: This procedure concerns actions for the NM AD staff. It is published here to
ensure awareness and transparency on the process with the NM operational
stakeholders.
Procedure
Note that the same shall be applied to AIP supplements.
All NOTAMs which could impact NOS operations appear in the OPSD Console (via
MPMT) based on the official ICAO ‘Q’ codes (average of 550 per day). The Q codes
can be different for each ANSP/State.
Only NOTAMs concerning route updates will be monitored by AD.

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The decision to implement route availability updates depends on the following

factors:
1. The time at which the NOS receives the notification of a route availability
change.
2. The stability of the NOTAM. Some ANSPs issue several NOTAMS (daily) with
updates before effectiveness of activity.
3. On request of ANSP, No NOTAM implementation in CACD. Report to OM and
decision taken shall be communicated to all teams in the NOS Operations
room.
 The ANSP shall handle the NOTAM tactically.
 The ANSP may request the implementation of an H / S restriction.
 The ANSP may request the implementation of a zero rate measure.
Route availability updates shall be implemented (if the NOTAM is stable) 5 days
before effective date of NOTAM (AIP Sup), as flight plans may be received up to 5
days prior to EOBT.
Route availability updates received less than 5 days shall be always implemented (if
NOTAM is stable).
Route availability updates received less than 1 hour before effectiveness of the
NOTAM, but the period of NOTAM activity is more than 2 hours, rout e availability
updates shall be implemented.
All NOTAMs / AIP supplements shall be kept in a dedicated binder at the NM AD
Supervisor (SNOS / NOSU) desk.
4. For a number of states participating to the AUP/UUP process, an agreement
exists that route closures are handled only by AUP/UUP (as published in an
FTI on this subject). For these states, NOTAMs about route closures are not
implemented in CACD by the Airspace data operations team but apply
automatically upon release of the concerned EAUP/EUUP.
5. Route availability modification without NOTAM publication, The NM OM (or
replacement) will take the decision on changing the route availability during
the shift of the NMOC Airspace Data Team ( 06:00 (05:00Summer) UTC –
21:00 (20:00Summer) UTC).
The requested ANSP/State will be asked to publish ASAP the NOTAM.
The change will be published in the NOP headlines news.

8.7 Suggestions for Evolution of Systems and

Procedures
FMPs are welcome to propose new user requirements in respect of any of the NM
systems and procedures. Proposals will be considered in coordination with the
appropriate stakeholder groups and decisions will be implemented by the NM.

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9 ATFCM Contingency Operations

Actions to be taken in the event of a major failure of a component of the ATS or ATFCM
service which would result in significant reductions in capacity and/or major disruption
to traffic flows are covered, respectively, by ACC/FMP and NM contingency plans.

9.1 ACC / FMP Contingency

FMPs shall have pre-defined contingency plans detailing the configurations, capacities
and strategies in each critical event for their area of responsibility, in order to enable
the NM to assist the FMP in contingency operation.
Note: A standard template for ACC contingency plans is available in Annex I.
The FMP shall coordinate their contingency plans with the NM. The FMP is responsible
for ensuring such plans are kept updated and notified to the NM.
In the event of a failure requiring contingency action, the FMP Controller will init iate
coordination with the NM to implement pre-planned contingency measures.
During the application of contingency measures, the FMP controller shall keep the NM
up to date with all data and information required so that ATFCM measures can be
modified to match the changing situation and in order to keep any other concerned
parties informed via AIMs.
For guidelines for contingency planning of air navigation services, refer to
EUROCONTROL > Single European Sky > Guidelines for Contingency Planning of Air
Navigation Services:
http://www.eurocontrol.int/articles/guidelines-contingency-planning-air-navigation-
services

9.2 ATFCM Procedural Contingency

If the ETFMS fails, or in the event of unavailability of the NM site at Brussels (NMOC
site contingency), the ATFCM procedural contingency will be initiated. This is a phased
operation, whereby nominated airports will apply predetermined departure intervals. In
this case AOs concerned may expect high delays. Flights departing from non -
nominated airfields are not affected by the ATFCM procedural contingen cy plan.
In order to permit an effective and orderly resumption of slot allocation by the ETFMS
following recovery, flight plan and flight plan update messages will continue to be sent
to the IFPS throughout the whole period of operation of the contingency plan.
More details of the actions that may be expected in the event of an ATFCM procedural
contingency event are published in the seasonal ATFCM Procedural Contingency Plan
that is published in the contingency portlet of the NOP Portal. Alternatively the plan
can also be accessed via the EUROCONTROL Library
(http://www.eurocontrol.int/library). It is important that FMPs and affected towers,
download and save or print the plan when it is issued (twice a yea r) both to familiarise
themselves with any changes and to ensure that the plan is available even if the NOP
Portal is u/s.

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9.3 NOP Portal Contingency

In the event of NMOC contingency and unavailability of the NM site at Brussels, users
will be informed of the situation, including the URL to access the contingency NOP
Portal (www.contingency.nm.eurocontrol.int ), via:
 Headline News emails (only available to users that are subscribed at the NOP
to the email service for the Headline news), by FP1. In the case of total outage
of the Haren Site, users will be informed by CSO Brétigny on the contingency
NOP.

 AIMs (available to users that receive AIM via AFTN or SITA Type-B network),
sent by FP1. In case of total outage of the Haren site, users will be informed by
MUAC on behalf of NM.

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10 Definitions
Terms and definitions included in this document have the following meanings:

10.1 Terms and Meanings

Airspace Data (AD). The purpose of the Airspace Data section is to manage and
provide all necessary airspace information to feed the core NMOC systems (IFPS,
ETFMS) and the systems of our operational stakeholders.
Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM). A service established with the objective of
contributing to a safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic by ensuring that a ir
traffic control capacity is utilised to the maximum extent possible, and that the traffic
volume is compatible with the capacities declared by the appropriate air traffic
services authority.
Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management (ATFCM). ATFM extended to include the
optimisation of traffic patterns and capacity management. Through managing the
balance of capacity and demand the aim of ATFCM is to enable flight punctuality and
efficiency, according to the available resources with the emphasis on optimising the
network capacity through the collaborative decision making process.
ATFCM Daily Plan (ADP). The set of tactical air traffic flow management measures
prepared during the Pre-Tactical phase.
ATFCM Slot Allocation Exemption. The exemption of a flight from air traffic flow
management slot allocation.
ATFCM Incident. A significant occurrence affecting an air traffic services unit, an
aircraft operator or a central management unit resulting from the application of air
traffic flow management measures or procedures.
ATFCM Measures. Actions taken to accomplish air traffic flow and capacity
management.
Aircraft Operator. A person, organisation or enterprise engaged in, or offering to
engage in, an aircraft operation.
Capacity [for ATFCM purposes]. The operationally acceptable volume of air traffic.
Cluster. A cluster is an optional partition of an ATC Unit Airspace (AUA). It groups a
number (at least one, but usually more) of Elementary Sectors (ES) from the concerned
ATC Unit Airspace (AUA).
Typically, an ATC Unit Airspace (AUA) can be split into 2 or more clusters, e.g. one for
the East and one for the West. This corresponds to the way the concerned ATC Unit is
operated in terms of sector configurations, in fact as 2 different operational units in
this example.
A Cluster must have at least one sector configuration and at least one activation of
sector configuration.
When an AUA is partitioned into clusters, it cannot have sector configurations. Instead,
the sector configurations are defined and activated in each of its clusters.
Collaborative Decision Making (CDM). Process which allows decisions about events
to be taken by those best positioned to make them on the basis of most
comprehensive, up-to-date and accurate information. This in turn will enable decisions

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about a particular flight to be made according to the latest information available at the
time, thereby enabling the flight to be dynamically optimised to reflect near or real-time
events.
Critical Event. An unusual situation or crisis involving a major loss of EATMN capacity,
or a major imbalance between EATMN capacity and demand, or a major failure in the
information flow in one or several parts of EATMN.
Flow Management Position (FMP). A working position established in appropriate air
traffic control units to ensure the necessary interface between local ATFCM partners
(i.e. ATCs, AOs and Airports) and a central management unit on matters concerning
the provision of the air traffic flow and capacity management service.
Depending on the internal organisation within a State, in addition to FMP staff some
ATFCM activities may be carried out by other national units such as a Headquarters
(HQ) Section. Where tasks are carried out by such units, coordination procedures must
be established between the units concerned and the FMP(s) so that full account is
taken of the situation in the FMP's area of responsibility before decisions are made or
agreements reached.
FREE. The tool used to input internal feedback for the NMOC, which is a Remedy
application. FREE provides a means of operational communication between tactical
and pre-tactical teams.
Integrated Initial Flight Plan Processing System (IFPS). A centralised flight plan
processing and distribution service that has been established within the NM.
Monitoring Value (MV). The monitoring value (MV) is the agreed number of flights
accepted to enter into a reference location per rolling hour beyond which coordinated
actions may be considered between the concerned parties in order to better balance
the traffic load.
Network Manager (NM). Function provided by the EUROCONTROL Network Manager
Directorate (NMD) as described in the NM Implementing Rule of the European
Commission.
Over-Delivery. An occurrence when the declared rate is exceeded by the actual number
of aircraft that enter a regulated sector during a particular period.
Overload. An occurrence when an air traffic controller reports that he/she has had to
handle more traffic than they consider it was safe to do so.
Post Operations. An ATFCM phase that takes place after the day of operation for
analysis of planning procedures and coordination, the results of which are fed back
into the planning process for further consideration.
Pre-Tactical. An ATFCM phase which takes place during six days prior to the day of
operation and consists of planning and coordination activities.
Rate. A value, required as input to slot allocation.
Rerouteing [for ATFCM purposes]. An ATFCM measure which requires an aircraft
operator to file an alternate route/flight level in order to resolve ATC capacity problems
and minimise delays.
Route Availability Document (RAD). A sole source planning document that combines
AIP route flow restrictions with ATFCM routeing requirements designed to make the
most effective use of ATC capacity.
Slot [for ATFCM purposes]. CTOT issued by the NM.

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Slot Adherence. Compliance with a CTOT by the aircraft operator and ATC, taking into
account the slot tolerance.
Slot Allocation. An ATFCM measure implemented by means of a departure slot in
order to balance traffic demand against available ATC capacity.
Slot Tolerance. A window of time around a CTOT available to ATC for which the aircraft
must not depart outside.
Strategic. An ATFCM phase which takes place seven days or more prior to the day of
operation and includes research, planning and coordination activities.
Suspension [for ATFCM purposes]. An ATFCM measure resulting in the suspension of
a flight.
Tactical. An ATFCM phase, which takes place on the day of operation.
Volume of Air Traffic [for ATFCM purposes]. The number of aircraft within a defined
airspace or aircraft movements at an aerodrome, within a specified period of time.

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11 Contacts
The operational language for all communications between the NM and FMPs is
English. All telephone calls to the NM telephone numbers that begin with +32 2 745…
for calls from outside Belgium (or 02 745... for those from Belgium) are recorded for
investigation purposes.
Strategic operations
Coordination required for strategic planning will be performed at national and NM
management level using bilateral, multilateral meetings, mail and / or telephones.
Pre-Tactical operations
To reduce telephone communications, environment data, configurations, monitoring
value figures or other essential data required by the NM during the pre-tactical period
shall, wherever practical, be inserted via CIFLO (in accordance with agreed procedures)
or passed by email.
Tactical operations
FMPs are allocated direct dial numbers to contact the NM. These positions are
managing their airspace, and are the first point of contact for Tactical operations.
If requested by the NMOC staff, any decisions or requests for online CACD changes,
new agreed regulations, regulation changes, flight exclusions etc., sh all be supported
in written, normally via fax or email (email address will be communicated at the time).
In case of a long list of requests, the recommendation is to advise by phone the
relevant NMOC position and then support the request with fax or email.
Flow Management Positions, Towers and Aircraft Operators that need support from
the NMOC should use the FM Helpdesk in order to request help for flights with specific
problems. The e-Helpdesk has a dropdown menu with a wide selection where FMPs,
TWRs and AOs can specify their particular issue / problem.
Contact addresses / telephone numbers of FMPs
Contact addresses and telephone numbers of individual FMPs are available in the
appropriate NM Agreement.
Contact addresses / telephone numbers at NM operations
Telephone numbers of the NM OM, NM DOM and NM pre-tactical should be used for
operational coordination between FMPs and the NM.
NM NM DEPUTY
NM PRE-
BRUSSELS OPERATIONS OPERATIONS NM AOLO HELPDESK NM MILO
TACTICAL
MANAGER MANAGER
OPS (32) 2 (32) 2 (32) 2 (32) 2 (32) 2 (32) 2
TELEPHONE 745.19.31 745.19.00 745.19.92 745.19.01 745.19.20 745.19.34

(32) 2 (32) 2 (32) 2 (32) 2

OPS FAX
729.90.27 729.90.27 729.90.26 729.30.08

OPS NM.AOLO@ NM.PRETACT

[email protected]@eur NM.MILO@eu
eurocontrol.i @eurocontrol.
E-MAIL control.int ocontrol.int rocontrol.int
nt int
OPS AFTN EUCHCEUW EUCHCEUW EUCHCEUW EUCHCEUW

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OPS SITA BRUEC7X BRUEC7X BRUEC7X BRUEC7X

7:00 – 17:00
WORKING UTC in winter
06:00 – 21:00 06:00 – 08:00 – 21:25
H24 H24 time (6:00 –
HOURS UTC 21:00 UTC UTC
16:00 UTC in
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NM NM OPERATIONS NM ATFCM NM CSO
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12 Annex A: Flight Data

12.1 Flight Data Information
All flight plans for IFR/GAT flights or parts thereof intending to operate within the IFPZ
shall be submitted to the IFPS for processing. When a message submitted to the IFPS
for processing has been acknowledged, the IFPS shall send a copy to the ETFMS, at
the earliest 48 hours before EOBT. The ETFMS is loaded every night for the day + 1.
The IFPS shall build a four dimensional profile for every flight, based on the profile
calculated from the flight plan. Where an associated message is processed, the
existing profile shall be re-calculated, incorporating the revised data held in that
associated message e.g. DLA, CHG, CNL and DEP.

Note: The IFPS invalidates DLA and CHG messages that indicate a negative EOBT
(an EOBT that is earlier than the current EOBT) or changes greater than 20
hours in the future.
Note: Where the IFPS shall invalidate DLA / CHG messages that indicate a new EOBT
that becomes in the past compared to the current system time (as a result of
manual processing delays), those messages will be invalidated with the error
message:
‘EFPM223: EOBT IN THE PAST COMPARED TO IFPS SYSTEM TIME’
ATC may also send messages to ETFMS to update the flights according to ATC events.
Some AOs are sending Aircraft (operator) Position Report (APR) messages to ETFMS.
APR messages will be sent for long haul flights departing outside the NM area and
which are planned to enter the NM area (i.e. all departures excluding the one’s from E*,
L* and GC*).
The APR message is expected to be sent 2 to 3 hours before the flight enters the NM
area and contains estimate of the arrival time (ETA) of the flight or actual times over
geographical positions at a distance from the NM area.
This data will then be used by the ETFMS to update the current flight model (CTFM) of
the flight and also all other times (ETOs) in the flight profile are updated accordingly.
Upon the flight’s entry into the NM area, the flight’s profile is then updated by FSA and
CPR messages where applicable.
Where a flight plan is found to be missing ATC shall send an ATC FPL Proposal (AFP)
message to the IFPS providing the information for this flight.
The result for the IFPS is called APL (ATC FPL) and is distributed to all ATC Units. The
same may apply when a route is changed by ATC once the flight is airborne. Then it is
called an ATC Change (ACH).
Flight Notification Message (FNM) from Gander and Message From Shanwick (MFS)
are messages that are received for trans-Atlantic flights which provide an estimate for
the oceanic exit point. These estimates are also used by the ETFMS to update flight
profiles.
Note: An internal NM model for terminal procedures have been aligned to AIXM.
Namely, NM supports an additional terminal procedure type - Instrument
Approach Procedure (IAP). IAP starts at the Initial Approach Fix (IAF) and ends
at the RWY. Old terminal procedure model are still supported for backwards

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compatibility reasons. Having IAP in NM systems, will increase precision of the

flight trajectory calculations and landing time estimation.
The close time of a flight in IFPS shall either be upon successful processing of an
arrival message, 2 hours after the flight is terminated in the ETFMS, or, 8 hours after
the total Estimated Elapsed Time (EET) of that flight; whichever comes first.

12.2 ATFCM Flight Progress Messages Originated by NM

Systems
12.2.1 ETFMS Flight Data Message (EFD)
The purpose of the ETFMS Flight Data message (EFD) is to inform users with
the latest updates and about the latest state of a flight in ETFMS.
The EFD is basically an extract of flight data that is available in the ETFMS of which
the flight profile is the most important part. The EFD will be sent by ETFMS to ANSPs
of FDPAs that request such information.
ETFMS will distribute the EFD in broadcast mode. The receiver can filter out th e
required update types and of each EFD, the required data can be extracted.
The first event at which an EFD will be sent is at the moment of the flight plan creation
(e.g. reception of a FPL or APL message from IFPS).
EFD distribution will end when the status of the flight changes to terminated, cancelled
or suspended in ETFMS. ETFMS will send an EFD for the status change followed by a
limited number of periodically transmitted EFDs.
In between the transmission of the first EFD and the last one, EFDs will be distributed
when the EFD data changes (e.g. FPL, CHG, DLA, CPR, FSA, DPI, slot changes,
processing of a diversion by ETFMS, etc.).

12.2.2 Flight Update Message (FUM)

This message is used to supply airports of destination (ADES) with an Estimated
Landing Date and Time (ELDT). In addition to the ELDT, the FUM will contain the last
point in the flight plan route (PTID) with the corresponding Estimated Time Over (ETO).
The first FUM will be sent at earliest landing time as known by ETFMS - 3 hours or at
ATC Activation. The last FUM is sent when ETFMS considers the flight as terminated,
which is approximately 20 minutes after landing time.
The FUM will be sent at significant updates of the flight in the NMOC/ETFMS system
in the following circumstances:
 at ATC activation of a flight;
 at LandingTime – 3 hours;
 at modification of the ELDT of more than 5 minutes;
 at important flight status changes (e.g. FLS);
 when the flight is reported as diverted.
The FUM will be sent by ETFMS to an address that is derived from t he airports of
destination (ADES) and only to those users/systems that wish to receive such
information.

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In case the FUM is sent for a diverted flight, i.e. when the ‘adesold’ field is present, the
FUM is sent to both the new aerodrome of destination (in the ‘ades’ field) and to the
original aerodrome of destination (in the ‘adesold’ field).
The FUM will have to be sent via the AFTN.

12.3 Correlated Position Reports (CPRs)

The ETFMS is receiving Correlated Position Report (CPRs), giving radar position
information, at a regular interval of 30 seconds or 1 minute depending on the ANU (Air
Navigation Unit).
Individual CPRs will arrive in the ETFMS inside a CPM (message). The content of an
individual CPR for a particular flight may be checked in the operational log.
CSO is monitoring the status of the entry nodes and will call the NM OM if any node is
not sending CPMs to ETFMS for periods greater than 15 minutes.
CPRs received within a radius of 5 NM and below 2 FL around ADEP or ADES will be
ignored (except for activation monitoring).
ADS-B data will be processed by ETFMS in the same manner as the CPR data received.
The same time/vertical/lateral deviation thresholds apply. The refresh rate of the ADS-
B data is 1 minute.

Note: To ensure that flights are correctly terminated in the system, ADS-B data
received 5 minutes after the CTFM arrival time of a flight will be discarded in ETFMS.

12.3.1 Deviation Monitoring

A flight may deviate from its last computed profile triggering a profile recalculation in
one or more of the following aspects:

12.3.1.1 Time
Any deviation of the profile by more than 1 minute.
Note: If there is a level and/or a lateral deviation together with a time deviation, then
the minimum time parameter does not apply (e.g. any time deviation even less
than 1 minute is recalculated).

12.3.1.2 Level
For the en-route phase, any deviation of the profile by more than 400 feet.
For climb / descent phases, any deviation of the profile by more than 1000 feet.
The point and airspace profiles are updated accordingly.

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12.3.1.3 Lateral
Any deviation of the profile by more than 10 nautical miles (NM).
Note: A further route included in an FSA or CPR message will always result in a profile
recalculation even if the deviation does not exceed 10 NM.
If an incoming CPR / FSA message results in a recalculation of the profile of a flight ,
then the resulting ‘NEW PREDICTION’ may be seen in the operational log as follows:
NEW PREDICTION
Source: CPR / FSA
Deviation info: Time-xxx sec, Level-xxx, Lateral-xxx nm
Update info: Time shifted Y/N, Level updated Y / N, Lateral updated Y / N
Regulation_Id; TRUE / FALSE; TTO_Fix_Id; TTO - Date and Time; FL; ATT (Actual Time
at Target) – Date and Time; Compliance (BEFORE / INSIDE / AFTER)
Note: Under this line (one line per regulation the flight is subject to), each new profile
deviation triggered by airborne data will give an indication if the flight is still
crossing the regulation and, if yes, then compare if the ATT is compliant with
the TTO.
CPR / FSA containing information which is outside the acceptable para meters will be
discarded. This functionality is mainly useful to evaluate the quality of the profile by
comparing various flight models to the received airborne message (plots, FSA...).
The ETFMS uses the measured aircraft speed (from CPRs) to extrapolate the speed to
the subsequent segments of the route and update the flight profile accordingly.

12.3.1.4 Diverted Flights from CPR Information

The flight diversion could be triggered by the CPR data received when the ADES field
received in the CPR messages is different from the ADES of the initial FPL.
The ETFMS processing could be described as:
If the ADES in the CPR messages is the ADEP of the flight plan, then the diversion is
triggered immediately. Same when the ADES in the CPR messages is one of the
alternate aerodromes received from the flight plan. However, when the ADES from the
flight plan is neither ADEP, nor the alternates, then the flight diversion will be decided
only after receiving 10 consecutives CPR messages with the same aerodrome of
destination.
Once the flight is diverted based on this information, the CTFM is built with the diverted
ADES.

12.4 Tactical Flight Models

The flight data into the ETFMS are called Tactical Flight Models (TFMs).
When a flight plan is received, a Filed TFM (FTFM) is created. All known information
on the flight is part of it. The FTFM will remain available until the flight is archived. The
FTFM shows the request from the AO.

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Any modification on the flight made by the AO (DLA, CHG...) or some DPI messages
will update the FTFM.
At such a level, the status of the flight will be FILED.
Example
An FPL is received from the IFPS. An FTFM is created.
A DLA, CHG is received. It modifies the FTFM and it is also indicated with * next to off-
blocks time in FTFM.
Note: If a new FPL is received in ETFMS when the previous one has not been
cancelled, it may be merged with the initial one provided ARCID and ADEP are
the same and EOBT not much different (less than the flight duration).
As the merging of flights is different in the IFPS and in the ETFMS, the flight may exist
in the IFPS and not in the ETFMS. When this happens, the only solution is to ask the
AO to cancel and refile a FPL with a different call sign in order for the ETFMS to allocate
a slot.
If the flight is subject to a regulation or to a rerouteing, the ETFMS creates a Regulated
TFM. This RTFM indicates the effect of the measure on the flight (CTOT, route...). The
status of the flight may be:
 SLOT ALLOCATED (Expecting FSA) & CPR
 REROUTED
 REROUTED SLOT ALLOCATED
 FILE SLOT ISSUED (Expecting FSA) & CPR
If the ETFMS receives a CPR / FSA, DEP or some DPI messages for a flight, a Current
TFM (CTFM) is created. The CTFM indicates the real situation of the flight. The flight
is in a status ATC activated. When the system time reaches the CTOT for a flight, the
CTFM is also created. The flight is in a status TACT activated (Expecting an activation
message).
Several FSAs may be received for the same flight and will update the CTFM profile
forwards if there is a deviation. The first FSA received may also update the TOT whilst
any subsequent FSA will only update backwards to the last frozen position (last
received FSA / CPR).
A Nominal Tactical Flight Model (NTFM) has been introduced to normalise PREDICT
demand data. It captures the initial flight plan received by the ETFMS before A-CDM
data, CHG or DLA messages are applied. The presence of an NTFM is shown in the
ETFMS flight data models and in the flight list’s Flight Status column where a T and N
indicate time and route differences.

12.4.1 Profile Tuning Restrictions (PTRs) and TFM updates

ETFMS uses PTRs for all the flight profiles that a flight can have (FTFM, RTFM and
CTFM). The activation/deactivation of a PTR shall result in:
- the update of the active/existing flight profiles impacted by that PTR, according
to its new status (FTFM, RTFM and CTFM), and;
- the consequential update of the impacted traffic counts.
More specifically:

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- for a flight having only a FTFM - the FTFM is updated following an

activation/deactivation of a PTR;
- for a flight having a FTFM and RTFM - both the FTFM and the RTFM are updated
following an activation/deactivation of a PTR;
- for a flight having a CTFM - the CTFM is updated following an activation/deactivation
of a PTR, but only the portion of the profile still to be flown.
Corresponding traffic counts are updated.

12.5 Flight Activation Monitoring (FAM)

As part of the ETFMS implementation, ‘Flight Activation Monitoring’ (FAM) has been
implemented so as to detect flights flying later than planned (or not flying). This is
done by looking at the flights for which no radar plots are received when the flight is
supposed to be airborne (TACT activated) in an airspace covered by an entry node
configured for activation monitoring.
When no radar plots have been received for flights subject to Flight Activation
Monitoring:
 Flights departing from within, or with an elapse time of less than 3 hours to, a
CPR-covered FAM enabled area will be ‘shifted’ in ETFMS up to 3 times, for 5
minutes each time, and will then be suspended after another 2 minutes (i.e.
after 17 minutes in total) by an FLS.
 Flights departing from non-CPR covered areas with an elapse time of more than
3 hours to a CPR-covered FAM enabled area will be ‘shifted’ up to 23 times, for
5 minutes each time, and will then be suspended after another 5 minutes (i.e.
after 120 minutes in total) by an FLS.

Example
A flight is supposed to take-off at 09:00 from a FAM enabled area. At clock time 09:00
the ETFMS will activate the flight. At 09:05 if no CPR / FSA / DEP is received the ETFMS
will SHIFT the ATOT and all ATO times forward by 5 minutes. If no CPR / FSA / DEP
info is received the ETFMS will continue to shift the flight in 5-minute intervals to 09:15.
At 09:17 the flight will be suspended and an FLS sent. The comment ‘NOT REPORTED
AS AIRBORNE’ will be stated. The Flight Data screen will show: Suspension Status:
‘Suspended by activation monitoring waiting for ATC activation’. This will require a
confirmation (DLA) by the AO or ATC stating the new EOBT before a DES or SAM will
be sent. If the flight will not operate, the AO has to send a CNL message.
FAM is applied on all flights, whether regulated or not, departing from, landing at or
crossing areas where CPRs are received by the NM and FAM is activated.
A flight departing from, landing in or crossing a CPR / FAM enabled area with less than
3 hour flying time to the FAM enabled area, and not reported as airborne, will be shifted
three times by 5 minute steps. An FLS will be sent after 17 minutes.
A flight departing from a non-FAM enabled area but with a destination in or crossing a
CPR / FAM enabled area with more than 3 hours flying time to the FAM enabled area
and not reported as airborne will be shifted by 5 minute steps for a period of 120
minutes.

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A flight departing from a non-CPR / FAM enabled area will have FAM performed from
a position along the route where ‘safe coverage’ starts, i.e. FAM will be performed from
the planned entry time to the CPR enabled area.
The airspaces that are used by the system to determine ‘safe coverage’ are called ATC
unit Airspace (AUAs). For a flight to be monitored it will have to remain in the first AUA
it encounters on its profile. This is called the Flight Minimum Traversal Time (currently
set to 0 seconds). All the AUAs a flight is planned to fly through can be seen in the
Airspace Profile of the flight.
A flight shifted by Flight Activation Monitoring into an XCD regulation will not be
affected by the XCD (i.e. suspended due strike) but will receive the suspension
CTOT+17, if still not airborne. A flight shifted by Flight Activation Monitoring into a
normal regulation will take up a slot in the following manner:
 Fill empty slot
 Push down Pre-allocated flight
 Take slot -60 / +20 min (bracketed slot)
 Create overload slot
Note:FAM is automatically disabled for an area in case ETFMS does not receive any
CPRs from the area (i.e. Entry Node) anymore.

12.5.1 FAM Status

The current (or past) effect of the FAM on the flights is maintained in order to display
them on the flight data display, the flight list and (in particular) in the slot list. The FAM
status of the flight may have one of the following values:
Code Status Meaning
. (“N”
in Not_Under_FAM not under FAM yet or never under FAM.
CHMI)
currently subject to FAM, if no data received, flight
F Subject_To_FAM
will be shifted soon.

was subject to FAM but airborne data received

f Was_Subject_To_FAM
before first shift

S Shifted_By_FAM currently shifted by FAM

was shifted by FAM, FPL data received when

s Was_Shifted_By_FAM
shifted

was shifted by FAM, airborne data received when

a Airborne_When_Shifted_By_FAM
shifted

U Suspended_By_FAM currently suspended by FAM

was suspended by FAM, FPL data received when

u Was_Suspended_By_FAM
suspended

was suspended by FAM, airborne data received

A Airborne_When_Suspended_By_FAM
when suspended

Before a flight is TACT activated, the flight FAM status will be set to Not_Under_FAM.
When (and if) a flight becomes TACT activated, the status will be changed to

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Subject_To_FAM, if the flight is covered by entry nodes for which activation monitoring
is on.
When the flight is shifted, the status will be changed to Shifted_By_FAM. After the
shifting period, FAM will suspend the flight and its status will be changed to
Suspended_By_FAM.
In case flight plan data (e.g. a CHG, a DLA) is received while the fligh t is shifted or
suspended by FAM, the flight FAM status will be changed to Was_Shifted_By_FAM or
Was_Suspended_By_FAM.
An FCM for a flight suspended by FAM will not be accepted. This will trigger an ETFMS
error message:
‘CONFIRMATION MSG IGNORED FOR FLIGHT SUSPENDED BY FAM. PLEASE USE DLA
OR CHG INSTEAD’
An FCM for a flight that is ATC activated will not be accepted by SITA or AFTN (it is not
possible to do it via the CHMI), and will trigger the following ETFMS error message:
‘FLIGHT ALREADY ACTIVATED’
An FCM for a flight that is TACT activated will not be accepted and will trigger the
following ETFMS error message:
‘CONFIRMATION MSG IGNORED FOR FLIGHT WITH TAKE OFF TIME IN THE PAST.
PLEASE USE DLA OR CHG INSTEAD’
In case airborne data (e.g. FSA, DEP, ARR) is received while the flight is shifted or
suspended by FAM, the flight FAM status will be changed to
Airborne_When_Shifted_By_FAM or Airborne_When_Suspended_By_FAM.
A flight can be subject to FAM multiple times e.g., the flight could first be suspended
by FAM and then delayed by a DLA. Based on this DLA, it could then be shifted again
by FAM.
When the flight is not (actively) under FAM anymore (i.e. it is not TACT activated
anymore), the FAM status shown for this flight will be based on the worse FAM status
encountered.
In case the worse FAM status of the flight is ‘worse’ than the current FAM status of the
flight, the flight data query display will show both the current FAM status and the worse
FAM status encountered.
The order in the table above follows the ‘worse’ characteristic of the status. In other
words, Airborne_When_Suspended_By_FAM is ‘worse’ than Was_Suspended_By_FAM.

12.5.2 FAM Control

An adjustable parameter enabling / disabling FAM is available.
If a flight max flight level is below the parameter (currently F090), no FAM will be done
for this flight even if it is covered by an entry node.
If a flight ADEP is member of one or more ‘disabling FAM’ set of aerodromes, then no
FAM will be done for the flight even if it is covered by an entry node. The 'Disabling
FAM' set of aerodromes are all the set of aerodromes with name starting with DISFAM.
In the flight data query display, a new line (heading is FAM Disabled) has been added
to show if there is a reason to disable the FAM for this flight. If there is n o reason, the

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flight data display will show Not Disabled. If FAM is disabled for this flight due to a
disabling FAM set of aerodromes, the display will show Sad DISFAM. If the FAM is
disabled because of flight flying at a low altitude, the display will show Low Altitude.
The line FAM Disabled in the flight data query display represents the ‘static’ disabling
status. The flight will be really subject to FAM only if 'Not Disabled' and the flight is
covered by an ‘active’ entry node at the time the system will shift it or suspend it.
When the flight is TACT activated (i.e. possibly currently under FAM / shifted), the
information shown in the data display is the ‘real current complete’ FAM status.
Otherwise, the information represents the ‘static’ FAM information for the flight (i.e.
assuming that the entry nodes are correctly sending radar plots).

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13 Annex B: Integrated airports

The term integrated airports has replaced the former “A-CDM airports” as it includes
the 3 levels of integration with NM systems: Advanced Network Integrated (ANI), A-
CDM and Advanced ATC Tower.
It is essential for airports to share dynamic and highly accurate data with the European
ATM Network.
The Departure Planning Information (DPI) messages supply the Network Manager
Operations Centre (NMOC) with airport situational information direct from the airport
Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) systems in order to update the real-time flight
situation prior to take-off.
In a symmetric process, the Flight Update Messages (FUMs) sent by the NMOC provide
airports with an accurate estimated landing time of arriving flights, thus improving the
planning of outbound flights. FUM messages may be provided to any airport (of
destination) on request. This service is also available via B2B.
Airports and FMPs can also provide Arrival Planning Information (API) messages.
The General API (G-API) aims to inform NM about known/available pertinent local
flight arrival planning and actual data, while Target Take -Off (TTA-API) and Target
Time Over APIs (TTO-API) aim to integrate Airport and FMP needs into the ATFCM
processes.
Currently, NM uses 4 different levels of integration of the airports into the ATM
Network:
 Advanced Network Integrated (ANI) Airport (for AOP/NOP integration
programme)
 CDM Airports (A-CDM);
 Advanced ATC TWR Airports;
 Standard Airports.
The Advanced Network Integrated (ANI) is intended for Airports that have fully
adopted the Airport CDM concept and is the highest level of integrating Airport
Operations with the ATM Network. Compared to CDM Airports, the interaction with
NMOC is extended with provision of P-DPI and G-API messages, airside capacity
updates, in order to contribute to the Network Operations Plan (NOP). ANI airports
can also exchange Target Take-Off (TTA-API) and Target Time Over APIs (TTO-API),
those messages are however optional.
CDM airports are airports that have implemented the Collaborative Decision Making
process as is specified in the Airport CDM Implementation Manual and provide the full
set of DPI messages to NMOC.
Advanced ATC TWR airports are airports that have not implemented or not fully
implemented the CDM process but still would like to integrate into the ATM Network
using a limited set of DPI messages.
Standard airports (non-CDM airports) are not integrated into the Network via the
transmission of DPI messages to the NMOC.

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13.1 Benefits of Advanced Network Integrated (ANI)

Airports
In addition to the benefits of CDM Airports, the integration as an ANI airport provides
stakeholders additional benefits by extending the timeframe of A-CDM further than
three (3) hours before off-block and by providing enhanced demand picture
calculations and traffic predictability.
It improves common situational awareness in reduced capacity situations and an
improved pre-tactical capacity and demand planning (e.g. via the Airport Corner).
TTA-API and/or TTO-API messages (optional elements for ANI airports) allow the
improvement of Arrival flows when regulations are in place and the optimisation of
ATFCM delays.

13.113.2 Benefits of A-CDM

Airport CDM brings substantial benefits to all partners by improving the quality of
information on which decisions are made. This will lead to enhanced operational
efficiency and facilitate optimum use of available capacity. With the number of airports
implementing Airport CDM increasing, the Network benefits will be increased.
These benefits include an enhanced flow management process and reduced number
of wasted ATFCM slots resulting in more used capacity throughout the Network as a
more accurate timing of the traffic is provided to all partners. The DPI messages
provide a way for the CDM airports to be integrated into the ATFCM process,
supporting therefore the management of the Network by allowing a better alignment
between airports and ATC capacity. They allow the NM to better know the CDM airport
constraints for a given flight and to take them into account in its own processes.
CDM airports have a better knowledge of the traffic to its destination and are able to
take it into account in its own processes. The short term forecast of the traffic situation
allows A-CDM to adapt and efficiently improve operations at the airport.
Airlines also benefit as they get a better view of their respective fleet situation before
the departure of the flights.

13.213.3 Benefits of Advanced ATC TWR Airports

An advanced ATC TWR airport provides Target Take-Off-Time (TTOT) estimations as
well as Variable Taxi-Times (VTTs) and SIDs to the NMOC. These are provided from
the moment that the aircraft leaves the blocks, which allows the NMOC to take the
actual off-block event into account for ATFCM operations.

13.313.4 Impact on Network Operations of Integrated airports

For standard airports, the communication concerning ATFCM matters is done between
the FMP and the NMOC.
For integrated airports it is normally agreed that the TWR and the NMOC communicate
directly when it concerns individual flights, for example a flight for which a DPI has
been received with late TTOT. The communication concerning global airport related
issues should still go via the FMP, for example airport default capacity changes.

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For the purpose of communication and cooperation between an integrated airport and
the NMOC, 3 levels of Network impact of an airport have been identified:
 Level 0 - Normal operations.
 Level 1 - Adverse conditions or hindered operations
 Level 2 - Disrupted operations
The relevant Network impact level will be agreed between the TWR and the NMOC and
the cooperation and support that the NMOC can give to a CDM airport depends on this
Network impact level.
The definition of Network impact level will allow for a simplified communication
between TWRs, the NMOC, and each CDM integrated airport and the NMOC.
The TWR / FMP shall inform the NMOC of any change in operations that significantly
impact the Network (e.g. a change from adverse conditions back to normal
operations). This applies to deteriorations of situations but also of improvements.
The NMOC may agree to have daily conference calls in order to improve operations
with specific integrated airports if required.
For more information regarding the levels of network impact and the communication
procedures between integrated airports and NMOC, please also check the DPI
implementation guide.


13.413.5 Departure Planning Information (DPI)

Departure Planning Information (DPI) messages are system-to-system messages
sent by integrated airports system to ETFMS. The types of DPI messages are:
 P-DPI (Predicted DPI)
 E-DPI (Early DPI)
 T-DPI-t (Target DPI - Target)
 T-DPI-s (Target DPI - Sequenced)
 A-DPI (ATC DPI)
 C-DPI (Cancel DPI)
Each is sent at different times and at different trigger events. The messages include
data about take-off times, i.e. estimated, aircraft operator or ATC target and push-back
times by ATC taking into account individual taxi / sequencing times.
DPIs are complemented with the reception by the CDM system of updated NM data
either via the FUM messages or derived from the EFD messages. A FUM will be sent
for any change in the CDM status of the flight.
An essential requirement for DPI messages to be sent from an airport system is that a
fully functioning CDM organisation exists at the airport concerned. Common data is
shared and used by all partners at the airport; with DPIs, this information is also given
to the NM, where it is used in its systems to update its own data making it more
dynamically up-to-date, and subsequently it is shared with all NM users.

13.4.113.5.1 DPI Messages

There are 5 main types of DPI messages, the Predicted-DPI, the Early-DPI, the Target
DPI-target, Target DPI-sequenced, the ATC-DPI and the Cancel-DPI. Each DPI serves a

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specific purpose and should be sent at its appropriate event and time frame. The DPI
messages are recognised by their DPISTATUS in the message. The DPISTATUS of the
messages are:

DPI Type DPI Status

P-DPI DPISTATUS PREDICTED--
E-DPI DPISTATUS EARLY
T-DPI-t DPISTATUS TARGET
T-DPI-s DPISTATUS SEQ
A-DPI DPISTATUS ATC
C-DPI DPISTATUS CNL
The most important data provided in any DPI message is the Target Take -Off Time
(TTOT). The TTOT is used to update the traffic profiles with more accurate
information.
CDM Airports and Advanced ATC Tower airports provide only one TTOT value in DPI
messages. ANI airports may provide up to three TTOT types in the same DPI
message, in the following order:
1. turnaroundTTOT
2. earliestTTOT
3. consolidatedTTOT
During normal operations, it is expected to always have a turnaroundTTOT in the
message, an earliestTTOT if there is a local airport capacity constraint and
consolidatedTTOT if the flight is regulated.
Note that in specific procedures, when two or more TTOT types are provided, the
“reference TTOT’’ will be referring to the earliestTTOT (if present) otherwise the
‘’reference –TTOT’ will be referring to the turnaroundTTOT [PC1][CV2].
For more details about the TTOT types, please refer to the DPI Implementation Guide.
DPI messages also provide the ETFMS with other data that is used to update the
traffic profiles:
 A variable taxi-time per flight.
 The SID per flight selected by ATC.
DCTs in the SID are taken into account by the ETFMS for the profile calculation . The
ETFMS accepts a waypoint or a navigation aid point as a value in the SID field.
DPI messages may also provide the airport with the aircraft type (ARCTYP) and the
aircraft registration as updated by the airport.
One or more P-DPI, E-DPI, T-DPI-t, T-DPI-s and A-DPI messages may be transmitted if
the departure target times differ from those previously transmitted by a defined
parameter (e.g. 5 minutes or more).
Normally, the sequence of DPI messages is P-DPI > E-DPI > T-DPI-t > T-DPI-s > A-DPI.
However, this order is not necessarily enforced by ETFMS during operations.
For some aerodromes and AOs, and at their request, the ETFMS will compare the TOBT
in a received DPI with the last EOBT of the flight and generate a DLA message (on
behalf of the AO) if the TOBT is later than the EOBT, therefore updating the FTFM.

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According to ICAO, any changes to the EOBT of more than 15 minutes shall be
communicated, either by using this feature or via a DLA message from the AO.
Flights departing from DPI transmitting aerodromes may benefit from the extended
departure and slot tolerance windows during adverse operating conditions at an
airport enabled periods.

13.4.213.5.2 DPI Types

P-DPI (Predicted-DPI)
The Predicted DPI (P-DPI) message provides NM/ETFMS with relevant data from the
airport system as soon as this data becomes available. Its purpose is to provide
Airport Data before the start of the Airport CDM process. It is provided only by ANI
airports.
The first P-DPI is sent as soon as flight plan data (from IFPS) is available in the airport
system but never earlier than EOBT-48hrs. The transmission of P-DPI message
update stops at EOBT-3hrs, i.e. when the CDM process starts. If there is no FPL in
ETFMS, the P-DPI message will be rejected with “FLIGHT NOT YET CONFIRMED BY
FLIGHT PLAN” or by “NOT EXISTING FLIGHT”.
The CDM Status is set to ‘p – predicted’ if the P-DPI is accepted. For ANI airports the
P-DPI may contain a turnaroundTTOT and earliestTTOT.
E-DPI (Early-DPI)
The E-DPI message in the operational log, identified by the DPISTATUS=EARLY field,
is sent after verification of the flight plan EOBT with the airport slot (SOBT) and as such
confirms the ICAO FPL message. The provided SOBT field is currently not used by
ETFMS. For CDM flights, the Scheduled Off Block Time (SOBT) is not relevant before
the very first E-DPI (or is always equal to the EOBT of IFPS messages) and it will be set
or updated by the greatest value between the EOBT field of the very first E -DPI
message and the EOBT field of the latest IFPS message received before this very first
E-DPI. E-DPI also provides the ETFMS with the first estimate of the taxi-time and the
SID, if available.
The ETFMS handles this type in the same way it handles DLA messages, i.e. updating
the FTFM triggering a recalculation of the Network impact with the update of the CTOT
if applicable.
The ETFMS will show an IFPS discrepancy if the TOBT is outside a window of + / - 15
minutes around the last known EOBT.
The CDM Status is set to ‘e – estimated’ if the E-DPI is accepted.
For ANI airports the E-DPI may contain the turnaroundTTOT and the earliestTTOT.

T-DPI-t (Target-DPI-target)
Provides ETFMS with an updated Target Take-Off Time (TTOT).
If no E-DPI has been received previously, the ETFMS will accept the T-DPI but a
comment in the operational log ‘T-DPI-t received before E-DPI’ will be displayed.
The TTOT in the T-DPI-t is based upon the Target Off-Blocks Time (TOBT) derived from
data such as the estimated landing time of the inbound aircraft, passenger
connections, crew connections and the estimated turn-around time. It is based upon

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flight plan data and (local) updates during the turn-around. In general this information
represents the AO’s desires and does not take into account ATC constraints at the
airport and / or ATFCM restrictions. Updates of the TTOT (TOBT + variable taxi time)
by 5 minutes or more will trigger a new T-DPI-t message.
The CDM Status is set to ‘t – targeted’ if the T-DPI-t is accepted.
T-DPI-t should be sent from EOBT-2 hours to EOBT - 30 minutes.
ETFMS behaviour in response to TTOT from T-DPI-t message:
1. Non-regulated flights
 The ETFMS will use the TTOT to update the FTFM.
 The ETFMS will re-assess the impact of the T-DPI-t on the ATM Network.
 The ETFMS will show an IFPS discrepancy if the TOBT is outside a window of
+ / - 15 min around the EOBT (IFPS OBT).
 Any ATFCM suspension conditions will be re-assessed. If the flight remains or
becomes suspended, the FTFM becomes the reference and it is based upon
the TTOT of the T-DPI-t and the ETFMS will resend an FLS.
2. Regulated flights
 If the TTOT is earlier than the Slot Tolerance Window (STW), then normally the
CTOT is kept and TTOT is taken as a ‘no slot before’ time. The true revision
process will try to improve the CTOT up to the last known TTOT.
 If the TTOT falls within the STW (-5 / +10), then the FTFM flight profile is
updated to this time with no recalculation done to the regulations (CTOs).
 If the TTOT is after the STW, then a complete recalculation is performed by the
ETFMS. The message is considered as a DLA by the ETFMS. Then the True
Revision Process and the ‘recovery hole’ mechanism process may help to
reduce the ATFCM delays.
 The flight will get the status RFI automatically regardless what the CACD
settings for the AO concerned are and regardless of any previously received
ATFM message.
The AO is not expected to (and should not) send SWM when operating from CDM
airports.
For ANI airports the T-DPI-t may contain the turnaroundTTOT, the earliestTTOT and
consolidatedTTOT.

T-DPI-s (Target-DPI-sequenced)
The T-DPI-s (Sequenced) is based upon the Target Start-up Approval Time (TSAT)
derived from the ATC sequencing plan. This information represents the ATC’s desires
and takes into account ATFCM restrictions and as accurately as possible any other
taxiing / sequencing delays.
In some airports, T-DPI-s messages are sent at TOBT - 40 minutes for non-regulated
flights and at TSAT - 10 minutes for regulated ones. Other airports are providing an
optimal TTOT for regulated flights from TOBT - 40 minutes onwards. The optimal TTOT
is the earliest possible TOT for a flight, taking all local constraints (e.g. TOBT, TSAT…)
into account but not the CTOT.
CDM Status in the Flight List is set to ‘s’ (sequenced).
ETFMS behaviour in response to T-DPI-s message:

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1. Non-regulated Flights
The TOT of the FTFM is based upon the flight plan (FPL, DLA and CHG) and updates
of P-DPI, E-DPI and T-DPI-t.
If the TTOT (TSAT + taxi time) is inside the DTW around the take-off-time of the FTFM
then:
 Regulations crossed and suspension conditions are not assessed.
 Traffic load is updated through the creation of the Current Tactical Flight Model
(CTFM) based upon the TTOT. If some regulations are now crossed by the
CTFM, the slot lists are updated accordingly.
If the TTOT (TSAT + taxi time) is outside the DTW around the take-off-time of the FTFM
then:
 Where the updated TTOT falls before the DTW, regulations crossed and
suspension conditions are assessed based on this ‘no slot before’ time. If
some regulations are crossed, a complete recalculation is performed by the
ETFMS. If the updated TTOT falls after the DTW, the ETFMS will consider it as
a DLA message.
In all cases, the traffic load is updated through the creation of the CTFM based upon
the TTOT. FAM will start shifting at the TTOT and will suspend the flight 17 minutes
after the TTOT.
2. Regulated Flights
When the TTOT (TSAT + taxi time) is before the STW then:
 The TTOT is stored for possible future use as a no slot before time. The ETFMS
will try to improve the CTOT up to the provided no slot before time at regular
intervals and the ETFMS will use the no slot before time when the regulation
schema is modified.
 The message is processed by the ETFMS as a REA message and the system
will try to improve the flight in the same manner.
Note that in case the TTOT is even before the ETOT of the FTFM, then the FTFM is
updated. In fact in this case the T-DPI-s is processed in exactly the same way as a REA
message (see REA message for more details).
When the TTOT (TSAT + taxi time) is inside the STW then:
 Regulations crossed and suspension conditions are not assessed, the traffic
load is updated through the creation or update of the CTFM based upon the
TTOT. If some regulations are (still or no longer) crossed by the CTFM, the slot
lists are updated accordingly. FAM will start shifting at the TTOT and will
suspend the flight 17 minutes after the TTOT.
 The ETFMS will no longer provide any CTOT improvements and the flight may
be impacted by modifications of the regulation schema.
 When the TTOT (TSAT + taxi time) is after the STW then:
 Regulations crossed and suspension conditions are re-assessed based on this
‘no slot before’ time.
 If some regulations are still crossed, a complete recalculation is performed by
the ETFMS. Otherwise, the RTFM is adjusted to this TTOT but the traffic load is
updated through the creation of the CTFM based upon the TTOT. FAM will start
shifting at the TTOT and will suspend 17 minutes after the TTOT.
 If the flight no longer crosses any regulations, an SLC message is sent.

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For ANI airports the T-DPI-s may contain the turnaroundTTOT, the earliestTTOT and
consolidatedTTOT.

A-DPI (ATC-DPI)
The message provides the ETFMS with an accurate estimation of the actual take-off
time. It is based upon the take-off-sequence of the flight and it is sent at off-block,
push-back or taxi clearance.
The ETFMS activates the flight on reception of the A-DPI; the CTFM is created.
FAM will start shifting at the TTOT and will suspend the flight 17 minutes after the
TTOT.
The A-DPI TWRUPDATE is a special type of A-DPI that can be manually triggered by
the TWR controller to either:
a) Request a CTOT extension.
b) Request a new CTOT (search for first available CTOT).
c) Request de-suspension for a flight that was suspended by C-DPI or by FAM, while
(still) under control of ATC.

C-DPI (Cancel-DPI)
If the turnaround process is interrupted, the airport will inform the NMOC about the
event with a C-DPI message.
As a result of the reception of a C-DPI message the ETFMS will suspend the flight with
the comment: suspended by departure airport. Any update to the TOBT / EOBT or an
A-DPI TWRUPDATE will de-suspend the flight.
A C-DPI may be sent and accepted at any time, even if it is the first DPI message. A C-
DPI will also be accepted after a DLA message has been sent. After a C-DPI, an E-DPI,
a T-DPI-t, a T-DPI-s, an A-DPI TWRUPDATE or a new EOBT from a DLA/CHG message
will be accepted by the ETFMS and will de-suspend the flight. An A-DPI sent after a C-
DPI will be rejected.
A C-DPI with reason UNDOADPI can be used to de-activate a flight which was wrongly
activated and ETFMS will not suspend the flight. A wrong activation can occur when
the pushback clearance event has been input by TWR for the wrong flight.

13.4.313.5.3 Suspended Flights

In case of a suspension due to IFPS revalidation, the Estimated Flight Model (FTFM)
will not be updated but the flight remains suspended. An FLS is not re-sent. Any type
of DPI messages will be rejected with the error ‘FLIGHT SUSPENDED DUE TO IFPS
REVALIDATION’.
At a reception of any DPI message, with one exception for A-DPI, the ETFMS will re-
assess suspension conditions and regulations crossed:
 If the flight remains suspended, the FLS message is re-sent.
 If the flight becomes de-suspended, then a DES or SAM message is sent.

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13.4.413.5.4 CDM STATUS in the Flight List

A CDM status indicator is shown in the flight list. The first letter indicates:
(blank) Not departing from a CDM airport
C Departing from a CDM airport (expecting DPI)
p Predicted (P-DPI)
e Estimated (E-DPI)
t Targeted (T-DPI-t)
s Pre-sequenced (T-DPI-s)
a Actual off-block (A-DPI)

13.5.5 Message Summary for ANI airports

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Message P-DPI E-DPI T-DPI-t T-DPI-s A-DPI Directorate
Network Management C-DPI

Timing From FPL in From EOBT - 3 From EOBT - 2 hrs From TOBT – 40 At AOBT At any time
ETFMS until hrs min after FPL in
from EOBT – 3 hrs (first ETFMS
OBT E-DPI)

Received TT TT TT TT TT
Data SID SID SID SID SID
(some of
these
fields are turnaroundTTOT turnaroundTTO turnaroundTTOT turnaroundTTOT TTOT
T
optional) earliestTTOT earliestTTOT earliestTTOT
earliestTTOT
consolidatedTTOT consolidatedTTOT
SOBT
TOBT TOBT AOBT
TOBT
TSAT TSAT
SOBT

Derived CDM status = p CDM status = e CDM status = t CDM status = s CDM status = a CDM status
=e
Data

Effect on ETFMS

FTFM Updated w ith Same effect Same effect Same effect No impact Recompute
turnaroundTTOT d based on
EOBT and
REA

RTFM Updated in Same effect Same effect Same effect No impact Deleted
accordance w ith
Netw ork
assessment
outcome

CTFM For Non For Non For Non Regulated For Non Regulated For Non Regulated Deleted
Regulated Flight Regulated Flight Flight Flight
Flight
When
earliestTTOT
inside or after Same effect Same effect  CTFM created
DTW Same effect based on TTOT

 CTFM created
based on
earliestTTOT

For Regulated For Regulated For Regulated For Regulated For Non Regulated
Flight Flight Flight Flight Flight
earliestTTOT =  CTFM created
No slot before based on TTOT
Same effect Same effect Same effect as for
When T-DPI-t For Regulated Flight
earliestTTOT
inside STW + CTOT frozen
 CTFM When TTOT before
CTFM updated
created based STW
based on
on consolidatedTTOT  CTFM created
earliestTTOT
based on
consolidatedTTOT STW_Low erBound
≠ No slot before

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When TTOT inside or

after STW
+
CTFM
When earliestTTOT created
before or inside based on
STW TTOT
 Flight gets REA
status

Network When FTFM Same When FTFM Same Nev er Nev er

updated updated
assessm
ent When When earliestTTOT
triggers earliestTTOT outside DTW
outside DTW
After SIT1
Before SIT1 When earliestTTOT
When after STW
earliestTTOT after
CTOT

Other tac activ ated Flight

suspended
(FLS)

Outcome of Netw ork assessment

When Flight non-regulated / de-suspended:

 CTFM re / computed or remov ed
 SLC / DES sent appropriately
When Flight assessed regulated:
 SAM / SRM sent only after SIT1
 CTOT improv ement possible
When Flight assessed suspended:
 FLS sent

13.4.513.5.6 Message Summary for A-CDM and for Advanced ATC

TWR airports

Message E-DPI T-DPI-t T-DPI-s A-DPI C-DPI

Timing From EOBT - 3 From EOBT - 2 From TOBT – 40 min At AOBT At any time
hrs hrs
from (after FPL in
OBT ETFMS)

Received A-CDM or Adv A-CDM A-CDM A-CDM or Adv ATC TWR A-CDM or Adv
ATC TWR ATC TWR
from

Received TT TT TT TT
Data SID SID SID SID
(some of
TTOT TTOT TTOT TTOT
these
fields are SOBT TOBT TOBT AOBT
optional) TSAT TSAT

Derived CDM status = e CDM status = t CDM status = s CDM status = a CDM status = e
Data

Effect on ETFMS

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FTFM Updated with Updated with For Regulated Flight No impact Recomputed
TTOT TTOT
Updated when TTOT before
ETOT
 Same processing as REA

RTFM Updated in Same effect Same effect No impact Deleted

accordance with
Network
assessment
outcome

CTFM No impact No impact For Non regulated Flight For Non Regulated Flight Deleted
 CTFM is always created  CTFM created based on
TTOT
For Regulated Flight For Regulated Flight
When TTOT after ETOT and CTOT frozen
before STW
 CTFM deleted When TTOT before STW
 TTOT = No slot before
 CTOT improvement  CTFM created based on
possible STW_LowerBound

When TTOT inside STW When TTOT inside or after

 CTFM created STW
 No CTOT improvement
 CTFM created based on
TTOT

Network When FTFM When FTFM For Non regulated Flight Never Never
updated updated
assessm When TTOT outside DTW
ent
For regulated Flight
triggers
When TTOT after STW

Other tac activated Flight

suspended
(FLS)

Outcome of Netw ork assessment

When Flight non-regulated / de-suspended:
 CTFM re / computed or removed
 SLC / DES sent appropriately
When Flight assessed regulated:
 SAM / SRM sent only after SIT1
 CTOT improvement possible
When Flight assessed suspended:
 FLS sent

For further details, refer to the DPI Implementation Guide and the Flight Progress
Messages document.

13.6 Arrival Planning Information (API)

The purpose of the Arrival Planning Information (API) services is to provide NM with
arrival flight data related updates. Such data is made available by Airports based
upon their Airport Operational Database (AODB) or DCB tools or by FMPs/ATC using
Arrival Management applications.

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13.6.1 API Messages

There are 3 main types of API messages, the General-API, the Target Take Off-API
(TTA-API) and the Target Time Over-API (TTO-API).
The General-API (G-API) is used to provide updated arrival flight information,
updating NMOC’s flight data. This info will be shared with NM’s users such as
ANSPs, AOs and Airports of Destination via the NMOC’s Data sharing Services.
Standard Airports, Advanced ATC TWR airports, CDM Airports and ANI Airports can
provide G-API messages. This requires upgrade of their systems and connection with
NM Systems via NM B2B services.
The TTA-API and TTO-API are used to solve and avoid local DCB issues. The
requests of Target Take Off or Target Time Over according to the local business
needs will allow better arrival management. ANI Airports can provide TTA-API and
TTO-API as optional messages.

13.6.2 API Types

G-API (General-API)
The General-API allows an airport to inform NM and ETFMS about known/available
pertinent local flight arrival planning and actual data.
The first G-API shall be sent at any time after the flight plan has been filed but not
earlier than EOBT-48hrs. It can be provided up to and including the flight is
TERminated in NM/ETFMS.
ETFMS behaviour in response to G-API message:
The landing information from G-API is used by ETFMS to update the CTFM profile
only when it represents an Actual Landing Time.
The arrivalProcedure (STAR) information updates the FTFM, RTFM and the CTFM if
the flight is not yet airborne. If the flight is airborne, only the CTFM is updated.
An arrivalProcedure update results in an ATFCM Impact Assessment, i.e. may result
in a CTOT update, a flight suspension or a slot cancellation (SLC).
The arrivalProcedure received via a G-API can only be modified via another API.
ArrivalProcedure updates derived from an ENV runway update or received via a CHG
message containing a STAR are ignored after reception of an API containing an
arrivalProcedure.
The arrivalTerminal information will be used in the application of AT FCM measures,
i.e. to select flights for regulation or exemption of a regulation dependent on the
arrivalTerminal.
TTA-API (Target Take Off -API)
In arrival capacity constrained situations the TTA-API allows the collaborative group
of Airport to submit Target Time of arrival requests to the NMOC. It is expected that
the collaborative group of Airport stakeholders consists of Flow Management
Position (FMP), ATC/approach and Airport Operations, possibly including the Aircraft
Operators to allow for inclusion of Aircraft Operators prioritisation (UDPP) in the TTA
process.
This service is used for flights still on the ground in the ECAC area to provide NM with
the

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preferred/requested Target Times of arrival in the corresponding arrival regulation

according to the local operational needs.
The TTA-API message can be sent by FMP that use DCB applications or enhanced
arrival management systems or ANI Airports that have implemented a DCB process.
ETFMS behaviour in response to TTA-API message:
If the request is granted a CTOT will be issued by NM at SIT1.
If the request is “not granted” then the TTA-API may be ignored and/or a CTOT that
does not correspond to the requested TTA may be granted.
The CTOT will correspond to the flight’s most penalising regulation (MPR) as
determined by ETFMS.
TTO-API (Target Time Over-API)
The targetTimeOver is the output of a DCB process, an arrival-sequencing tool, etc.
and it allows the ANI Airport/FMP/ATC-approach to communicate the agreed arrival
sequence (with AO/pilot) to NM/ETFMS so that NMOC also has an updated traffic
(load) picture.
The targetTimeOver should be provided for airborne flights. It can also be provided
before take-off if the flight departs from outside of the NM/ATFM Area
A TTO-API message update for a change of targetTimeOver shall depend on the
status of the inbound flight. It shall be sent for any change of the targetTimeOver of:

Flight Status of Inbound Flight Update Requirement

Not yet airborne >= 15 min
Airborne >= 5 min

ETFMS behaviour in response to TTO-API message:

The TTO-API is used by ETFMS to create or update the CTFM/Traffic Load with the
planned time of arrival at the coordinationFix (see API Implementation Guide for
details). The TakeOff-Time does not change but the speed of the flight used in the
CTFM is adjusted to align with the planned time at the coordinationFix . Note that the
flight status remains unchanged (does e.g. not become tact_activated).
The use of provided targetTimeOver is re-evaluated at reception of other flight
updates such as DLA, CHG, DPI, regulation updates, FAM, meteo updates, FSA, CPR,…
. It will be re-applied if it remains “ realistic”, i.e. the speed is realistic. It will
automatically be reset when it no longer appears to be realistic
In case a TTO-API is removed:
a) If flight is not yet TACT_ACTIVATED or ATC_ACTIVATED, the CTFM is removed (If
it was only based upon the targetTimeOver).
b) If flight = TACT_ACTIVATED or ATC_ACTIVATED , the targetTimeOver is removed
and CTFM is calculated in accordance with standard rules.

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13.6.3 API Message Summary

Message G-API TTA-API TTO-API

Timing from OBT Since FPL in Since FPL in ETFMS and after Since OBT – 40 min until
ETFMS until flight the associated ATFCM flight landed
landed regulation has been activ ated
in ETFMS until OBT – TRS

Received from ANI, or Adv ATC ANI or ANSP ANI or ANSP

TWR

Received Data (some ELDT/ALDT

of these fields are STAR STAR STAR
optional)
SIBT
TT TTO TTO
arriv alTerminal CoordinationFix CoordinationFix
regulationId

Derived Data API status = API status = TAKEOFF API status = TIMEOVER
GENERAL

FTFM Updated w ith TT

and STAR if not yet No impact No impact
airborne

Updated in
RTFM accordance w ith Updated in accordance w ith No impact
Netw ork Netw ork assessment outcome
assessment
outcome
Updated w ith TT
CTFM and STAR if May be updated based on Updated based on TTO
airborne. TTO
Updated w ith ALDT
if it could not be
deriv ed from other
sources, e.g. CPR

Other

For further details, refer to the API Implementation Guide.

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14 Annex C: Slot Allocation Process

The slot allocation procedures detailed below are those applicable to the NM ETFMS.
They are applied to all flights subject to ATFCM slot allocation departing from within
the ATFCM area or from within the ATFCM Adjacent area and entering the ATFCM
area.

14.1 Description of the Computer Assisted Slot Allocation

(CASA) System
The CASA system is largely automatic and centralised, and functions from an AO’s
point of view in passive mode. In other words, the act of filing a flight plan effectively
constitutes a request for a slot.
After coordination with the FMP, the NM decides to activate regulations in those
locations where it is necessary. In ETFMS regulations include the start and the end
times, the description of the location, the entering flow rate and some others
parameters. In accordance with the principle of ‘First Planned - First Served’ the system
extracts all the flights entering the specified airspace and sequences them in the order
they would have arrived at the airspace in the absence of any restriction.
On this basis, the Take-Off Time (TOT) for the flight is calculated. It is this information,
Calculated Take-Off Time (CTOT), which is transmitted to the AO concerned and to the
control tower at the aerodrome of departure.
For each regulated point, area or airport, CASA builds and manages a list of slots i.e.
the Slot List. A regulation may be specified over sub-periods, each sub-period being
assigned a rate. CASA uses these items to build initially an empty Slot List. For
instance, a four hour long sub-period associated with a basic rate of 28 flights per hour,
would result in a Slot List made up of 112 slots separated from one another by
approximately 2 minutes.

14.2 Description of the Slot Allocation Process

14.2.1 Pre-allocation Stage
When the regulation is activated, CASA starts to receive flight data, based on Filed
Flight Plans (FPL), as available. Each flight concerned by the regulation is given a
provisional slot based on the order of their Estimated Time Over (ETO) the restricted
location.
This initial reservation is internal to the ETFMS system and is subject to amendment.
Due to the constant recalculation of the Slot Allocation List (SAL) as new flight plans
arrive, the provisional slot is very likely to be changed.
When CASA receives new flight data, it pre-allocates the slot as close to the requested
Estimated Time Over (ETO) the restricted location as it is available:
 If that slot is free, it is assigned to the flight, which thus suffers no delay.
 If that slot is already pre-allocated to a flight which is planned to overfly the
restricted location after the new flight then the latter takes the slot. Of course,
the consequence can be a chain reaction, because the flight whose slot has

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been taken tries to recover another slot, possibly by taking the slot of another
flight, etc.

14.2.2 Pending Rate

In order to reduce the number of large delays for late updaters the pending rate will be
kept entirely for flights that are modified after the SAM is issued with messages such
as FCM, DLA or CHG messages. Late filers will not be considered for allocation of
pending slots.
As a general rule, if a regulation duration is 2 hours or more and the rate is 20/60 or
more, the pending rate should be 5 % of the total rate. It is not recommended to use
pending slots for shorter regulations or with a lower rate.
Pending slots are not used during activation of a regulation, taxi time change, deep
rectification. A pending slot with an earlier time will not be allocated to a flight from a
later slot, i.e. a flight will not be improved to an earlier slot by being a late updater, but
will be allocated the next available later slot. At a certain time a pending slot is
converted into a normal slot.

14.2.3 Slot Amendment Process

When CASA receives the flight data for the cancellation of a flight, this may improve
the slots given to other flights. The slot amendment procedure aims to take into
account the new slots made available. It applies only to pre-allocated flights. Therefore
it is an essential requirement, with beneficial interest for AOs, to cancel as early as
possible those flight plans which will no longer operate.

14.2.4 Allocation Stage

At a fixed time before the Estimated Off-Block Time (EOBT) of each pre-allocated flight,
called Slot Issue Time 1 (SIT1), the slot is allocated to the flight and a Slot Allocation
Message (SAM) is sent to the AOs and ATC.
An allocated slot cannot be taken by another flight, unless the regulation is deep
rectified and the CTOT has not been forced or as an effect of the true revision process
(see below). However, an AO should update its EOBT, if it is thought that the flight will
not be able to comply. Moreover, the slot allocated to a flight may be improved by the
true revision process.

14.2.5 Window Width

The window width is a parameter used to provide flexibility to CASA and to suppress
small delays.
The normal value of the window width is 10 minutes. This value shall be used except
in these cases:
o The FMP requests a different value for operational reasons. This value should
be promulgated via an operational procedure.

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o Very low acceptance rates, where the window width should be determined by
using the following formula: (60 / rate) x 2.

14.2.6 Delay Confirmation Threshold

Flights that are crossing exceptional regulations like strikes or scenarios (XCD/FCM)
are suspended and aircraft operators receive a flight suspension message (FLS). As a
consequence, aircraft operators have to confirm (send a FCM) to operate.
The use of Delay Confirmation Threshold in the Regulation Editor will then behave as
follows:
 Flights with delays equal or below threshold value will be allocated a slot;

 Flights with delays above the delay threshold will receive the following new type
of FLS message at SIT1 (EOBT-2 hours) and not before:

o The FLS message includes the delay information in the form of Provisional
Take-Off Time (PTOT);

o The PTOT is booked during a “respond by” time period of 20 minutes

(RESPBY);

o Flights that confirm during the respond by time period will be allocated a
slot (PTOT becomes CTOT);

o Flights that do not confirm during the respond by time period loose the
booking and remain suspended. Consequently those slots are released for
other flights.
The delay threshold value will be automatically added to the ANM TV Description field
as: DELAY THRESHOLD XX MIN, where XX is the value introduced. If no delay threshold
value is entered, such message will not be displayed.

14.2.7 Late Reception of Slot Messages

There are many mechanisms within the NM systems to prevent, in normal
circumstances, the late transmission of a slot, or update to a slot. Nevertheless, there
are four conditions that can cause the late reception of a slot time:

Late flight plan submission / update

The flight plan is filed or modified (reception of a FPL / DLA / CHG message by the
ATFCM system) shortly before the EOBT. If needed, a SAM / SRM is sent immediately.
Of course, in this case the SAM / SRM is also sent later than SIT1.

Slot Change Control Display

When a regulation is created, deep rectified and/or cancelled, the Slot Change Control
Display is presented to the flow manager.
The Slot Change Parameters Display gives the flow manager possibility to decide:

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 Which flights with ETO/CTO inside the regulation period are potentially
affected by the action
 Which is the improvement/deterioration potentially given to the flights
 Which is the flight status needed to get an improvement.
For flights having already received a slot, a SRM may be sent. However, a SRM is not
sent for flights that are close to their off block time. The parameter TRS (Time to
Remove from Sequence), related to each aerodrome, prevent it from happening. The
values of the TRS for each aerodrome are available via the NM Client Application in the
Environment / Aerodrome Details menu.
For flights that become regulated as a result of the new or modified regulation, a SAM
is sent. There is no mechanism to forbid sending a SAM up to the last minute, however,
for flights very close to their EOBT, the SAM will not indicate a delay i.e. it will indicate
an 'on time' slot. The main reason for sending the SAM is to inform the Tower and the
pilot that the flight has become regulated. If the flight preparation is on schedule, it
should not be unduly affected. If the flight preparation is late, then the normal
procedure for flights not able to cope with their slots must be used.
In case of cancellation of a regulation, a SLC may be sent. This can happen any time
up to the CTOT. The main reason is to inform the Tower and the pilot that the flight is
no longer regulated.

Manual intervention
The NMOC Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Controller manually allocates another slot to
a given flight causing a SRM to be sent. This normally only happens following an
agreement between the parties. See relevant manual actions.

Transmission delay
The message is sent early enough, but due to transmission problems it arrives late.
The occurrence is limited but it may happen.

14.2.8 Combined Flow Measures for One Flight

The general principle is that a flight which is subject to several CASA regulations is
given the delay of the most penalising regulation and is forced with that delay into all
other regulations.

14.3 True Revision Process

This is the automatic mechanism that routinely attempts to improve the slot of
allocated flights every minute; for a given flight, the true revision process takes place
after the SAM has been issued until a time parameter before the CTOT. This parameter
is linked to the Aerodrome of Departure (ADEP) and its associated parameter values.

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14.4 Readiness Status of a Flight

14.4.1 RFI and SWM Status
All flight plans are by default in Ready for Improvement (RFI) status. In case an
improvement is possible, flights in status RFI will immediately receive a Slot Revision
Message (SRM).
This default status may be changed to SWM status for all flights upon request, if an
AO wishes to receive proposal of improvement via a Slot Improvement Proposal (SIP).

14.4.2 RFI Message

The AO may change the status of a particular flight from SWM to RFI by sending the
RFI message. It will immediately receive a Slot Revision Message (SRM) in case of
improvement.

14.4.3 Slot Improvement Proposal Message

The AO may change the status of a particular flight from RFI to SWM by sending the
SIP Wanted Message (SWM). In case of possible improvement, the flight will receive
a Slot Improvement Proposal (SIP) instead of SRM.
The AO may accept or refuse the new CTOT via a Slot Proposal Acceptance ( SPA)
message or a Slot Rejection (SRJ) message.
After a fixed time (SIP time out), if no response has been received from the AO, the
proposal is cancelled and the slot that was booked for that flight, is released.
AOs are requested to use the SRJ message if they do not wish to take advantage of
the SIP. This is designed to release the slot so that it can be offered to another flight.

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15 Annex D: Traffic Volumes

A Traffic Volume (TFV) is an important element in the environment data structure,
allowing the selection of a specific volume of air traffic in order to compare the traffic
load and the available capacity during the activation period.
A TFV is a tool used by the NM and the FMPs for:
 monitoring,
 applying ATFCM measures.
Information concerning the TFVs are for most of them, semi-dynamic data. It is
therefore possible in real time (through the Live database), to create a new TFV,
provided the reference location exists, but not to modify or delete it. Semi-dynamic
data may be modified or deleted only in the Load database. But, they may be created
in the LIVE database.
The load database is the one which is prepared for the next AIRAC cycle.
The live database is the one which is currently used. It contains the actual AIRAC cycle
data.

15.1 Basic Definitions

A TFV must always be related to only one Reference Location (RL) but one RL can
constitute the basic element for several TFVs. The RL is based on a geographical
entity. It is either an aerodrome (AD), a set of aerodromes (AZ), an airspace volume
(AS), or a significant point (SP).
When aerodromes and sets of aerodromes are used as reference location they shall
always be qualified as being either:
 Arrivals (Category: ‘A’): only arriving traffic will be considered in the TV.
 Departures (Category: ‘D’): only departing traffic will be considered in the TV.
 Global (Category: ‘G’): both arriving and departing traffic will be considered in
the TV.
An airspace or a significant point used as reference location shall always be qualified
as being Global (Category ‘G’).
Airspace volumes describe the ATC structure, which is formed by the following
elements:
 Elementary sectors (ES),
 Collapsed sectors (CS),
 ATC unit airspace (AUA),
 Cluster,
 RSA,
 Flight information region (FIR),
 Region (REG).
FIR and REG cannot be used as a reference location
Significant points (Navigation Aid (NVA), Waypoint (PWP), Reference Points (RFP) and
GEO Points (GEO)) are global but additional to the existing information a flight level
band must be added.

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The TFV activation period is:

Automatic: for TFV with a reference location formed of an ES or a CS, derived from the
sector configuration activation table.
They are qualified as monitorable (MO).
Manual: for all other TFVs it must be specified in the TFV activation period table.
TFVs may be global (all traffic) or with flows.
Cluster: a cluster is an optional partition of an ATC Unit Airspace (AUA). It groups a
number (at least one, but usually more) of Elementary Sectors (ES) from the concerned
ATC Unit Airspace (AUA).
Typically, an ATC Unit Airspace (AUA) can be split into 2 or more clusters, for example
one for the East and one for the West. This corresponds to the way the concerned ATC
Unit is operated in terms of sector configurations, in fact as 2 different operational
units in this example.
A cluster must have at least one sector configuration and at least one activation of
sector configuration.
When an AUA is partitioned into clusters, it cannot have sector configurations. Instead,
the sector configurations are defined and activated in each of its clusters.

15.2 Flows
Flows on TFVs have the purpose of specifying the flights which are subject or not to
ATFCM measures.
A traffic volume always consists of all or one or several flows. In the case of all flows,
it means that no specified flow is defined (i.e. all traffic is included).
A flow consists of upstream element(s) (coming FROM), or downstream element(s)
(going TO), or both. The location(s) can be aerodrome(s), or set(s) of aerodromes with
a flow originating or terminating at these aerodromes, airspace volumes or significant
points. A flow may be defined by a maximum of three upstream and three downstream
elements, with a minimum of 1 upstream or downstream element. The reference
location has to be between the upstream and the downstream locations.
When a reference location is an airspace volume the time considered for a given flight
is the entry time to the airspace volume. For a significant point it is estimated time over
(ETO) and for an aerodrome Estimated time of arrival (ETA) or estimated time of
departure (ETD) respectively.
The ETFMS differentiates between the upstream and the downstream portion
comparing times. When a time is before the reference location time then it is
considered upstream. When it is after it is considered downstream.
As soon as a required flow is specified, the List of Flows should be checked first to
see whether that flow already exists.
If the flow does not exist, a special form Create Flow has to be used. When defining a
new flow, the following format must be adhered to:
Format: From > To (‘>’ being the location). All elements to the left of the symbol are
upstream and all elements to the right are downstream. From and To represent flow
elements and they can be either:

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A Set of Aerodromes (AZ)

Example: ED> OR ED&>
& is used to indicate a set of aerodromes larger than the one indicated.

An Airspace Volume (AS)

Elementary sectors (ES), collapsed sectors (CS), ATC unit airspace (AUA), flight
information region (FIR) and region (REG)
Example: LOVV@> the sign @ after the name of the FIR indicate that the flights are
entering this airspace.

An Aerodrome (AD):
Example: EDDF>
A Significant Point (SP):
Example: BNE>

15.2.1 Associated Flows

Flows may be associated to a reference location. This is a particular feature that
should not be confused with the use of flows in traffic volumes.
The association of flow(s) to a reference location allows the NM and the FMPs to
display detailed counts of these flows of traffic for that particular reference location.
The display is done through a traffic volume and therefore a reference location with
associated flow(s) will normally, but not always, be linked to a global traffic volume
(i.e. without specified flow).

15.2.2 Autoshow Flows

An Autoshow flow behaves like an associated flow. Such a flow will be shown
automatically in any TFV when ETFMS detects at least one matching flight. In
particular:
 departing flights for which a T-DPI-s has been processed (‘CDMS’ flow);
 departing flights for which an A-DPI has been processed (‘CDMA’ flow);
 flights subject to delay threshold (‘DTM’ flow).

15.2.3 Flows Defined Directly in the ETFMS

It is possible to for the NM tactical team to create ETFMS flows that may be used
directly in count and flight list queries. This enables the users to see which flights are
going via some points / airspaces / aerodromes / set-of-aerodromes before (or
without) defining a traffic volume for this purpose.

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15.2.4 Flows Defined with Communication, Navigation and Surveillance

(CNS) Conditions
It is possible to create flows with defined Communication, Navigation and Surveillance
(CNS) conditions. These flows may then be used in TFVs, which can be regulated
according to applicable operational procedures.

15.3 Set of Aerodromes

To create a flow it may be necessary to use a set of aerodromes as a flow element.
Already existing sets of aerodromes are detailed in the List of Sets of Aerodromes
(max. 2000).
To create a new set of aerodromes it is necessary to provide the following information
(via a DMR):

15.3.1 Set of Aerodromes Identifier

A set of aerodromes identifier (maximum 8 characters) must be unique within all Sets
of Aerodromes (including IFPS Aerodrome Groups) and is normally formed by the
common letters of the ICAO location indicators. It can also contain a third letter
indicating an FIR within the State, a digit indicating a smaller grouping within an FIR,
etc., but the only fixed rule is to make it as short as possible in order to permit its use
in the flow description;

15.3.2 Set of Aerodromes Name

A set of aerodromes name (maximum 20 characters) is the operational name or a
short description of the set of aerodromes;

15.3.3 Set of Aerodromes Description

It is formed by the list of all aerodromes inside the set. They are described using the
ICAO location indicators. Wild cards can also be used. A set of aerodromes can
contain maximum 150 aerodromes and 30 wild cards.
A wild card is replacing a single character or a group of characters in an aerodrome
identification. It permits to group several aerodromes with common letter(s) in the
ICAO location indicator. e.g. all German aerodromes can be simplified to ED??+ET??

15.4 Individual Items Description

15.4.1 Traffic Volume Set Id
The traffic volume set id (max. 8 alphanumeric characters) is the name of the set to
which the traffic volume must be attached.

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When creating a new TFV Set always use the four letters of ICAO location indicators in
the beginning of the name.
Example: LSAZFMP.
The number of traffic volumes attached to a traffic volume set is limited to 200.

15.4.2 Reference Location Identifier

The reference location identifier (max. 12 characters) is the identification of a
significant point, aerodrome, set of aerodromes or airspace volume to which the traffic
volume concerned is related.
For an aerodrome indicate arrival, departure or global.

15.4.3 Traffic Volume Identifier

The traffic volume identifier (max. 8 alphanumeric characters) should clearly indicate
the location and purpose of the traffic volume. Individual characters have the following
meaning:

1. The reference location is an airspace volume

An indicator must be added to the airspace volume to indicate that the TFV is not a
global one. This indicator may be placed either at the end either between the ACC
name and the sector name.
Example: LFFTE1, EGT1CLW

2. The reference location is an aerodrome

The first four letters indicate the aerodrome by the ICAO location indicator; the next
letters indicate arrival, departure, global or any other special conditions (fog, special
event…).
A qualifier may be added as for the airspace volume either at the end or between the
aerodrome name and the next letters.
Example: LFPOARR1 EHAM1ARR

3. Set of aerodromes
The characters describing the set of aerodromes identifier may range from two to eight
characters. If the set of aerodromes has to be used as a reference location it cannot
contain more than ten aerodromes and wild cards cannot be used.
Example: LFP

4. Significant point
The characters are dedicated to describe the significant point name and
supplementary data, if applicable.
Example: MOPUG1I

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15.4.4 Traffic Volume Name

The name attribute of a Traffic Volume may be used to describe the Traffic Volume
using plain language. The maximum length of the Traffic Volume name is 500
characters. There may be maximum 15 lines, and each line may contain maximum 60
characters.
The allowed characters are: 0-9 A-Z , . : = ' + - ) ( / Blank ‘ ?
It is not possible to insert a forbidden character (line shows in red).
This limitation is to enable transmission of this text via AFTN (as part of the ANM)
without any alteration.

15.4.5 Skip In and Skip Out parameters

Skip In parameter is a set time that ETFMS and PREDICT take into account to consider
whether a flight has to be counted in the concerned TFV. If the time between entry and
exit is less than the ‘Skip In’ time for the concerned TFV, then the flight is not counted
in that TFV. IFPS does not take this parameter into account.
Example: if the ‘Skip In’ is set to 1 minute, a flight profile needs to be for at least 1
minute inside the TFV for this flight to be counted inside it.
Skip Out parameter is a set time that ETFMS and PREDICT take into account to
consider whether a flight crossing the same TFV twice has to be counted only once or
twice in that TFV. If the time between exit and re-entry is less than the ‘Skip Out’ time
for the concerned TFV, then the flight is only counted once. IFPS does not take this
parameter into account.
Example: if the ‘Skip Out’ is set to 15 minutes, a flight profile needs to have at least 15
minutes between the exit of the airspace and the re-entry into the same airspace to be
counted inside it for a second time.
Individual ‘Skip In’ and ‘Skip Out’ parameter values may be specified per TFV. If they
are not specified, by default the TFV inherits the ‘Skip In’ and ‘Skip Out’ values from its
Airspace Reference Location. Airspace ‘Skip In’ and ‘Skip Out’ values are only used as
default values for a TFV.
The ‘Skip In’ and ‘Skip Out’ values are specified in minutes and seconds.
‘Skip In’ maximum value is 09MIN00SEC.
‘Skip Out’ maximum value is 59MIN59SEC.

15.5 Flows Inside the TFV (Maximum 50 Flows)

In the first column of the form Traffic Volume Description give the list of flows
required. In the second column of the form indicate if the flows are included (IN),
excluded (EX), exempted (EM) or included and exempted (IE).
Each flow may be defined as:
Included (IN): flow(s) will be subject to counts and possible ATFCM measures.
When one or more flows have been included, all the other flights are then considered
excluded.

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Excluded (EX): flow(s) will not be subject to counts and possible ATFCM measures.
This exclusion can be used when no flow is defined in the TFV, (i.e. everybody is
concerned), and it is necessary to exclude a particular flow.
When it is necessary to exclude a flow which is part of flows already included.
Exempted (EM): flow(s) will be subject to counts, but not to ATFCM measures. In case
of a regulation these flights will be shown in the slot list but with no delay and they will
not be considered for a rerouteing.
This exemption can be used when no flow is defined in the TFV (i.e. everybody is
concerned) and it is necessary to exempt a particular flow.
When it is necessary to exempt a flow part (sub-flow) of flows already included.
Included / Exempted (IE): flow(s) will be subject to counts but not to ATFCM measures.
This inclusion / exemption can be used when at least one flow has been defined as
Included (IN) in the TFV before and
When the included / exempted (IE) flow is not part (sub-flow) of the flow(s) already
defined as included (IN) in the TFV.

15.6 Monitorable TFV (MO)

The MO information indicates the TFV which shall be monitored by the NM pre-tactical
and tactical teams and FMPs when the sector is active in a sector configuration.
Several TFVs may be monitorable. The MO TFV may be non-MO and vice-versa on live
data.

15.6.1 ANM Traffic Volume Description Field

The ATFM Notification Message (ANM) contains the list of ATFCM measures for the
following day and it provides, in addition to other details, the description of each
location where an ATFCM measure is to be applied. This is done through the ‘ANM
TFV description’ field which is part of the information stored in the CACD for each
traffic volume. The term ANM TFV description is used mainly in the regulation editor
screen of the ETFMS; in the NM CACD terminology the field ANM TFV description is
called ‘Traffic Volume Name’.
System limitations
The following most important system limitations are:
 The NM CACD limitation for the TFV Name / ANM TFV Description is 40
characters. Pre-tactical and Tactical operations can manually input 90
characters;
 The NM CACD limitation for the TFV Note / ANM Remark is 250 characters.
Pre-tactical and Tactical operations are reduced to 128 characters;
 To take the most complex case as an example, when a TFV is created for a
scenario, it is necessary to describe:
o The city pairs involved in the route / profile change;
o The forbidden route / sector;
o The route / profile advice that AOs should follow when they re-file their
FPL;

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o All this needs to be described in plain language to enable a clear

understanding of the scenario and its implications and requirements.
o Once the description is created it must be stored so that when a
Regulation is applied the appropriate Field is auto-filled with the correct
information and this information is published via ANM to all our
customers.

15.7 Allocating Delay to Aerodromes

Certain traffic volumes with reference locations based on airspaces are designed for
airfield restriction purposes (protected location). These traffic volumes need to report
their delay characteristics as airfield, rather than en-route, to improve statistics.
An indication of the change of delay attribution is auto-populated into the regulation
editor when one of these traffic volumes is entered. The regulation cause is reflected
in the SAM and SRM messages by value OA 83 in the REGCAUSE field. It is not possible
to set up or change the type of delay attribution from the default value from the
regulation editor.
Traffic volumes with the following characteristics may have protected locations:
 An airspace reference location that includes within its geometrical dimensions
the airport that should be protected.
 Contains a single included flow with the airport as a downstream flow element.
 May contain excluded flows
 May contain exempted flows but not included exempted flows.

15.8 Dynamic Update of Traffic Volume

Flows in a Traffic Volume can be dynamically updated. Flows can be deleted, added,
or modified with immediate effect in tactical and pre-tactical operations.

This feature shall only be used to amend errors in TV Flows definition, if an error has
been identified at the level of Flow (FM), Airspace Data (AD) or FMP staff. It is not
intended to use the dynamic update of a traffic volume to process tactical requests
for the purpose of flow management.

Live modification of TV Flows has an immediate effect in CACD/ ETFMS/ B2B systems
and may produce very significant effects on regulations applied and the slot allocation
mechanism.

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16 Annex E: Counts
A count is the number of flights in a given location (airspace, point, traffic volume or
aerodrome) during a specified time period. This may be the actual or expected number
of flights.
Monitoring value
The monitoring value (MV) is the agreed number of flights accepted to enter into a
reference location per rolling hour beyond which coordinated actions may be
considered between the concerned parties in order to better balance the traffic load.
Rate
The rate is the number of flights managed in one regulation. The rate may be identical
to the capacity if it is a global regulation; nevertheless rate and monitoring value are
managed independently.
Overdelivery
An occurrence when the requested rate is exceeded by the actual number of aircraft
that enter a regulated sector during the regulation period.
Overload
An occurrence when an air traffic controller reports that he / she has had to handle
more traffic than expected, jeopardising safety.

16.1 Count Intervals

The ATFCM staff have the choice between a set of intervals. This interval choice is
done in the query display (when choosing counts or counts on flow). The default
interval is ‘Hour every 20 minutes’ and it means that , when asking for counts, the
system is providing Hourly counts every 20 minutes (e.g. counts from 10h00 to 11h00,
10h20 to 11h20, etc.).
The available values are:
 Hour every 1 min
 Hour every 5 min
 Hour every 10 min
 Hour every 20 min
 1 min
 5 min
 10 min
 20 min
 30 min
 Hour
 Day
Some of these counts are not providing hourly values and such values cannot be
compared to an hourly monitoring value. To avoid confusion in the count display
showing non-hourly values, the capacity column is filled in with %%% when the capacity
cannot be compared to the values.
Note: Due to a technical limitation in the system, the maximum number of intervals
the system can compute is limited to 128, which is sufficient to compute a

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value every 20 minutes for that day and day +1. When the interval is such that
more than 128 values should be shown, the period will be automatically
reduced to the period covering the 128 values. When switching the interval
value, the period is automatically reset to the biggest possible period.

16.2 Flights
In the ETFMS, the source of a flight plan may be an FPL or an AFP.
FPL and AFP-sourced data represents flight plans filed directly with the IFPS by the
message originator.

16.3 Demand Counts

The demand is the count made in the ETFMS from the flight plan filed by the aircraft
operator in any given location (airspace, point, traffic volume or aerodrome). The
demand takes in account any flight plan modifications (CHG, DLA, and CNL) and take-
off-time updates from CDM airports that are based upon airline updates such as E-DPI
and T-DPI-t messages.
This demand is built from the Filed Tactical Flight Model (FTFM) of individual flights
(See Tactical Flight Models).

16.4 Regulated Demand Counts

The regulated demand shows the counts according to any regulations that have been
implemented. If any flights are delayed, they are displayed in the regulated demand
according to their new entry time. After reception of ATC data (e.g. FSA, CPR) in the
ETFMS, the regulated demand does not change anymore, making the regulated
demand unsuitable for monitoring purposes.
The Tactical Flight Model used in this case is the Regulated Tactical Flight Model
(RTFM) for regulated flights and the FTFM for those flights that are not regulated.

16.5 Actual Counts

The actual counts (shown in the ETFMS as ‘Actual’) show the number of flights, which
are either:
 ATC: flights (currently airborne or landed) for which an airborne message has
ATC activated the flight (e.g. FSA, CPR).
 TAC: TACT activated or landed flights for which no airborne message was
received and that are departing from an aerodrome, or first entering the NM
area via an airspace, that does not systematically cause FSAs to be sent to the
NM. In addition, flights for which NM has received take-off time updates from
CDM airports and Advanced ATC TWR airports which are based upon
information from ATC or off-blocks (A-DPI), will also be displayed as TACT
activated.

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 FSA: TACT activated or landed flights for which no airborne message was
received and that are departing from an aerodrome, or first entering the NM
area via an airspace, that systematically causes FSAs to be sent to the NM.
These 3 columns (ATC, TAC and FSA) are displayed next to the ACT column to show
how many flights are established as active (ATC), those flights that cannot be
guaranteed as active (TAC), and those flights for which there is a high probability of
becoming active (FSA).
The reference Tactical Flight Model from which the actual counts are created is the
Current Tactical Flight Model (CTFM).

16.6 Load Counts

The load shows the counts according to the best information that the ETFMS has on
each flight in a defined location:
If the flight is actual, it uses the real departure time and any subsequent upd ates to
compute the entry time (CTFM).
If the flight is not actual but regulated, it uses the regulated demand (slot time) to
compute the entry time (RTFM).
If the flight is not actual, nor regulated, it uses the flight plan , E-DPI and T-DPI-t
information to compute the entry time (FTFM).
The load is the count that is used by the NM tactical team to monitor the traffic
situation.

16.7 Occupancy Counts

Occupancy counts provide the number of flights that are inside a defined location at a
precise time and correspond to the flights that are (or will be) worked by ATC at that
time.
Occupancy count queries are available for traffic volumes, airspace volumes, delayed
flights, aircraft operator and all flights. Occupancy counts are available to internal and
external users.
An occupancy count is a technique used by FMPs to monitor defined location loading.
Occupancy Traffic Monitoring Values (OTMVs) for a sector / traffic volume may vary
based on traffic complexity, technical status and the staff situation of the day. The
FMPs / ACCs are in the best position to judge this.
The decisions taken by the NM are based on load monitoring and not on the
assessment of occupancy counts, but access to occupancy counts are available via
the query display in the ETFMS.

16.7.1 Basic Definitions

Some basic definitions of parameters used in OTMVs are:

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Duration: Time Interval reference defined for a specific traffic volume. The interval is
used to evaluate and compare the load against the Occupancy Traffic Monitoring
Values (Peak and Sustained).
Peak: Occupancy Traffic Monitoring Value defined for a specific duration interval. If
the load value in the traffic volume for the pre-defined duration exceeds the peak value
an alarm is triggered.
Sustained: Occupancy Traffic Monitoring Value defined for a specific duration interval.
This value indicates the maximum sustained value manageable. The condition is the
following.
Step: Time rolling interval for which a duration period is ‘moved’ to evaluate the load.
Elapse: Time interval that defines the ‘evaluating’ period of sustained value.
Occurrence: Number of times that the load is above the sustained value defined.

16.7.2 Alarms Generation

Peak Alarm: If the load value of a step for a duration interval is above the peak value
then the step is coloured as being overloaded (red). Exceptionally, an interval of one
step between two peaks will be also marked in red.
Sustained Alarm: If the load of a step for a duration interval is above the sustained
value AND there are more than x occurrences above the sustained value in the elapse
interval then all the steps are coloured as being overloaded (orange - even if there are
some values below the sustained between the first and the last values above the
sustained).

16.7.3 Occupancy Query Access from the NID

It is possible to access the OTMV load and counts from the NID in order to simplify the
ability to check occupancy counts and if necessary move the slot to a time to reduce
overloads.

16.8 Special Locations

Special locations are artificial locations used to count and obtain flight lists on non-
geographical locations. ETFMS supports following type of special locations:
Delayed flights - used for counts and flight lists on flights having a delay.
Aircraft operator - used for counts and flight lists for a specific operator.
All flights - used for counts and flight lists on all flights in the system.
For the more classical geographical locations (points, aerodromes, airspace or set of
aerodromes Set of Aerodrome, Air Navigation Unit, Traffic Volume Set, Regulation,
Restriction) the time of entry and exit corresponds to the time computed in the profile
by the ETFMS.
For special locations, a flight is considered to have a time of entry at the TOT of the
flight and an exit time at the flight arrival time.

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16.9 Segment Counts

The segment counts enable the user to examine ‘flows’ on the ETFMS map. Access
to a flow's flight list from the flow displayed on the map display is possible.

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17 Annex F: ASM – ATFCM Process

17.1 The Basis of the FUA Concept
Flexible Use of Airspace (FUA) concept is based on the fundamental principle that
airspace should not be designated as either pure civil or military airspace, but rather
be considered as one continuum in which all user requirements have to be
accommodated to the extent possible.
The Flexible Use of Airspace concept is based on the possibilities offered by new or
adaptive airspace and route structures that are particularly suited for temporary
allocation and utilisation, namely non-permanent ATS routes called conditional routes
(CDR1) and temporary areas (TSAs, TRAs, CBAs and AMC-manageable R or D areas).
The application of the FUA concept includes the setting-up of national airspace
management cells (AMCs), for the daily allocation and promulgation of flexib le
airspace structures, and on the establishment of the Centralised Airspace Data
Function (CADF) within the NM. The CADF disseminates the daily information of
airspace structures status to aircraft operators.
The concept is intended to allow the maximum use of airspace through civil / military
coordination. The application of the FUA concept ensures that any airspace
segregation / reservation shall be temporary and based on the real need for a specified
time period.
A comprehensive summary of the FUA concept can be found in the European Route
Network Improvement Plan, Part 3 Airspace Management Handbook, Guidelines for
airspace management, which is available on the NM website and contains a list of the
acronyms used.

17.2 The ASM Levels

The three main levels of airspace management (ASM) correspond to civil / military
coordination tasks together with the associated rules for their usage in a distinct and
close relationship. Each level has an impact on the others:
 ASM LEVEL 1 Strategic Level: establishment of pre-determined airspace
structures. Related tasks include the high level definition and review of the
national airspace policy, taking into account both national and international
airspace requirements.
 ASM LEVEL 2 Pre-tactical Level: day-to-day allocation of airspace according
to the user requirements. The task is to conduct the operational management
within the framework of the structures and procedures defined at Level 1.
 ASM LEVEL 3 Tactical Level: real-time use of airspace allowing a safe OAT /
GAT separation. This level consists of the activation, de-activation or
reallocation of the airspace allocated at Level 2 and the resolution of specific
airspace problems and / or individual traffic situations between Operational Air
Traffic (OAT) and General Air Traffic (GAT).

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17.2.1 Area Control Centre (ACC) / Flow Management Position (FMP) –

CDR1 / Areas Requests
Requests for CDR1 and / or airspace volumes availability, more relevant in FRA
environments, will normally be based on capacity shortfalls identified in th e pre-
tactical ATFCM phase. The Flow Management Positions (FMPs) and the associated
Area Control Centres (ACCs) in coordination with the NM will assess the expected
traffic forecast for the next day, highlight areas of insufficient ATC capacity and agree
to the requirement for traffic flow adjustment requests.
As a result of this pre-tactical ATFCM coordination process, and after consideration of
all other relevant ACC factors, the FMPs / ACCs, as Approved Agencies (AAs), will
submit, on the day before operations, their request of CDR1s and / or airspace volumes
to the AMC.

17.3 The ASM Airspace Structures

17.3.1 Temporary Airspace Restriction and Reservation
The Temporary Airspace Allocation (TAA) process consists in the allocation process
of airspace of defined dimensions assigned for the temporary reservation/segregation
(TRA / TSA) or restriction (D / R) and identified more generally as an "AMC-
manageable" area.
Two different types of airspace reservation can be established taking into
consideration the activity that would take place associated with the transit possibility:
 Temporary Reserved Area (TRA);
 Temporary Segregated Area (TSA).
Temporary Segregated Areas (TSAs) are areas that are temporarily reserved for the
exclusive use of specific users to ensure the safety of all operations.
Whenever an area is planned to be used for activities not always requiring a
segregation to protect not-participating aircraft, it should be designated as Temporary
Reserved Areas (TRA). In this way it would be possible to improve the flexibility in the
usage, allowing tactical crossing when the activity inside does not require a protection
of not-participating traffic.

17.3.2 Cross-Border Areas (CBAs)

Cross-Border Areas are the Temporary Segregated/Reserved Areas established over
international boundaries. They are established by the States to allow military training
and other operational flights to be carried out on both sides of a border.

17.3.3 Reduced Coordination Airspace (RCAs)

Reduced coordination airspace is a specific portion of airspace with which GAT is
permitted off-route without requiring GAT controllers to initiate coordination with OAT
controllers.

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17.3.4 Conditional Routes

Flexible airspace structures have been established that are suited to temporary use,
one of these are the so-called Conditional Routes (CDR1).

Special care shall be taken in the use of Conditional Routes that have been established
for the implementation of FUA.
CDR1 routes are published by national authorities:
 Conditional Route (CDR1)
A CDR1 route is available for flight planning during times published in the relevant
National AIP unless unavailability has been notified through National Airspace Use
Plan (AUP). The EAUP / EUUP shall publish unavailabilities of CDR1 routes.

Note: NM working arrangements took the decision in 2017 to move to a single CDR
category (CDR1). A Transition period has been agreed to achieve the final
implementation of a single CDR category. Full implementation is expected to
be achieved by the end of 2022.

17.4 The ASM Airspace Units

17.4.1 Approved Agencies (AAs)
Those concerned national authorities approve units, known as Approved Agencies
(AAs), to utilise CDR1s, TSAs / TRAs, CBAs or AMC-manageable restricted and danger
areas.
AAs are required by States to submit airspace / CDR1 requests to the AMC for airspace
utilisation and allocation in order to perform their operations with the required safety.
Any request could be presented as a block of airspace / FLs for CDR1s required during
a specified period of time with the possibility of adapting the request in time and flight
level.
The requests should refer to the 24H period of time between 06:00 UTC the next day
to 06:00 UTC the day after (D 0600hrs to D+1 0600hrs).

17.4.2 Airspace Management Cell (AMC)

A joint civil/military Airspace Management Cell (AMC) exists to conduct the day-to-day
management and temporary allocation of national airspace according to user
requirements.
Approved Agencies (AAs) responsible for airspace activities submit requests for
allocation of airspace or routes (CDR1) to the AMC the day before operations.
After the AMC has received, evaluated and de-conflicted the airspace requests, the
notification of the airspace allocation (CDR1, TSAs, etc.) are published in a daily
Airspace Use Plan (AUP).

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After the AUP publication, additional requests / information can be received by AAs
and any change in the allocation plan will be communicated through national Updates
Airspace Use Plans (UUPs).

17.5 The ASM Process

17.5.1 National Airspace Use Plan (AUP) / Updated Airspace Use Plan
(UUP)
After the coordination process, by 15:00 UTC (14:00 UTC summer) the AMC should
promulgate the AUP via CIAM or local ASM tools for the 24-hour period from 06:00
UTC on the day of operations to 06:00 UTC the next day (06:00 UTC D to 06:00 UTC D
+1);
AMC will notify of any change of airspace status published with AUP via the
promulgation of the first convenient UUP from 17:00 UTC (16:00 UTC summer) every
hour up to 20:00 UTC (19:00 UTC summer) on D-1 with validity from 06:00 on D day to
0600 UTC D+1, and then from 07:00 UTC (06:00 UTC summer) on D+1 every 30
minutes up to 20:00 UTC (19:00 UTC summer). Each UUP promulgated by AMC
supersedes the previous one(s).

17.5.2 European Airspace Use Plan (EAUP) / European Updated

Airspace Use Plan (EUUP)
The European Airspace Use Plan (EAUP) contains the consolidated list of unavailable
CDR1s or permanent ATS routes as repetition of prior notice by NOTAM. It also
contains the planned activations of restricted/reserved airspace structures.
The EAUP is issued by the NM each day by 15:00 / 14:00 UTC (winter / summer time).
It covers the 24 hour time period between 06:00 UTC the next day to 06:00 UTC the
day after. After the publication of the EAUP, updated Airspace Use Plans may be issued
and published as European Updated Airspace Use Plan (EUUP).
EAUPs and EUUPs are available through the NOP Portal, in the EAUP/EUUP portlet. A
Compare function enables the user to visualise the changes made between different
versions.
In the context of B2B web services, the same data is also available through the e-AMI
(electronic Airspace Management Information). A system to system connection can
be established to integrate the e-AMI into stakeholders' own applications.

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18 Annex G: Route Availability

Document (RAD)
The Route Availability Document (RAD) is an ATFCM tool that is designed as a sole-
source flight-planning document, which integrates both structural and ATFCM
requirements, geographically and vertically.
The RAD is published each AIRAC cycle following a structured standard process of
Requirement, Validation and Publication by the NM in cooperation / coordination with
the States and the AOs. After publication, the RAD may be updated through the
increment file. For details of route characteristics, refer to the ENR section of the
relevant AIP.

18.1 Basic Principles

The objective of the RAD is to facilitate flight planning in order to improve ATFCM while
allowing aircraft operators’ flight planning flexibility. It provides a single, fully
integrated and coordinated routeing scheme. Except where other wise specified the
RAD affects all NM airspace.
The RAD enables ANSPs to maximise capacity and reduce complexity by also defining
restrictions that prevent disruption to the organised system of major traffic flows
through congested areas with due regard to AOs requirements.
The RAD is designed as a part of the NM ATFCM operation. It organises the traffic into
specific flows to make the best use of available capacity. Whilst, on its own, it will not
guarantee the protection of congested ATC sectors during peak periods, it should
facilitate more precise application of tactical ATFCM measures when required.
The RAD should also assist the NM in identifying and providing re-routeing options.
Global management of the demand will potentially, lead to an overall reduction of
delays.
It is important to note that to achieve this; some re-distribution of the traffic may be
required through the implementation of scenarios. This may result in modified traffic
/ regulations in some areas where, under normal circumstances, they would not be
seen.
The RAD is subject to continuous review by the NM, the ANSPs and AOs to ensure that
the requirements are still valid and take account of any ATC structural or
organisational changes that may occur. Further reviews may be initiated a t the request
of the States or the user organisations.

18.2 Structure
The routeing organisation is defined by a list of restrictions on specific points, ATS
route segments, DCT segments or sectors in both the upper and lower airspace.
The document includes all route flow restrictions valid for the NM area of
responsibility.
Note 1: Details of weekend periods and/or the start and end time of the periods relates
the restricted object concerned unless specified otherwise.

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Note 2: Additional periods can be declared as weekends (e.g. Busy Fridays, Nights,
Bank Holidays), refer to national publication, relevant annex or RAD
Harmonisation Rule (published on the NOP Portal) for details.
Reference is made to the phases of ATFM operation. These are as follows:
 Strategic phase: A planning phase from more than six days before the day of
operation;
 Pre-tactical phase: A planning phase during the six days before the day of
operation;
 Tactical phase: The day of operation.

18.3 Period of Validity

The routeing organisation is permanently effective and applies daily H24, unless
otherwise specified.

18.4 NM Application
The RAD is fully integrated into the NM systems, including IFPS. Any changes to an
Annex will automatically be checked provided the relevant notification period has been
observed.
Changes agreed outside the AIRAC cycle will be published in the RAD increment file
(Published on the NOP Portal) and implemented in NM systems in real time.

18.5 Permanent Amendments

Permanent amendments to the RAD, or the period of validity, will be coordinated by the
NM with the States concerned together with the AO organisations. All States
concerned shall provide their request for changes to the NM, taking into account
agreed publication and implementation dates, in accordance with AIRAC procedures.
Suspension of navigation aids, and / or replacement by temporary mobile units will be
promulgated in the appropriate Annex of the RAD. Amendments will be published as
follows:
 34 days in advance of the relevant AIRAC cycle.
 Amendments will be highlighted in bold lettering.
 Last-minute changes will only be accepted on an exceptional basis, and only
when they have an operational impact.

18.6 Flight Planning

The RAD defines restrictions on points, ATS route segments, DCT segments, sectors
or through specified areas during the published period of validity. Aircraft operators
planning flights through these areas must flight plan in accordance with these route
restrictions, taking into account any change of validity.

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When a route is restricted between two points it must be understood that all segments,
between the recorded points, are included in the restriction. Cross-boundary
restrictions will be identified with a cross-boundary code (e.g. EGEB2000).
When filing flight plans, aircraft operators must comply with a ny flight level limitation
published in the RAD.
An operator who has submitted a flight plan for a route and wishes to change to
another route must either send a CHG message giving the new route, or cancel the
existing flight plan and submit a new flight plan following the replacement flight plan
procedure. This applies equally to re-routeing proposed by the NM and to changes
made at the initiative of the operator.

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19 Annex H: Regulatory Reporting

Process
All reports referenced in this process description are available through the NM
dashboards (ATFM statistics and NMIR) that can be accessed at:
https://ext.eurocontrol.int/analytics/
The Agency website provides instructions on how to access the portal.
https://www.eurocontrol.int/network-performance

19.1 Reporting Process for ATFM Compliance

General Principles
There are three phases to the reporting process:
 Phase 1. Monitoring and contributing to the detection of potential
problems: the NMD is responsible for producing reports on the different
indicators and providing them to the accountable entity (e.g. Member State,
ATS unit) to inform them of their situation.
 Phase 2. Investigation on the detected problems: the accountable entity
is responsible with support provided by the NMD.
 Phase 3. Reporting: the accountable entity is responsible.

19.2 Non-Compliance to ATFM Departure Slots

Requirements
Member States shall ensure that where adherence to ATFM departure slots at an
airport of departure is 80 % or less during a year, the ATS unit at that airport shall
provide relevant information of non-compliance and the actions taken to ensure
adherence to ATFM departure slots. Such actions shall be indicated in a report.
Process
Phase 1:
 A report monitoring the adherence of European aerodromes of departure to
ATFM departure slots, according to the yearly target of 80 % (independently of
the number of movements), shall be part of ATFM Statistics – ATFM
compliance dashboard, Departure Compliance tab. This report shall present a
summary per country and shall include the details of each aerodrome of
departure not compliant with the target.
Phase 2:
 The ATS units are responsible for investigating the detected problems.
 They have the possibility to use the NM dashboards to investigate and get
details (from monthly figures per aerodrome of departure until flight list
associated to a day of departure) via the following reports:
o ATFM Statistics – ATFM compliance dashboard, Departure
Compliance tab

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 NMIR ATFM Compliance dashboard, the Slot Tolerance tab

Phase 3:
 The Member States where EC law is directly applicable are responsible for
reporting to the EC, copying in the NMD ( [email protected] ). The
Member States where EC law is not applicable should report to NM.

19.3 Granted Exemptions

Requirements
Member States shall ensure that the central unit for ATFM notifies a member State
which grants exemptions in excess of 0,6 % of that member State’s annual departures
Process
Phase 1:
 A report monitoring the yearly level of exempted flights per country and their
adherence to the target of 0.6% per year shall be part of ATFM Statistics –
ATFM compliance dashboard, ATFM Exemption tab. This report shall present
a quarterly evolution per country together with country details (yearly and
monthly repartition) about each status of exemption. NM provides the Member
States through the nominated Focal Point the list of exempted flights. NM
notifies the Member States when their annual exemptions exceed the 0.6%
target.

Phase 2:
 The member states are responsible for leading the investigation of the
detected problems.
 The member states have the possibility to use the NM dashboards to
investigate and get details: list of exempted flights per country for a period of
1, 2, 3, 7 days or for a full month via the following report:
o ATFM Statistics – ATFM compliance dashboard, ATFM Exemption tab
o ATFM Statistics – Exempted flights dashboard
o NMIR ATFM Compliance dashboard, the ATFM Exemption tab

Phase 3:
 The Member States where EC law is directly applicable are responsible for
reporting to the EC, copying in the NMD ([email protected]). The
Member States where EC law is not applicable should report to NM.

19.4 Non-Compliance to Flight Plan Suspensions

Requirements
The ATS unit at the airport concerned shall provide relevant information on any failure
to adhere to flight plan suspensions at that airport and of the actions taken to ensure
adherence. Such actions shall be indicated in a report.

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Process
Phase 1:
 A report monitoring the flights activated by ATC, while suspended by the Flight
Activation Monitoring (FAM), with airborne data received when temporary
suspended (subsequently referred to as unduly activated traffic below) shall be
part of ATFM Statistics – ATFM compliance dashboard, Flight Plan
Suspensions tab.
 The report shall present a yearly/monthly evolution of the European zone
together with the individual country adherence values (according to their
unduly activated traffic). To complete this report, a summary per country will
give monthly figures for the country and detail for each aerodrome of departure
having unduly activated traffic.
Phase 2:
 The ATS unit is responsible for leading the investigation of the detected
problems.
 The ATS unit shall have the possibility to use the NM dashboards to investigate
and get information via the following reports:
o ATFM Statistics – ATFM compliance dashboard, Flight Plan
Suspensions tab
o NMIR Flight dashboard, the Flight List tab, analysis type - flights subject
to FAM
o NMIR Traffic and Delay dashboard, FAM Monitoring:
o Counts on shifts and suspension induced by FAM
o Counts of flight subject to FAM
o NMIR ATFM Compliance dashboard, the Flight Plan Suspension tab
Phase 3:
 The Member States where EC law is directly applicable are responsible for
reporting to the EC, copying in the NMD ([email protected]). The
Member States where EC law is not applicable should report to NM.

19.5 Missing or Multiple Filed Plans

Requirements
Member States shall ensure that the central unit for ATFM monitors the occurrences
of missing flight plans and multiple flight plans that are filed.
Process
Phase 1:
 NMD will produce summary reports of
o Missing Flight Plans – CRCO flights: the number of flight plans held by
the central route charges office (CRCO) that reference flights having no
equivalents in NMD operational systems (ETFMS), published monthly
on the ATFCM website at
https://ost.eurocontrol.int/sites/ATFMR/Pages/Missing-Flight-Plans-
CRCO.aspx
o ATFM Statistics – ATFM compliance dashboard, Missing Flight Plans -
APL Flights tab: the report will cover quarterly the flights entering NM
airspace without a valid FP and ATC filed the flight plan

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o ATFM Statistics – ATFM compliance dashboard, Multiple Flight Plans

tab: the number of flights where the NMD was not notified of take-off
(i.e. that remained suspended by the Flight Activation Monitoring
(FAM))
o ATFM Statistics – ATFM compliance dashboard, Duplicate Flight Plans
– Number of Flight Plans having the same ADEP / ADES, same
registration, same first three letters of ACFT ID, EOBT within 15 minutes
of each other and FPLs overlapping in time (usually one operated and
the other(s) cancelled)
o NMIR ATFM Compliance dashboard, the Missing, Multiple and
Duplicate tabs
Phase 2:
 The Member States entities are responsible for leading the investigation of the
detected problems.
Phase 3:
 The member States shall provide feedback to the NMD
([email protected]).

19.6 Operations Causing Prejudice to ATFM

Requirements
Member States shall ensure that the central unit for ATFM reports to the airport slot
coordinators on repeated operation of air services at significantly different times from
the allocated airport slots or with the use of slots in a significantly different way from
that indicated at the time of allocation, where this causes prejudice to ATFM.

Process
Phase 1:
 When the misuse of an airport slot impacting ATFM is detected, a report to the
relevant airport slot coordinator and / or airline involved shall be provided
directly by the NMD.
Phase 2:
 The airport slot coordinator and / or airline involved shall lead the investigation
of the detected problems and report back to the NMD with the results.
Phase 3:
 The airport slot coordinator and / or airline involved shall provide feedback to
the NMD ([email protected]).

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19.7 Annual Report on the Quality of the ATFM in the

ECAC Airspace
Requirements
When implementing Article 11, member States shall ensure that the central unit for
ATFM produces annual reports indicating the quality of the ATFM that shall include
details of:
(a) Causes of ATFM measures:
(b) Impact of ATFM measures;
(c) Adherence to ATFM measures;
(d) Contributions by parties referred to in Article 1(3) to the optimisation of the overall
Network effect.
Note: Parties are: operators of aircraft; ATS units, including ATS reporting offices and
aerodrome control services; entities involved in airspace management; airport
managing bodies; central ATFM unit; local ATFM units; slot coordinators of
coordinated airports.

Process
Phase 1:
 NMD will report on the quality of the ATFM in the Network in the Annual
Network Operations Report, the NM Annual Report and the ATFM Annual
Report.
Phase 2:
 NMD shall consult those reports in line with existing requirements and
arrangements.
Phase 3:
 NMD shall publish / submit the reports in line with its formal consultation
process.

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INTENTIONALLY BLANK PAGE

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20 Annex I: ACC Contingency Plan Template

INITIAL ACTION RECOVERY
AFFECTED CONTINGENCY TFV
OCCURRENCE RATE ACTIONS RATE
AREA MEASURE TO BE USED

Evacuation
of the ACC

Radar failure

Ground
and R/T failure

R/T failure

Telephone failure

Power failure

FDPS

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Staff shortage
Strikes

mailto:[email protected]

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21 Annex J: ATFCM Message Types

21.1 Slot Related Messages – Originated by the NM
The following table gives examples of all ATFCM messages currently in use. The table includes a brief description of each message and subsequent actions.
SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM
MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION

-TITLE SAM (1) SAM: SLOT ALLOCATION MESSAGE

-ARCID AM C101
-IFPLID AA12345678 The SAM is used to inform AOs & ATS of the Sent to AOs / ATS 2 hours before the last received EOBT.
Calculated Take-Off Time (CTOT) computed by
-ADEP EGLL AOs / ATC must comply w ith the CTOT.
CASA for an individual flight, to w hich AOs / ATC
-ADES LM M L must adhere.

-EOBD 160224
-EOBT 0950
-CTOT 1030
-REGUL RM Z24M
-TTO -PTID VEULE -TO 1050 -FL F300
-TAXITIME 0020
-REGCAUSE CE 81

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
TITLE SAM (2) SAM: SLOT ALLOCATION MESSAGE In the event of a non-availability for a short period the NM activates exceptional condition
mechanism to inform AOs individually of the delay of their flight(s).
-ARCID AM C 101 In the case of: Non Availability
-IFPLID AA12345678
The AO and ATC shall comply to the(NEW)CTOT according to the usual ICAO rules. The
-ADEP EGLL A SAM message is sent by the NM w hen a problem (NEW may be modified as the situation requires. When an AO submits an amendment (e.g.
occurs on the flight path requiring a modification of DLA or CHG) to IFPS, he must alw ays give as EOBT the earliest EOBT he may comply w ith.
-ADES LM M L
the take-off time e.g. non-availability of aerodrome This time is not directly related to the (NEW)CTOT provided in the SRM. The EOBT in IFPS
-EOBD 160224 for a short period. should alw ays reflect the time at w hich the AO actually w ants to be off -blocks. The flight
plan may be modified to avoid the problem area. Reference shall be made to AIM / ANM and
-EOBT 0945
NOTAM.
-CTOT 1200
-REGUL LM M LA24
-TTO -PTID GZO -TO 1438 -FL F060
-COMMENT AERODROM E OR AIRSPACE OR
POINT NOT AVAILABLE
-TAXITIME 0010
-REGCAUSE AA 83

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE SAM (3) SAM: SLOT ALLOCATION MESSAGE
-ARCID AM C 101 In the case of Runw ay Visual Range (RVR)
-IFPLID AA12345678 An SAM message is sent by the NM w hen a
problem occurs at or around aerodromes requiring ETFMS sends individual Slot Allocation Messages to inform AOs and / or ATC that a flight
-ADEP EGLL
a modification of the take-off time e.g. low visibility has been delayed to arrive w hen RVR requirement is met.
-ADES LM M L conditions w hich affect ATC capacity. The flight is
delayed to arrive w hen RVR requirement is met An SAM w ill be sent immediately at or after the moment of slot issue.
-EOBD 160224 (the RVR field w ill be added in the SAM message AOs / ATC must conform to the SAM and, w here required, the relevant AIM.
-EOBT 0945 indicating the minimum RVR required as w ell as
the related comment). Flights delayed due to insufficient RVR are repositioned in the slot list at reception of messages
-CTOT 1200 from AOs (see FCM below ). The message w ill be follow ed by a SRM (indicating the
-RVR 100 NEWCTOT) or an SLC w hich indicates the departure requirements.
Flights affected by w eather conditions may become subject to other ATFCM regulations as
-REGUL LM M LA24 w ell.
-TTO -PTID GZO -TO 1438 -FL F060
-COMMENT RVR CRITERIA NOT M ET
-TAXITIME 0010
-REGCAUSE WA 84

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE SRM (1) SRM: SLOT REVISION MESSAGE
-ARCID AMC101
-IFPLID AA12345678 After CASA has issued an initial SAM, subsequent The SRM notifies a significant change of slot. It is issued not earlier than 2 hours before the
updates may be notified via the Slot Revision last received EOBT. This EOBT may be provided by DLA or CHG.
-ADEP EGLL
Message (SRM).
-ADES LM M L
AOs / ATC must comply w ith the NEWCTOT.
-EOBD 160224 This message may be used to indicate a delay
increase or decrease.
-EOBT 0950
-NEWCTOT 1020
-REGUL RM Z24M
-TTO -PTID VEULE -TO 1025 -FL F300
-TAXITIME 0020

-REGCAUSE CE 81

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
TITLE SRM (2) SRM: SLOT REVISION MESSAGE In the event of a non-availability for a short period the NM activates exceptional condition
mechanism to inform AOs individually of the delay of their flight(s).
-ARCID AMC 101 In the case of : Non Availability
-IFPLID AA12345678
The AO and ATC shall comply w ith the (NEW) CTOT according to the usual ICAO rules. The
-ADEP EGLL An SRM message is sent by the NM w hen a (NEW) CTOT may be modified as the situation requires. When an AO submits an
problem occurs on the flight path requiring a amendment (e.g. DLA or CHG) to IFPS, he must alw ays give as EOBT the earliest EOBT
-ADES LM M L
modification of the take-off time e.g. non-availability he may comply w ith. This time is not directly related to the (NEW) CTOT provided in the
-EOBD 160224 of aerodrome.
SAM / SRM. The EOBT in IFPS should alw ays reflect the time at w hich the AO actually
-EOBT 0945 w ants to be off-blocks. The flight plan may be modified to avoid the problem area. Reference
shall be made to AIM / ANM and NOTAM.
-NEWCTOT 1200
-REGUL LM M LA24
-TTO -PTID GZO -TO 1438 -FL F060
-COMMENT AERODROM E OR AIRSPACE OR
POINT NOT AVAILABLE
-TAXITIME 0010

-REGCAUSE AA 83

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE SRM (3) SRM : SLOT REVISION MESSAGE ETFMS sends individual Slot Allocation Messages to inform AOs and / or ATC that a flight
has been delayed to arrive w hen RVR requirement is met.
-ARCID AMC 101 In the case of Runw ay Visual Range (RVR)
-IFPLID AA12345678
A SRM w ill be sent immediately
-ADEP EGLL An SRM message is sent by the NM w hen a
problem occurs at or around aerodromes requiring AOs / ATC must conform to the SRM and, w here required, the relevant AIM.
-ADES LM M L
a modification of the take-off time e.g. low visibility Flights delayed due to insufficient RVR are repositioned in the slot list at reception of messages
-EOBD 160224 conditions w hich affect ATC capacity. The flight is from AOs (see FCM below ). The message w ill be follow ed by a SRM (indicating the
delayed to arrive w hen RVR requirement is met NEWCTOT) or an SLC w hich indicate the departure requirements.
-EOBT 0945 (the RVR field w ill be added in the SRM message
-NEWCTOT 1200 indicating the minimum RVR required as w ell as
the related comment).
-RVR 100
-REGUL LM M LA24
-TTO -PTID GZO -TO 1438 -FL F060
-COMMENT RVR CRITERIA NOT M ET
-TAXITIME 0010
-REGCAUSE WA 84

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE SLC (1) SLC: SLOT REQUIREM ENT
-ARCID AMC101 CANCELLATION MESSAGE The flight is no longer subject to ATFCM measures and may depart w ithout delay.

-IFPLID AA12345678
-ADEP EGLL Sent to AOs / ATS to advise that a flight w hich has If the EOBT of the flight is not realistic (e.g. more than 15 minutes in the past) the SLC w ill
received a CTOT is no longer subject to an ATFCM indicate a COMMENT PLEASE UPDATE EOBT WITH A DLA MSG reminding the AO to
-ADES LMML restriction. update its EOBT by sending a DLA).
-EOBD 080901
-EOBT 0945
-REASON OUTREG

-TAXITIME 0020
-TITLE SLC (2) SLC: SLOT REQUIREM ENT
-ARCID AMC101 CANCELLATION MESSAGE When an SLC is issued as a result of a CNL, the field -COMMENT FLIGHT CANCELLED w il
be included in the SLC.
-IFPLID AA12345678
-ADEP EGLL In the case of Cancel
-ADES LMML
-EOBD 080901 Sent to AOs / ATS to confirm that the slot of a
regulated flight has been released as a result of a
-EOBT 0945
CNL.
-REASON VOID
-COMMENT FLIGHT CANCELLED

-TAXITIME 0020

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE SIP SIP: SLOT IMPROVEMENT
-ARCID AMC 101 PROPOSAL MESSAGE
-IFPLID AA12345678
-ADEP EGLL The SIP proposes a NEWCTOT. If CASA is able to improve the CTOT by a significant amount, by using the slots freed due
to a revised EOBT, Slot Missed Message or an improved flow rate, etc., a proposal is put to
-ADES LMML A response is expected from the AO. the AO before the NEWCTOT becomes firm.
-EOBD 080901 If no response is given, the proposal expires at the The AO accepts the proposal w ith an SPA or rejects w ith an SRJ.
respond by (RESPBY) time (15 minutes after the
-EOBT 0945
SIP issue time) and the last published CTOT
-CTOT 1030 remains valid.

-NEWCTOT 1010
-REGUL UZZU11
-RESPBY 0930

-TAXITIME 0020

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE FLS (1) FLS: FLIGHT SUSPENSION MESSAGE
-ARCID AMC101 In the case of : Non Availability
-IFPLID AA12345678 The ETFMS indicates w ith an FLS that this flight is In the event of a non-availability for a long period the NM activates the exceptional condition
considered as not taking off. The flight data are mechanism to inform AOs individually of the suspension of their flight(s).
-ADEP EGLL
kept in the database but suspended (non- The identifier of the regulation(s) concerned together w ith the corresponding regulation
-ADES LMML availability of an aerodrome for a long period). reason are inserted in the FLS message
-EOBD 080901
-EOBT 0945 AO must confirm their intent to operate in the provided regulation(s) w ith an FCM, in order to
receive a slot after re-opening.
-REGUL LMMLA01
-COMMENT AERODROME OR AIRSPACE OR
POINT NOT AVAILABLE
-TAXITIME 0020
-REGCAUSE AA 83

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE FLS (2) FLS: FLIGHT SUSPENSION MESSAGE
-ARCID AMC101 In the case of Runw ay Visual Range (RVR)
-IFPLID AA12345678
-ADEP EGLL The flight is suspended (comment w ill be RVR ETFMS sends individual Flight Suspension Messages to inform AOs and / or ATC that a
UNKNOWN) until the flight’s RVR is provided to the flight has been suspended. A RESPBY time is also in the message enabling the AO to keep
-ADES LMML its present CTOT if the CHG / FCM w ith sufficient RVR is received by the NM in due time.
NM.
-EOBD 080901 An FLS w ill be sent immediately w here a flight has already received a CTOT.
-EOBT 0945 The FLS is sent instead of a SAM at the moment of slot issue.
-RVR 350 The identifier of the regulation concerned together w ith the corresponding regulation reason
are inserted in the FLS message.
-RESPBY 0855
-REGUL UZZU11
-COMMENT RVR UNKNOWN
-TAXITIME 0020
-REGCAUSE WA 84
-TITLE FLS (3) FLS: FLIGHT SUSPENSION MESSAGE The flight w ill be de-suspended at reception of a DLA / CHG updating the EOBT or a new
DPI message triggered by a TOBT update. The message w ill be follow ed by a SAM
-ARCID AMC101 In the case of : Slot Missed Message (SMM) (indicating the CTOT) or a DES, indicating the departure requirements. If the flight has
-IFPLID AA12345678 already departed, the first received ATC message (DEP / FSA) or the first received CPR w ill
automatically de-suspend the flight.
-ADEP EGLL After the reception of a SMM, the flight is put in AOs / ATC must conform to the FLS and, w here required, the relevant AIM.
suspension and ETFMS originates an FLS. The
-ADES LMML
flight w ill be de-suspended after the reception of a
-EOBD 080901 m essage updating the EOBT.

-EOBT 0945
-COMMENT SM M RECEIVED
-TAXITIME 0020

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE FLS (4) FLS: FLIGHT SUSPENSION MESSAGE
-ARCID AMC101 In the case of : Flight Activation Monitoring Flights may be reactivated at reception of DLA or CHG messages from AOs.

-IFPLID AA12345678 AOs / ATC must conform to the FLS and, w here required, the relevant AIM.

-ADEP EGLL The flights, w hich are expected to be airborne but The message w ill be follow ed by a SAM (indicating the CTOT) or a DES indicating the
are not actually reported as airborne w ill be departure requirements.
-ADES LMML
regularly ‘shifted’ then suspended and ETFMS w ill If the flight has already departed, the first received ATC message (DEP / FSA) or the first
-EOBD 080901 originate an FLS.  … received CPR w ill automatically de-suspend the flight.
-EOBT 0945
-COMMENT NOT REPORTED AS AIRBORNE
-TAXITIME 0020

-TITLE FLS (5) FLS: FLIGHT SUSPENSION MESSAGE

-ARCID BEL2CC In the case of : Cancel DPI The flight is de-suspended at reception of:

-IFPLID AA00126947  A delay or change message (DLA/CHG) updating the EOBT;

 Any DPI message other than the A-DPI.
-ADEP EBBR At airports transmitting DPI messages the Cancel
DPI ( C-DPI) is sent w hen there is an interruption The message w ill be follow ed by a SAM (indicating the CTOT) or a DES w hich indicates the
-ADES LIPZ
to the departure planning process and a new departure requirements.
-EOBD 120119 Off-Block-Time is not (yet) known, triggering If the flight has already departed, the first received ATC message (DEP / FSA) or the first
-EOBT 0543 the FLS. When present in the C-DPI, the reason received CPR w ill automatically de-suspend the flight.
for sending the C-DPI w ill be included in the
-COMMENT SUSPENDED BY DEPARTURE FLS com m ent-field, along w ith a
AIRPORT recom m ended action for the airline.
-TAXITIME 0016

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE FLS (6) FLS: FLIGHT SUSPENSION MESSAGE If, at SIT1 (EOBT - 2 hours) or later, the delay of the flight is bigger than the Delay
Confirmation threshold time specified in the regulation editor, a slot for that flight w ill be
-ARCID BEL2CC In the case of : Regulation w ith Delay
booked, for a period of 20 min. Flights presenting delays below the threshold value w ill get
threshold Monitoring (used in specific a SAM.
-IFPLID AA00126947 circum stances decided by the NM)
-ADEP EBBR A FLS w ill be sent containing a Proposal Take-Off Time (PTOT) and a Time for response by
(Time of FLS issuance +20 min).
-ADES LIPZ
To additionally give to the airspace users delay By sending a Flight Confirmation Message (FCM) message w ithin the time for response by,
-EOBD 120119 information and time to react before fully the airspace user show s its acceptance of the PTOT, upon receipt of a FCM a SAM is sent
suspending a flight crossing a high delays (PTOT becomes the CTOT).
-EOBT 0543 regulation.
-PTOT 1000 If the airspace user fails to respond w ithin the Time for response by, the booking is lost and
An additional benefit is that the flights do not lose the flight remains suspended.
-RESPBY 0720 the initial sequence based on the ETO, as the slot
is kept booked for a period of 20 minutes. Before SIT1, provisional delays and flights affected by delay threshold regulations can be
-REGUL DVR9811 monitored using external interfaces (NOP / CHMI).
-COMMENT SUSPENDED DUE TO DELA Y
EXCEEDING THRESHOLD VALUE. SEND
FCM BEFORE RESPBY TO SECURE PTOT.
ALTERNATIV ELY, REROUTE, OR UPDA T E
EOBT WITH A DLA MSG, OR CNL

-TITLE DES DES: DE-SUSPENSION MESSAGE

-ARCID AMC101 The flight is de-suspended by ETFMS and is no longer subject to ATFCM measures.
-IFPLID AA12345678 This NM message indicates that a flight w hich was No action is normally required of AOs / ATS but if the EOBT of the flight is not realistic (e.g.
previously suspended is now de-suspended. more than 15 minutes in the past) the DES w ill indicate a COMMENT PLEASE UPDA T E
-ADEP EGLL
EOBT WITH A DLA MSG reminding the AO to update its EOBT by sending a DLA. In the
-ADES LMML meantime the flight w ill be counted as if departed at taxi time + TIS after the de-suspension.
AO shall update the EOBT by sending a DLA / CHG.
-EOBD 080901
-EOBT 0945
-TAXITIME 0020

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE RRP (1) RRP: REROUT EING PROPOSAL MESSAGE
-ARCID AMC101
-IFPLID AA12345678 This message is sent to an AO to offer a different This issue follow s a w hat-if reroute and ‘apply’ made at the NM. The AO w ho w ishes to
CTOT or to avoid the need for a slot on a new benefit from the offer shall consequently modify its flight plan either w ith a CHG (this solution
-ADEP EGLL route. preferred w hen the flight is conducted w holly w ithin the IFPS / NM area of responsibility) or
-ADES LMML a CNL and refile using the Replacement Flight Plan procedure (RFP). This should be
A ‘respond by time’ is also added. received before the RESPBY time.
-EOBD 080901
At the reception of the new route in the flight plan ETFMS w ill merge it to the proposal.
-EOBT 1030
Example 1
-ORGRTE MID UA1 RBT UG32 TOP UA1 ELB The flight had already received a CTOT
UA12 PAL UA18 EKOLA A18 MLQ
corresponding to its original route (ORGRTE). A
-CTOT 1230 new CTOT is offered provided the flight is refiled
along the proposed new route (NEWRTE).
-RRTEREF EGLLLMML1
-NEWRTE MID UA1 RBT UG32 BAJKO UA21
NIZ UA2 AJO UA9 CAR UB21 PANTA B21 MLQ
-NEWCTOT 1105
-RESPBY 0900
-COMMENT PURPOSE IS ATFCM
-TAXITIME 0020
-TOT LIMIT -VALPERIOD
20080901105020080901450

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE RRP (2) Example 2
-ARCID AMC101
-IFPLID AA12345678 This flight is rerouted from a route w hich is Then SLC, SAM, SRM messages w ill be transmitted as appropriate.
crossing a regulated area(s) to a new route
-ADEP EGLL w ithout a regulation. The possible combination of optional fields is as follow s :
-ADES LMML -CTOT -NEWCTOT
-EOBD 080901 -CTOT -REASON
The REASON OUTREG indicates that there is no
-EOBT 1030 slot required, for that route. -PTOT -NEWPTOT

-ORGRTE MID UA1 RBT UG32 TOP UA1 ELB -PTOT -REASON
UA12 PAL UA18 EKOLA A18 MLQ
-PTOT -NEWCTOT
-CTOT 1230
-NEWCTOT only
-RRTEREF EGLLLMML2
-NEWPTOT only
-NEWRTE MID A1 BOGNA UA1 RBT UG32
TOP UA1 ELB UA12 UA18 EKOLA A18 MLG
DCT MLQ
-RESPBY 0900
-REASON OUTREG
-COMMENT PURPOSE IS ATFCM
-TAXITIME 0020

-TOT LIMIT -VALPERIOD 200809011050

200809011450

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE RRP (3) Example 3
-ARCID AMC101
-IFPLID AA12345678 This flight has not yet received its slot, only a This issue follow s a w hat-if reroute and ‘apply’ made at the NM. The AO w ho w ishes to benefit
provisional take-off (PTOT) time w as calculated. from the offer shall consequently modify its flight plan either w ith a CHG or a CNL and refile
-ADEP EGLL
A new provisional take-off (NEWPTOT) time is using the Replacement Flight Plan procedure (RFP). This should be received before the
-ADES LMML calculated w hich corresponds to the new RESPBY time.
proposed route. This value may be modified until
-EOBD 080901 the final slot is issued. At the reception of the new route in the flight plan ETFMS w ill merge it to the proposal.

-EOBT 1030 Then SLC, SAM, SRM messages w ill be transmitted as appropriate.

-ORGRTE MID UA1 RBT UG32 TOP UA1 ELB

UA12 PAL UA18 EKOLA A18 MLQ
-PTOT 1230
-RRTEREF EGLLLMML1
-NEWRTE MID UA1 RBT UG32 BAJKO UA24
NIZ UA2 AJO UA9 CAR UB21 PANTA B21 MLQ
-NEWPTOT 1100
-RESPBY 0730
-COMMENT PURPOSE IS ATFCM
-TAXITIME 0020
-TOT LIMIT -VALPERIOD 200809011050
200809011450

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE RRP (4) Example 4
-ARCID AMC101
-IFPLID AA12345678 Same as above. The flight has not yet received a The possible combination of optional fields is as follow s :
slot and is proposed a route w ith no regulation
-ADEP EGLL active at the time of the proposal.
-ADES LMML -CTOT -NEWCTOT
-EOBD 080901 -CTOT -REASON
-EOBT 1030 -PTOT -NEWPTOT

-ORGRTE MID UA1 RBT UG32 TOP UA1 ELB -PTOT -REASON
UA12 PAL UA18 EKOLA A18 MLQ
-PTOT -NEWCTOT
-PTOT 1230
-NEWCTOT only
-RRTEREF EGLLLMML2
-NEWPTOT only
-NEWRTE MID A1 BOGNA UA1 RBT UG32
TOP UA1 ELB UA12 UA18 EKOLA A18 MLG
DCT MLQ
-RESPBY 0730
-REASON OUTREG
-COMMENT PURPOSE IS ATFCM
-TAXITIME 0020

-TOT LIMIT -VALPERIOD

200809011050200809011430

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE RRP (5) Example 5
-ARCID GRV090A
-IFPLID AT00002136 Flight w hich is not regulated receives a new route This issue follow s a w hat-if reroute and ‘apply’ made at the NM. The AO w ho w ishes to
w ith no regulation active at the time of the benefit from the offer shall consequently modify its flight plan either w ith a CHG or a CNL
-ADEP LGKV proposal. and refile. This should be received before the RESPBY time.
-ADES LGAL
-EOBD 140204
-EOBT 0525
-ORGRTE N0250F090 IDILO
-RRTEREF LGKVLGALG3

-NEWRTE N0250F090 SOSUS1A SOSUS G12

IDILO IDILO1A
-RESPBY 1305
-REASON OUTREG

-COMMENT PURPOSE IS FLIGHT

EFFICIENCY
-TAXITIME 0005

-TOTLIMIT -VALPERIOD 201402040530

201402040930

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE RRP (6) Example 6
-ARCID GRV090A
-IFPLID AT00002136 Flight w hich is not regulated receives a more This issue follow s a FLIGHT EFFICIENCY PROPOSAL made at the NM. The AO who
efficient route proposed route w ith no regulation w ishes to benefit from the offer shall consequently modify its flight plan either w ith a CHG or
-ADEP LGKV active at the time of the proposal. a CNL and refile. This should be received before the RESPBY time.
-ADES LGAL
-EOBD 140204
-EOBT 0525
-ORGRTE N0250F090 IDILO
-RRTEREF LGKVLGALG3

-NEWRTE N0250F090 SOSUS1A SOSUS G12

IDILO IDILO1A
-RESPBY 1305
-REASON OUTREG
-COMMENT PURPOSE IS ATFCM
-TAXITIME 0005

-TOTLIMIT -VALPERIOD 201402040530

201402040930

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE RRN (1) RRN: REROUT EING NOTIFICAT ION
MESSAGE The RRN message is issued in case of an acceptance of the rerouteing w ith option ‘CNL
-ARCID AMC101
original FPL’, book slot and flight plan refile by the AO via SITA / AFTN.
-IFPLID AA12345678
This message is sent to an AO to notify a rerouteing
-ADEP EGLL triggered through the NM Client Application. The flight plan is cancelled in the NM system and a new slot may be booked :
-ADES LMML
-NEWCTOT 1105 the new slot calculation result
-EOBD 080901
Example 1
-EOBT 1030
The IFPS proceeds exactly as if a cancel (CNL) message had been submitted by the user.
-ORGRTE MID UA1 RBT UG32 TOP UA1 ELB The flight had already received a CTOT
UA12 PAL UA18 EKOLA A18 MLQ SLC are distributed w ith the FPL cancellations.
corresponding to its original route (ORGRTE).
-CTOT 1230 RRN messages are sent by ETFMS to AO addresses in accordance w ith the addressing
A new CTOT is offered provided that the flight is rules in the ATFCM Users Manual and, in addition, to the address associated to the NM
-RRTEREF EGLLLMML1 refiled along the proposed new route (NEWRTE). Client Application having made the Apply.
-NEWRTE MID UA1 RBT UG32 BAJKO UA21
NIZ UA2 AJO UA9 CAR UB21 PANTA B21 MLQ
-NEWCTOT 1105
-RESPBY 0900
-COMMENT PURPOSE IS AOWIR
-TAXITIME 0020
-TOT LIMIT -VALPERIOD
200809011050200809011450

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE RRN (2) Example 2
-ARCID AMC101 This message includes the new route description and e.g. :

-IFPLID AA12345678 This flight is rerouted from a route w hich is

crossing a regulated area(s) to a new route …
-ADEP EGLL w ithout a regulation.
-ADES LMML -REASON OUTREG w hen the new route is not subject to ATFCM regulation or

-EOBD 080901 The user is now expected to file a new flight plan in order to m atch the new conditions.
The REASON OUTREG indicates that there is
-EOBT 1030 no slot required, for that route. This shall be received before RESPBY tim e.

-ORGRTE MID UA1 RBT UG32 TOP UA1 ELB The route should be fully consistent w ith the one provided w ithin the RRN message and also
UA12 PAL UA18 EKOLA A18 MLQ displayed on the NM Client Application.

-CTOT 1230 Then SAM or FLS messages w ill be transmitted as appropriate.

-RRTEREF EGLLLMML2 The possible combination of optional fields is as follow s :

-NEWRTE MID A1 BOGNA UA1 RBT UG32 -CTOT -NEWCTOT

TOP UA1 ELB UA12 UA18 EKOLA A18 MLG -CTOT -REASON
DCT MLQ
-NEWCTOT only
-RESPBY 0900
-REASON OUTREG
-COMMENT PURPOSE IS AOWIR
-TAXITIME 0020

-TOT LIMIT -VALPERIOD

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SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY THE NM

MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE ERR ERR: ERROR MESSAGE This message is sent by ETFMS w hen a message is received but its syntax is incorrect and
cannot be processed.
-ARCID AMC101
It can also be sent w hen a message is received w ith a correct syntax but the message cannot
-FILTIM 0915 The error message indicates that an error has been be correlated to an existing flight plan or the message is not relevant (e.g. an EOBT earlier
found in a message previously received by ETFMS.
-ORGMSG SMM than the previous one).
The erroneous field or the reason for rejection may AOs / ATS resend the correct message.
-REASON SYNTAX ERROR be indicated.

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21.2 Slot Related Messages – Originated by AOS / ATS

SLOT RELATED MESSAGES - ORIGINATED BY AOs / ATS
It is highly recommended that ATFCM messages originated by AOs / ATS include the EOBD and the IFPLID, preferably only if generated automatically. These fields being used by ETFMS in
the correlation mechanism w ill precisely indicate to w hich flight the ATFCM message is addressed.
MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION
-TITLE SMM SMM: SLOT MISSED MESSAGE
-ARCID AMC101
-IFPLID AA11857784 This message is originated by an AO w hen a slot time given in the SAM cannot NM cancels the issued CTOT and issues the suspension w ith an FLS message.
be achieved but w here a new EOBT cannot be supplied. The flight is suspended until :
-ADEP EGLL
AOs / ATS w ill advise new EOBT (w hen know n) via a Change (CHG) / Delay (DLA),
-ADES LMML a new DPI m essage triggered by a TOBT update or CNL and refile into IFPS.
-EOBD 080901
The NM responds w ith an SAM or a DES.
-EOBT 0945
-CTOT 1020
-TITLE SPA SPA: SLOT IMPROVEMENT PROPOSAL ACCEPTANCE MESSAGE
-ARCID AMC101
-IFPLID AA11857784 This message is a positive response to a Slot Improvement Proposal ( SIP) NM confirms thereafter NEWCTOT w ith an SRM if an SPA is received w ithin the
message. RESPBY time.
-ADEP EGLL
If an SPA outside RESPBY time or if parameters of restriction have changed, an
-ADES LMML
error message w ill be sent stating the REASON i.e. VOID. AOs / ATC comply w ith
-EOBD 190328 the NEWCTOT or SRM.

-EOBT 0945
-NEWCTOT 1010

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-TITLE SRJ SRJ: SLOT PROPOSAL REJECTION MESSAGE

-ARCID AMC101
-IFPLID AA11857784 This message is confirmation that an AO cannot comply w ith a Slot Improvement Use of this message w ill allow the SIP slot to be released back into the system for
Proposal (SIP) message. potential use elsew here.
-ADEP EGLL
The AO keeps the original slot received before the SIP.
-ADES LMML
-EOBD 190328
-EOBT 0945
-REJCTOT 1010
-TITLE RFI RFI: RFI MESSAGE
-ARCID AMC101 The RFI message is used by the AO to change the flight’s readiness status from The AO operating a flight having its RFI status set to YES w ill receive an SRM if
SWM (RFI NO) to RFI. The RFI status of the flight w ill be set to YES. any improvement is possible. ATC w ill also receive the same message.
-IFPLID AA11857784
AO and ATC shall comply w ith the NEWCTOT.
-ADEP EGLL
-ADES LMML
-EOBD 080901

-EOBT 1030

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MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION

-TITLE SWM SWM: SIP WANTED MESSAGE

-ARCID AMC101 The SWM message is used by the AO to indicate that it cannot accept SRM w hen The AO operating a flight having its RFI status set to NO w ill receive a SIP if any
an improvement is possible but w ants to be in a position to refuse an significant improvement is possible.
-IFPLID AA11857784 improvement. The RFI status of the flight w ill be set to NO.
The AO w ill accept the proposal w ith an SPA or reject it w ith an SRJ.
-ADEP EGLL
-ADES LMML
-EOBD 080901

-EOBT 1030
-TITLE REA REA: READY MESSAGE
-ARCID ABC101 Only ATC / ATFCM units can send a REA message.
-IFPLID AA11857784 For flights having already received their slot and being in a situation to depart REA may be sent betw een EOBT minus 15 minutes and the CTOT of the flight.
before their CTOT (doors closed and ready to depart), the AO may ask local When the REA is filed before the EOBT, the flight is considered as having a new
-ADEP EGLL
ATC to send a Ready (REA) message. In the REA local ATC may also include EOBT at this filing time and the MINLINEUP as a revised taxi time.
-ADES LMML a MINLINEUP time, to indicate the minimum time needed for that flight to get
The MINLINEUP is constrained in the range [0 min, 90 min]
from its position to take-off.
-EOBD 080901
If an improvement is possible AO and ATC w ill receive an SRM.
-EOBT 1030
-MINLINEUP 0005
-TITLE FCM (1) FCM: FLIGHT CONFIRMATION MESSAGE
-ARCID AMC101
-IFPLID AA11857784 An AO indicates to ETFMS the RVR capability of a flight w ith an EOBT in the An AO may send an FCM in response to a selective AIM or to an individual FLS
future. message to provide the RVR operating minima w hich should be given in metres.
-ADEP EGLL
A suspended flight w ith an EOBT in the past or an obsolete EOBT must first be When the flight’s RVR capability is requested, the flight is kept suspended w ithin
-ADES LMML amended by a DLA and then confirmed by an FCM, w hich includes the flight’s ETFMS until this RVR capability is provided by CHG or FCM message or until the
-EOBD 190328 RVR capability. When the route has also to be changed it must be amended NM releases the RVR requirement or until a DLA / CHG message pushes the flight
by a CHG, w hich w ill include an amended route and the flight’s RVR capability . outside the period requesting the RVR.
-EOBT 0945

-RVR 200

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-TITLE FCM (2) FCM: FLIGHT CONFIRMATION MESSAGE

-ARCID AMC101
-IFPLID AA11857784 An AO indicates to ETFMS that a flight w ith an EOBT in the future is now An AO may send an FCM in response to a selective AIM or to an individual FLS
confirmed for the regulation(s) provided in this FCM. message.
-ADEP EGLL
A suspended flight w ith an EOBT in the past or an obsolete EOBT must first be When a confirmation is requested, the flight is kept suspended w ithin ETFMS until
-ADES LMML amended by a DLA and then confirmed by an FCM. When the route has also FCM message(s) confirm the flight in all affecting regulation(s) requesting a
-EOBD 190328 to be changed it must first be amended by a CHG and then confirmed by an confirmation or until the NM releases the confirmation requirement or until a DLA /
FCM. CHG message pushes the flight outside the period requesting the confirmation.
-EOBT 0945

-REGUL LMMLA01

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MESSAGE & example DEFINITION PROCEDURE & ACTION

-TITLE FCM (3) FCM: FLIGHT CONFIRMATION MESSAGE

-ARCID AMC101
-IFPLID AA11857784 An AO indicates to ETFMS that a flight w ith an EOBT in the future is now An AO may send an FCM in response to a selective AIM or to an individual FLS
confirmed for the regulation(s) provided in this FCM. The message may include message. If so required, it includes the RVR operating minima w hich should be
-ADEP EGLL given in metres.
the flight’s RVR capability.
-ADES LMML A suspended flight w ith an EOBT in the past or an obsolete EOBT must first be When both a confirmation and a flight’s RVR capability are requested, the flight is
-EOBD 190328 amended by a DLA and then confirmed by an FCM. When the route has also kept suspended w ithin ETFMS until FCM message(s) confirm the flight in all
to be changed it must first be amended by a CHG and then confirmed by an affecting regulation(s) requesting a confirmation and provide the flight’s RVR
-EOBT 0945 FCM. capability or until the NM releases the confirmation and the RVR requirement or
until a DLA / CHG message pushes the flight outside the period requesting the
-RVR 200
confirmation and the RVR.
-REGUL LMMLA01

-TITLE RJT RJT: REROUT EING REJECTION MESSAGE

-ARCID AMC101
-IFPLID AA11857784 Used by an AO to reject an RRP message. Use of the RJT w ill enable the slot potentially associated w ith the RRP, to be
released back into the system for possible use elsew here.
-ADEP EGLL
-EOBD 190328
-EOBT 0945
-ADES LMML
-RRTEREF EGLLLMML1

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21.3 Primary Field Composition of Tactical ATFCM Messages

PRIMARY FIELD COMPOSITION OF TACTICAL ATFCM MESSAGES EXCHANGE (1)
Message Field SAM SRM SLC SIP FLS DES RRP RRN ERR SMM SPA SRJ FCM RJT
-TITLE 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
-IFPLID 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
-ADDR (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
-ARCID 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (1) 1 1 1 1 1
-ADEP 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (1) 1 1 1 1 1
-EOBD 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
-EOBT 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (1) 1 1 1 1 1
-IOBD (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
-IOBT (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)

-CTOT 1 1 (1) (1) 1

-NEWCTOT 1 1 (1) (1) 1
-NEWPTOT (1) (1)
-REJCTOT 1
-REASON (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
-ADES 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (1) 1 1 1 1 1
-REGUL 1< 1< 1< 0< 0<
-ORGRTE 1 1
-PTOT (1) (1) (1)
-NEWRTE 1 1
-RRTEREF (1) 1 (1)

-RVR (1) (1) (1) (1)

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PRIMARY FIELD COMPOSITION OF TACTICAL ATFCM MESSAGES EXCHANGE (1)

Message Field SAM SRM SLC SIP FLS DES RRP RRN ERR SMM SPA SRJ FCM RJT
-RESPBY 1 (1) 1 1
-ORGMSG (1)

-FILTIM 1
-ERRFIEL D
-MINLINEUP
-COMMENT 0< 0< 0< 0< 0< 0< 0< 0< 0<
-TAXITIME 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (1)
-REGCAUSE 1 1 (1)
-OBTLIMIT - VALPERIOD 1 1
-TTO 1 1

‘1’ means: exactly one field of the specified type is required a ‘blank cell’ means: this field is not in a message
‘(1)’ means : a single optional field of the specified type is allowed ‘n<‘ means: n or more occurrences of this field can appear in a message

Note: Refer to the IFPS Users Manual for the format of FLS message used in flight plan.

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PRIMARY FIELD COMPOSITION OF TACTICAL ATFCM MESSAGES EXCHANGE (2)

Message Field SWM RFI REA
-TITLE 1 1 1
-ADDR
-ADEP 1 1 1
-ADES 1 1 1
-ARCID 1 1 1
-COMMENT
-CTOT
-EOBD (1) (1) (1)
-EOBT 1 1 1
-ERRFIEL D
-FILTIM
-IFPLID (1) (1) (1)
-IOBD (1) (1)
-IOBT (1) (1)
-MINLINEUP (1)
-NEWCTOT
-NEWPTOT
-NEWRTE
-ORGMSG
-ORGRTE
-PTOT
-REASON
-REGCAUSE
-REGUL
-REJCTOT
-RESPBY
-RRTEREF
-RVR

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‘1’ means: exactly one field of the specified type is required a ‘blank cell’ means: this field is not in a message
‘(1)’ means: a single optional field of the specified type is allowed ‘n<‘ means: n or more occurrences of this field can appear in a message

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Abbreviations
Abbreviations and acronyms used in this document are available in the
EUROCONTROL Air Navigation Inter-site Acronym List (AIRIAL) which may be found
online:
http://www.eurocontrol.int/airial/definitionListInit.do?skipLogon=true&glossaryUid=
AIRIAL.

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2019

2019