Sino-Japan Air Traffic Services Cooperation Coordinating Meeting held in Beijing

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) conducted the Sino-Japan Air Traffic Services Cooperation Coordination Meeting in Beijing on February 27th. Officials and personnel from the CAAC - Air Traffic Management Bureau (ATMB), Operation Management Center, Flight Information Service Center and Flight Verification Center of the ATMB attended the meeting. Vice Director Wang Liya of the ATMB of the CAAC presided over the meeting and provided important directions on air traffic services cooperation during his speech. The meeting, held at Japan’s request, aims to further study and discuss mutual accord between the air traffic services of China and Japan over the next 20 years. At the meeting, discussions were held about the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) memorandum of understanding (MOU) proposed by Japan, and it was approved. NextGen is the blueprint of the aviation industry for the next 20 years. Advanced aviation countries around the world are aggressively promoting research and development of NextGen and are now opening its doors for bilateral air transport opportunities in hopes of developing global harmony. The representatives of both countries decided to establish an informal coordinating body that will oversee the future of an air traffic system in line with the current informal air traffic control coordinating group. The two groups will develop cooperation with the aim of formulating a bilateral air traffic management research and development plan for the next 20 years. This will further improve current relations on air traffic management operation between the two countries. Vice Director Wang agreed to the establishment of a two-level coordinating group. He emphasized the rapid and harmonious development of an air traffic relationship between China and Japan. According to Wang, it is essential to improve the exchange and cooperation of a regular bilateral air traffic operation and NextGen development, but because ATMB’s research and development of NextGen is still in its primary stage, there is as yet no visible result. The Vice Director made a recommendation not only to temporarily categorize the works of both groups, but rather to aim at exchanging and sharing significant and reliable information developed by both parties. The meeting also included discussions about incorporating the corresponding revisions to the China-Japan Air Traffic Management MOU signed in 2004. The signing of the revised MOU has been set for the end of March 2008. Also covered during the meeting were important matters including application of secondary radar S mode, misuse of unauthorized aircraft code, application of Multi-functional Transport Satellite (MTSAT), and transfer from Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN) to ATS Message Handling System (AMHS), flight information service, and flight verification. Representatives of both countries also exchanged significant insights on the construction of China’s flow management system, specifically on the flow control and coordination during the 2008 Olympic Games. The ATMB of CAAC also introduced such topics as the current situation of its ATMB, the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, and the application of new technologies, such as RNP/RNAV and RVSM. The coordination meeting concluded with the creation of a regular meeting system between the two countries. JCAB invited the ATMB of the CAAC to attend the next Future Sino-Japan Air Traffic Management System Coordinating Meeting, to be held in Japan in March-April 2009.