Today the industry is working to improve the efficiency not only of aircraft – through new engine designs, alternative fuels and weight gains – but also of Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems. Investing heavily in R&D, Thales has been developing innovative, more efficient, green ATM solutions for its customers.

Thales is the first company worldwide to implement effective environmentally friendly solutions: with the Central Airspace Management Unit (CAMU) in South Africa, Thales, together with Metron, have the first nationwide air traffic flow management system. CAMU avoids authorizing a plane to take off until it has a clear slot to fly and land. As a result, the plane will remain on the ground with its engines off instead of flying in a holding pattern while it waits for a storm to pass or a runway to clear.

This will achieve major fuel saving and emissions reductions and make Thales a green player in the 2010 Football World Cup !

In the area of Air Traffic Management, our efforts are focused on optimizing flight paths (trajectory-based operations) by sharing flight data more effectively between all the different players in the ATM system. Thales's systems, and particularly the EUROCAT air traffic management system, are recognized as the industry standard.

The latest generation EUROCAT system uses the most advanced technology to ensure complete airspace coverage. This technology provides exceptionally precise data so that aircraft can safely fly closer together, saving fuel through a reduction in altitude as well as time spent in the air.

Solutions implemented within the system to further increase efficiency include:

• Flex Routes where flight paths are recalculated according to weather
• Continuous Descent Approach (CDA) where aircraft fly at near-idle power from the top of descent to touch down -This alone saves 10% of fuel in the final phase of flight.
• Cruise Climb on oceanic airspaces to allow an optimum flight profile for aircraft
• Block level management for flexible and safe altitude management for aircraft
• Live aircraft route update through cpdlc for route optimization according to weather for medium and short haul

Thales is by far the leading industry contributor to SESAR and the only company to be involved in Green ATM work packages. This R&D investment will help us to continue to improve and innovate Green technologies for SESAR.

Green ATM is a company strategy and commitment and not just words.

Thales is also taking part extensively in the CleanSky Joint Technical Initiative (JTI) launched by the aerospace industry together with the European Commission in 2007 as Europe's largest-ever Aerospace research and technological development project. It seeks to develop new technology and reduce the environmental impact of air transport.

Clean Sky is a wonderful opportunity for Thales to bring new environmentally friendly solutions to the market, meeting our customers' expectations.