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let me break the Ice
Do you think this is a clue? Coming from the north.

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Russia recently installed ATM for polar routes.

http://www.fsfi.avia.ru/en/3.shtml

Jane's Airport Review
November 2002 Vol. 14 Issue 9

Russia opens polar routes
Russia is making tracks with CNS/ATM technology

Paul Duffy

Òhe Magadan area control centre in far eastern Russia was first to use automatic dependent surveillance (ADS) to serve routes over the far north, and first to achieve certification for its CNS/ÀÒÌ workstation in 2001. Âó the end of next year, Murmansk, Anchorage and Edmonton expect to complete the coverage for the entire polar route system.

The installation of à satellite-based surveillance system enables suitably-equipped airlines to use cross-polar routes to link city pairs in North America and the Pacific. However, take up by the airlines has been slower than anticipated and benefits are still limited to à few routes.

Cross-polar operations were the main focus of the CNS/ÀÒÌ conference organised by IÑÀÎ European and North Atlantic office and the Flight Safety Foundation of Russia (FSFR) in July 2002. The meeting focused on the work being done to upgrade the management and equipment of Russian airspace, an area that covers over 25 million km? according to Leonid Sherbakov of Russia's State Service of Civil Aviation. IÑÀÎ regional director Europe and North Atlantic Christian Eigl opened the conference. "New GNS/GPS technology, and the rationalisation of ÀÒÌ regions from national borders have helped greatly to allow direct routing," he said. "All these will combine to allow us to reach the capacity goals we need to increase airspace capacity by à further 70%."

Magadan is on the coast of the Hunter' s Sea, just west of the Sakhalin peninsula. The centre is equipped with à CNS/ATM satellite based communications system installed by Arinc, and has direct telephone links with the FAA's centre at Anchorage installed by ÀÒ&Ò. Both centres successfully support seamless controller pilot datalink communications (CPDLC) services that allow continuous communications with pilots. General director of North-East Aeronavigatsia Vladimir Libov (recently transferred to St Petersburg-based North West Aeronavigatsia) says the system is in everyday operation serving the cross-polar routes.

The Russian-American Coordination Group for Air Traffic (RACGAT) meets every six months to exchange information on each potential route. "Up to now, we have concentrated on minimum flight time or minimum fuel burn, but little real analysis has been made of overall costs or benefits on each potential route," says Stephen Creamer of the FAA's Alaska Air Traffic Division. Íå adds that close collaboration is needed to ensure that operators can be assured of cost control, and that service providers can be assured of an income level capable of meeting costs.

Several airlines stand to benefit from the opening of long- range services using cross-polar routings from Japan to Europe and between Asia and North America across Russia. As à result of the last 12 years' work, these routes have become reality, offering the possibility for some airlines to shorten tracks, says Creamer. The work included resolving political and cultural differences as well as technical and financial issues. Íå says that regular contact with the airlines has given controllers better insight into the routes, levels and times preferred by the airlines. Different carriers and aircraft types require different levels and different speeds, and controllers have learnt to meet these preferences.

Operating costs dictate whether an airline chooses to fly à route on any given day. Unfavourable winds, for example, result in alter- native routes over the Northern Pacific (NOPAC) and this has meant that less use has been made of the routes than anticipated, with the result that user charges have been increased for subsequent periods.

Aircraft equipped with modern datalink and ADS stand to gain from the routes. United Airlines regional manager International Flight Dispatch Edgar Vaynshteyn says communications are generally good in polar regions and particularly âî in Russia, "CPDLC with Magadan is very good." The situation is different for airlines not equipped with satellite communications. These require greater separation and can reduce the capacity of the system.

On NOPAC routes, peak traffic demand exceeds capacity in busy periods, so the first cross-polar demonstration flights in 1998 were à welcome relief. With the existing trans-east and the Pacific track system on the world's busiest long- range network, they seemed to offer great potential. But the traffic has been slow to develop according to Creamer.

The installation of the satellite surveillance system in Magadan has allowed many additional city pairs to take advantage of cross-polar routes. Other area centres are considering similar investment, but the lack of regular usage by the airlines leaves à cloud of uncertainty over the investment.