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Foreword

　

To accommodate future growth in air transportation, overcome the limitations of conventional ground-based navigation and the current Air Traffic Control systems, promote the safety and efficiency of flights, and improve the quality and efficiency of the Air Traffic Services, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has recommended use of new satellite and digital technologies and use of advanced technical and new Air Traffic Procedures for Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM).

　

Facing the challenge of global growth in air transport and the changing aviation environment, the Asia Pacific countries have invested heavily to build new aerodromes, implement advanced air traffic control systems, and develop satellite navigation and digital communication techniques. The ICAO CNS/ATM plan has served to speed up the upgrade and replacement of the ATM systems in the Asia Pacific region.

　

The Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) is located in the middle of the Southeast Asia airway system. Northeastbound routes from Taipei FIR lead to Japan, Korea, and continental North America. Southwestbound routes from Taipei FIR lead to Hong Kong, Bangkok, central Asia, and Europe. One of the busiest airways, Airway A1, passes through Taipei FIR and connects the large metropolitan cities of Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Bangkok. The economy of mainland China and the demand for air transportation are growing rapidly, thus increasing the importance of Airway A470 connecting Shanghai, Fuzhou, Shantou, and Hong Kong: this airway exerts a large influence on Airway A1 since they are parallel and not far from each other. The air traffic on Airway B576, connecting Taipei FIR and Incheon FIR, has also been growing steadily, and this has encroached on the primacy of Airway A1, making the two airways nearly equal on traffic. It is anticipated that the growing direct air link between Taiwan and mainland China will significantly change the air traffic flow in Taipei FIR.

　

In order to solve the near-saturation aerodrome capacity and high density airspace usage problems, to provide advanced air traffic services to domestic and international airlines and to help reduce their operational cost, the Executive Yuan approved the CAA’s Taipei FIR CNS/ATM Development and Implementation Plan (hereinafter referred to as “the CNS/ATM Plan”) in December 2002. The plan has been adjusted three times to be consistent with the status of international systems development and to incorporate the recommendations made by the Executive Yuan. The Plan has been adjusted into four Sub-Plans, including “Communications”, “Navigation”, “Surveillance” and “Air Traffic Management”, in order to be consistent with international development status and to mitigate system implementation risks so that best investment benefits could be achieved.

　

To cope with these new changes to the flight environment, the Republic of China (ROC) Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) categorized Taipei FIR Airspace in 2001 in accordance with ICAO’s Airspace Categorization Plan, and adjusted the airway structures to harmonize with the South China Sea airway structure. The CAA restructured two of the major airways connected to the Asia Pacific trunk route and instituted Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) operations to increase airspace capacity. The CAA negotiated with the Hong Kong and Fukuoka FIRs to change parallel Airways A1 and M750 to become one-way airways. This change promoted the efficiency and safety of flights on the Asia Pacific Trunk. These flight environment changes set the fundamental structure of the ICAO-recommended future CNS/ATM plan.

　

The CAA is following this ICAO-recommended CNS/ATM plan to establish the CNS/ATM plan for the Taipei FIR, and is actively participating in the Area Satellite Navigation Cooperation team, named the “Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Implementation Team (GIT)”, which is developing the APEC GNSS Testbed project. In addition, the CAA is maintaining contact with Japan regarding the MTSAT Satellite-based Augmentation System (MSAS) project.

　

The CAA implementation schedule has been adjusted to keep pace with GNSS implementation developments. The use of the development budget, granted based on the fourth update of the CNS/ATM Development and Implementation Plan, will need to be adjusted to reflect the progress of development and operation of the GNSS system. The original Plan included the Communications Sub-Plan, Navigation Sub-Plan, and the Air Traffic Management Sub-Plan. The updated plan is supplemented with a Surveillance Sub-Plan, and includes adjustments to the Air Traffic Management Sub-Plan in accordance with international communications, navigation, and surveillance requirements, to avoid development risks and to ensure the best return on investment.

 

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