A European network

The Airport Operations Plan (AOP) is a concept that was defined by SESAR Joint Undertaking, a working group of the European Commission that is responsible for optimising European airspace. In order to support airports and air traffic controllers in the implementation of such initiatives to improve European aviation, they can apply for subsidies. In 2017 Brussels Airport Company joined forces with 11 other airports and 2 air navigation services providers in order to coordinate and jointly elaborate an AOP in each airport. The subsidies were granted to this joint group in September 2018.

SESAR Joint Undertaking defined the basic idea of the AOP, but now it’s up to the airports to give the AOP more concrete form. To do this we now meet regularly with several other European airports. As soon as the foundation has been firmly laid, each airport will further develop its own AOP, because every airport works differently. By 2021 - the deadline that SESAR proposed for implementing the AOP - the 12 airports will thus each have their own AOP. Brussels Airport Company is the project leader for this joint European project.

We are on schedule to meet the deadline at the beginning of 2021. What´s more, in December 2018 we already launched a first basic version of the AOP with the transfer matrix as its first module. Because we want to further expand and improve the AOP in small steps, we are working on a number of smaller projects within the AOP at the same time. Every 3 months new parts are commissioned, tested and refined. In this way we are constantly receiving new input and interesting insights into how our AOP is functioning in practice.

If we continue working in this way, 2021 won´t be the end of our project, but the beginning of a beautiful story for Brussels Airport. A future that we’re working towards together.