The Key Role of National Environment Coordinators in Improving Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management

National Environment Coordinators (NEC) coordinate unimpeded provision of all required Central Airspace and Capacity Database (CACD) data for the Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management (ATFCM) function (AIP and non-AIP data) from respective Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs). In their daily routine, NECs ensure that the correct procedure is followed for the provision of CACD data that is not published in the Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) and that the same procedure is followed for the data published in the AIP. In addition, the NECs coordinate the timely correction of CACD data discrepancies identified by the NM or by the other airspace users. This paper outlines the workflow of NECs and explains how their work contributes to improved Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management. It analyses the provision of CACD data by the Slovak ANSP in 2024 and explains the CHMI. One of the current limitations of the system is manual double-checking of the data. The process is time-consuming due to slow e-mail-based information exchange between NEC and NM. The system of highlighting changes is user-unfriendly due to unavailability of modified data and data filtering. On top of that, data consistency check is prone to human error as double checking is done manually and some data are inadvertently identified as changes. The paper also reveals inconsistencies between the Collaboration Human Machine Interface (CHMI)/CACD data and the AIRAC data updates, which may lead to an inefficient use of European airspace (Network Manager, 2023). These findings together with proposals and refinement of procedures between Network Manager (NM) and respective ANSPs are part of this paper.