With air transport flourishing and annual growth of 10% forecast, capacity constraints loom large in China. A delegation of specialists from China recently visited EUROCONTROL to gain insights into flow management.

The growth in Chinese aviation, notes IATA, has been nothing short of extraordinary. In 1978, China was ranked 37th in the world, measured by revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs). Since then, the country has witnessed 17% annual traffic growth – and in 2010, the combined profit for all Chinese airlines accounted for over half the global total.

The growth is expected to continue at around 10% a year and China is planning substantial airport developments, too. All of this will make for capacity constraints on their ATM system. En-route capacity as well as airport throughput will need serious improvement, so a Chinese delegation came to visit EUROCONTROL to pick up some tips and learn more about the scope of our activities and stakeholders.

The delegation was led by Mr.Cui Jianqiang, Deputy Director of the Operations Management Center of the Air Traffic Management Bureau (the Chinese ANSP).

The visit took place in the context of the European Union and China Civil Aviation Project (EUCCAP). The delegates, who are specialists working in the ATMB Headquarters or in major ACCs of China, spent five days on a study tour of Europe.

The three-year cooperation project (2010-2013) includes all sectors of aviation activity and has been structured around three key components. The “ATM and Airport Component” has the aim of strengthening partnership in various fields, such as ATM-rule-making, safety and quality management, flow management and ATCO training…

The objective of this first visit was to gain a better understanding of how ATM is organised in Europe and to lay the foundations for future extensive collaboration.

Chinese airspace dedicated to civil traffic is currently constrained. With the 10% forecast growth (see the European ATM Network Performance page), flow management will be a major enabler for a more efficient ATM system. Europe has, of course, substantial experience in this field, having developed and continuously improved the Enhanced Traffic Flow Management System (ETFMS), run by the Network Manager Operations Centre.

This study tour allowed the Chinese specialists to gain a better understanding of flow and capacity management as applied in Europe, on both central and regional levels.

The Network Manager fully supports projects outside Europe and so further cooperation in the fields of ATFCM as well as technical assistance to China is definitely on the agenda.

Eurocontrol press release