Flexible Use of AirspaceCivil – Military Collaboration

iFLEX Workshop III - Paris

Military Airspace

• Special Use Airspace (SUA)• Allocated for military purposes• Defined Times• Permanent

• SFC – UNL

• Variable Utilization• Military tend to not consider civilian needs• SUAs occasionally subdivided internally

Opportunity to share ‘cold’ areas

• How do we open the door to sharing?

Flight Efficiencies

• Long haul flights are especially affected by winds• Daily and seasonal Jetstream variations

• The ability to select (daily) optimal flight routes affect fuel loading.

• Fuel upload affects passenger and cargo flight capacity

• Long haul flights subject to adverse winds may have to limit cargo and passenger loads to reach destination

Military Airspace Requirements / Usage

Objective

• Obtain the use of inactive military airspace to allow its use by civilian long range flights.

Modes

• Time• SUAs are released to ATC for a period of time.

• By “Range”• In some cases SUAs consist of smaller “range”

components that can be inactive

• Altitude Band• Civilian flights are allowed to use one or more

altitudes to transit SUA

• Point Out• Tactical permission for a particular flight

Coordination

Returns on Investment

Middle East Example

• UAE seasonal flight routes Dubai – Sao Paulo

How?