Major safety boost for French airspace with increased automation

French air navigation service provider, DSNA, has selected SITA’s safety and compliance management solution, SITA Safety Cube, to advance operational safety and promote a strong safety culture. The system will be deployed in French airspace spanning five air route traffic control centers, 70 airports in mainland France and six overseas airports.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), responsible for setting standards concerning air transport, has stipulated that service providers must implement ‘safety management systems’ to manage safety proactively. Using SITA Safety Cube, DSNA aims to raise its safety management standards further.

SITA Safety Cube supports proactive safety management, which focuses on identifying and mitigating potential safety concerns before accidents or incidents happen compared to a more traditional, reactive approach when or after an incident occurs. Moreover, the solution uniquely empowers service providers to monitor the effectiveness of their risk controls by connecting operational safety data with safety risk analysis. It also enables more objective and reliable data-driven safety management decisions.

The user-friendly platform will allow all DSNA’s stakeholders, from operational staff to senior management, to actively participate in safety reporting, promoting a positive safety culture. With this centralized safety data, DSNA can then identify and monitor safety-related risks, such as runway conflicts, and implement the necessary controls to manage risks.

DSNA manages one of the largest and busiest airspaces in Europe – before the pandemic in 2019, the French air navigation service provider (ANSP) controlled over 3.2 million flights. In June of this year, air traffic in France reached 82.5% of pre-pandemic levels, and if this trend continues, this will equate to over 2.7 million flights by the end of 2022. With increasing airspace congestion, safety is a key strategic driver for DSNA's airspace and air traffic management modernization.

Florian Guillermet, CEO, DSNA, said: “Flight safety is the primary mission of DSNA. Far from being a restriction, it is a driver of development. We have chosen SITA given their combined expertise in aviation safety and data management to help us improve our safety management system and implement the most proactive system possible. SITA Safety Cube allows us to put in place a strong collaborative and data-driven safety strategy where everyone can participate in making safety our top priority.”

Yann Cabaret, CEO, SITA FOR AIRCRAFT, said: "We are honored to partner with DSNA to maximize safety benefits. Beyond the ability to address the operational complexities faced by ANSPs today, we are proud to provide DSNA with a cloud-based solution that meets the highest standards in digital security, confidentiality, and data sovereignty."