The advent of Galileo in the European air navigation system

With traffic demand of up to 22,000 flights a day and an annual increase of 3.6% forecast for the next 15 years, the congested European airspace industry has an average performance of 20 minutes delay per flight, with 8% of delays being due to Air Traffic Management (ATM). The estimated cost of these delays to airlines amounts to EURO1.3-1.9 billion a year. In this framework, the European ATM system is still operating in a highly compartmentalised environment shaped back in the 1960s, despite the harmonisation and integration efforts undertaken within Eurocontrol. The worldwide air navigation system (ANS) is primarily based on ground radio aids like VHF Omni-ranging (VOR), Instrumental Landing System (ILS) or Non-Directional Beacons (NDB), is limited in coverage and/or precision. However, the advent of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) services, while suggesting the decommissioning of some terrestrial aids like VOR or NDB, will eventually meet the increasing demands on air-capacity. This paper shows that the development of Galileo is a logical evolution of GNSS within Europe which will enable Europe not only to am technological independence, but also to seize the opportunity to set up, worldwide, the next standard ANS, while firmly contributing to the integration of the European air-transport system.