Part C — Airspace design principles

1. When participating in the European Route Network Improvement Plan, the Secretary of State and air navigation service providers, shall, through cooperative decision-making, adhere to the following airspace design principles:

(a)   the establishment and configuration of airspace structures shall be based on operational requirements, irrespective of national borders or Flight Information Region (FIR) boundaries, and shall not be constrained by the division level between upper and lower airspace;

(b)  the design of airspace structures shall be based on a transparent process allowing to consult the decisions made and understand their justifications and shall take into account the requirements of all users whilst reconciling safety, capacity, environmental aspects and having due regard to military and national security needs;

(c)  the present and forecast traffic demand, at network and local level, and the performance targets shall be the input for the European Route Network Improvement Plan with a view to satisfying the needs of the main traffic flows and airports;

(d)  ensure vertical and horizontal connectivity, including terminal airspace and the airspace structure at the interface;

(e)  the possibility for flights to operate along, or as near as possible to, user required routes and flight profiles in the en route phase of flight;

(f)  the acceptance for assessment and possible development of all airspace structures proposals, including Free Route Airspace, multiple route options and Conditional Routes (CDRs), received from stakeholders having an operational requirement in that area;

(g)   the design of airspace structures including Free Route Airspace and ATC sectors shall take into account existing or proposed airspace structures designated for activities which require airspace reservation or restriction. To that end only such structures that are in accordance with the application of the Flexible Use of Airspace (FUA) shall be established;

(h)  ATC sector design development shall commence with the required route or traffic flow alignments within an iterative process that ensures compatibility between routes or flows and sectors;

(i)  ATC sectors shall be designed to enable the construction of sector configurations that satisfy traffic flows and are adaptable and proportionate to variable traffic demand;

(j)   in cases where for operational reasons ATC sectors require to be designed across national borders or FIR boundaries, agreements on service provision shall be established between the operational stakeholders concerned.

2. The Secretary of State and air navigation service providers, shall, through cooperative decision-making, ensure that the following principles apply to airspace utilisation and capacity management:

(a)  airspace structures shall be planned to facilitate flexible and timely airspace use and management with regard to routing options, traffic flows, sector configuration schemes and the configuration of other airspace structures;

(b)  airspace structures should accommodate the establishment of additional route options while ensuring their compatibility with the existing capacity considerations and sector design limitations.