HungaroControl hosted Thales Users Group Conference in Budapest

Technological inventions, changes in travel habits, generational differences - in the field of air navigation service providers (ANSP) continuous change is the only constant. Latest forecasts predict 16.9 million IFR flight movements in Europe by 2030. In 2017 Eurocontrol handled 10.6 million flights in Europe. ANSPs must keep up with dynamically growing air traffic and efficiently respond to flight security and capacity challenges – this is one of the most important conclusions of Thales Users Group Conference.

The event was hosted by HungaroControl and Thales in Budapest between 24 and 26 September. More than 140 delegates and 30 organisations exchanged best practices, shared views on innovation and digital transformation.

“The solution for these challenges is continuous innovation. Therefore HungaroControl seek to stay in the forefront in Europe when it comes to initiatives for the improvement of flight safety, efficiency of air traffic management, decreasing the price of flights, or development of environmentally friendly processes” – said Mr. Kornel Szepessy, CEO of HungaroControl in his keynote speech.

The CEO demonstrated the results of these efforts. HungaroControl played a key role in several projects in the recent years. The remote and virtual tower solution for Budapest Airport (BUD) was implemented in cooperation with Searidge Technologies Inc, and received Jane’s ATC Runway Award at the 2018 World Air Traffic Control expo in Madrid. HungaroControl may contribute to the development of Changi Airport in Singapore, voted best airport in the world 5 times in a row. On 5 February 2015, HungaroControl became the first air navigation service provider in Europe to abolish its entire air traffic services route network, enabling aircraft to use Hungarian airspace freely, without any restrictions. HUFRA had significant positive economic and environmental impact: in the past 3 years, total length of overflight routes decreased by 4.5 million kilometers, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 48 million kilograms per year. HUFRA received the Innovation Award at the Dubai Airport Show in May 2018.

“Our short-term goal is to create a 1,000 kilometer free route air space by the end of 2019, from the Black Sea to the Czech border, in cooperation with the all affected countries” – emphasized Mr. Kornel Szepessy.

The participants of the conference focused on the drone related developments as well, understanding that one of the hottest topics nowadays is the air traffic management of drones and the development of UTM. A reliable and standardized regulation and traffic management system is critically important to ensure that manned and unmanned aircraft can share the sky safely, and drones can be used efficiently, flexibly, safely, in a cost-efficient and user-friendly manner. HungaroControl host an event on this topic in Budapest this November.

For the ATM industry replacing overcomplicated systems with artificial intelligence based, self-learning systems is a key factor of success. For ANSPs, fast implementation is essential when it comes to solutions that increase productivity and allow for flexible capacity management, always focusing on cyber security as well.