European Agencies Sign Air Traffic Controller Training Pact
Beginning in May 2015, France's Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile will welcome the first incoming group of students from Eurocontrol's Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre.
Eurocontrol, the agency that supports the European air traffic management system, announced Oct. 10 that its Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) and the French Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile (ENAC) have reached an agreement on air traffic controller training.
The pact is part of the cooperation within FABEC (the functional airspace block Central Europe, involving the airspace of Germany, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland). Officials from ENAC, the training institute of Direction des Services de la Navigation Aérienne (DSNA), the French Air Navigation Service Provider, and MUAC signed the agreement for a "Solution for Mutual ATCO en-Route Training" for a period of 10 years.
Beginning in May 2015, ENAC, based in Toulouse, will welcome the first incoming group of students from the Maastricht-based MUAC.
The first FABEC basic course took place in fall 2013. According to Eurocontrol's news release, the new MUAC students will benefit from the first part of the initial training (basic as well as en-route ratings), following the same program as the ENAC student controllers, then completing their curriculum with an intensive phase of customized training with more practical emphasis. This pre-transition phase will prepare them for their future complex operational environment, working methods and high-density traffic.