Ukraine introduces new squawk-code relief concept

Ukraine's air navigation service has become the first to introduce a new assignment system aimed at overcoming a worsening shortage of aircraft transponder squawk codes.

The navigation service, UkSATSE, has put in place the Centralised Code Assignment Management System (CCAMS) which operates from a server hosted by pan-European air navigation organisation Eurocontrol.

Thirteen other countries are set to put CCAMS in place this year.

Squawk codes have previously been "statically" allocated to individual countries and assigned to aircraft by the air navigation service under a specific procedure.

But the limitations of the squawk coding means this mechanism is leading to a shortage of codes at peak times.

Airbus Conducts 4-D Trajectory Management Test

Airbus has conducted what it is calling the world's first flight using a four-dimensional optimized and upgraded air traffic management (ATM) technology to fly more accurate and efficient routes, the airframe manufacturer said Friday.

The test, using Airbus's dedicated A320 test aircraft flying from Toulouse, France, to Copenhagen and Stockholm, used Initial-4D (I-4D) trajectory management, which relies on an aircraft function to predict and transmit data to the ground in order to accurately fly a trajectory. It is described in three dimensions (lateral, longitudinal and vertical) and it includes one target time at a specific merging point (time as the fourth dimension), Airbus said.