New collision requirements could force 150 Russian and CIS aircraft out of Europe (700 words)

Published: 2/2/2001

Smaller Russian and CIS operators look set to be amongst the casualties of the implementation of the European Civil Aviation Conference Member States (ECAC) regulations, relating to the installation of anti collision equipment for flights in the air space of ECAC 38 member countries including eastern and central Europe. The regulations require the installation of airborne anti collision equipment meeting the ICAO standard known as ACAS II which provides vertical collision avoidance The installation of the equipment will be required by April 1st 2001, which already represents a 15 month extension, known as the Transition Period, on the original deadline of 1st January 2000. According to Tony Hayes at the ACAS Support Unit in Eurocontrol, which has been delegated, the task of implementing the new regulations. The Transition Period was established after the regulations passed into law in the member countries, to give operators the opportunity to comply because of difficulties in the supply of sufficient equipment to meet the customer requirements. Russian and CIS operators however, who are reported to be operating or have operated up to 250-300 aircraft in ECAC airspace. Despite an intensive publicity campaign by Eurocontrol, potentially some 150 aircraft, within the category of carrying more than 30 passengers or having a max take off weight of 15,000kg, remain non compliant. According to Hayes, Eurocontrol is examining ways in which the difficulties, being experienced by operators in acquiring, having ACAS II equipment certificated or installed, may be eased. Any requests for exemptions after the end of the Transition Period are likely to receive a negative response. ECAC member States have indicated, as recently as the end of November 2000, that they were satisfied with the current deadline, although it was recognized as a challenging schedule. Some States, in the traffic dense heart of Europe, are not prepared to approve any further change for Flight Safety reasons. The cost of the installation of the equipment is in the region of $150,00 and it seems likely that many of the smaller operators will find this investment is beyond resources; in fact in some cases, will exceed the value of their aircraft. Larger operators such as Aeroflot and the larger cargo carriers, by upgrading their Russian aircraft or through operating western types, have largely already complied with the regulations. In fact the strict implementation of the regulations will be positively beneficial, forcing out surplus seat and cargo capacity in the European market, where Russian carriers have recently been reported to be offering cargo carriage in Il-76s for as low as $4000 an hour. The charter carriers, particularly from Central Asia, are also likely to suffer from the changes in the regulations. Almost all modern Russian types now have the necessary certificatory documentation for the installation of the equipment (the US standard TCAS 2 Version 7 meets the ACAS II design standards (ICAO SARPs)), but according to Hayes, they are still receiving calls from Russian carriers who seem unclear about what the deadline actually means to their operations in ECAC airspace. He adds that elsewhere; they currently have less than 100 aircraft, which are forecast to over run the end of the Transition Period, mostly for very specific problems of installation or delays to the approval of national certification. The problems of the Russian and CIS operators in installing equipment to remain compliant in ECAC airspace are however, not at an end. Under regulations due to take force in April 2002, alterations will have to be made to altimeters to render aircraft compliant with new equipment standards relating to Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) above 29,000 ft. Reflecting the reduction of the spacing from 2000 feet to 1000 feet, to allow greater airspace capacity in the multi directional routes above Europe, although the changes are not as expensive as those required for ACAS II compliance. The vertical spacing requirements are also concurrently after April 2002, with the more onerous requirement for aircraft to meet ICAO Chapter 3 noise requirements. A situation that has led a number of producers to look for the provision of hush kits for types operating in the in the area.

Article ID: 2338