VISTA: priorities and building a credible model

Setting priorities and building a credible model

In Vista, capturing the level of development of the ATM system in the 2035 and 2050 horizons is critical, and we need to ensure that the most relevant scenarios for stakeholders are prioritised during the project. A consultation with relevant expert stakeholders has been conducted to help us with these tasks. The consultation focused on obtaining the experts’ view on key aspects of the project, namely: identification of potential missing metrics for the different stakeholders; prioritisation of the metrics generated by the model; identification of potentially missing factors and possible values considered for them; ranking of foreground factors (see previous blog) by relevance; ensuring that none of the factors identified as background factors should instead be considered as foreground; prioritisation of background scenarios and identification of the level of maturity of the system for 2035 and 2050 and, finally, understanding which particular results produced by Vista would be of particular interest to experts and stakeholders. The consultation questionnaire comprised twelve detailed questions and was targeted at high-profile experts in the ATM field.

The result of this activity allowed us to prioritise the metrics and scenarios that will be modelled and ensured that we had not missed any relevant source for regulations or technical evolution of the system. A second consultation is planned in order to review the firsts results obtained with the model. With these consultations, Vista maximises its impact on the community, addressing the topics that are relevant to stakeholders and validating the results obtained.

Another strength of Vista is the inclusion of key stakeholders, not just as consultation body, but as core partners in the project. Vista benefits from such partnership with airlines (SWISS, Norwegian and Icelandair), a FABEC ANSP (Belgocontrol) and airport experts (EUROCONTROL). Dedicated site visits have been carried out in Reykjavik, Oslo and Zurich to further understand the airlines’ business models, needs and projected system evolution. These visits also allowed the modelling team of Vista to have first-hand access to the strategic, pre-tactical and tactical management of airlines’ operations. This access ensures that the model captures the impact of the different factors as closely as possible to reality. Moreover, the airlines’ involvement in the project provides crucial data and validation of preliminary results. Similarly, planned meetings in Brussels and London with Belgocontrol and EUROCONTROL will ensure that the vision of ANSPs and airports are properly considered in the model.