ATNS in conjunction with the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) was proud to host the CANSO Global ATM Summit & 19th AGM as well as the third CANSO Africa Conference in Durban in June 2015.

Over 225 representatives of top Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) and ATM industry stakeholders from around the world were in attendance. The CANSO Summit was themed ‘Strengthening Air Traffic Management’ and looked at economics, technology, infrastructure and regulation, as well as the ATM achievements of respective Member States to date.

The opening economics session featured a presentation from the World Bank which focused on global aviation infrastructure and the challenges of funding ATM initiatives in different regions and/or continents. Subsequent sessions were based on six high-profile case studies: OneSKY Australia; Remote Towers; Converging Runway Operations; Time-Based Separation; GBAS and COOPANS.

These sessions comprised a mix of formats with presentations, panel discussions and audience participation.

The theme of the CANSO Africa Conference was ‘Moving towards Sustainable and Safe ATM in Africa’. Here participants discussed critical International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards and recommended practices that will ensure aviation contributes to economic growth in Africa. Key topics included status and challenges to sustainable ATM in Africa, liberalisation of air transport, enabling technologies, and safety and security.

CANSO Director General, Jeff Poole had this to say regarding the Summit and Africa Conference: “This is an exciting time for aviation in Africa with many challenges as well as opportunities. It is therefore appropriate that Africa is providing the stage for the industry to discuss the latest developments in the industry at the Global ATM Summit; to explore the steps needed to meet the challenges of sustainable ATM performance in Africa at the CANSO Africa Conference; and, of course for the CANSO Annual General Meeting. We are most grateful to ATNS for hosting all three events.”