As from 1st January, air traffic controllers at Eurocontrol’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) have been providing integrated civil and military air navigation services in the Hannover Upper Information Region (UIR) – the upper airspace (above 24,500ft) of the north-west of Germany.

The Director General of Civil Aviation in the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Gerold Reichle declared that the implementation of this step concludes the successful civil-military integration project in the entire German airspace.

The overarching objectives of the integration, Eurocontrol explains, are to improve the air traffic management system for the benefit of both civil and military airspace users and to achieve economies of scale for all parties involved. Airspace being a finite resource, an integrated civil-military system will also generate positive effects for the European network.

The next significant step for MUAC, according to Eurocontrol Director General Frank Brenner, will be to achieve civil and military integration in the upper airspace of the Amsterdam FIR in the first half of 2017. This will be another major step towards full civil and military integration in MUAC airspace.