4 Airspace users

Foto av et DHL-transportfly på en flyplass.

Photo: Avinor

The current airspace use and users are typically airlines carrying out commercial flights and other types of assignments, the Norwegian Armed Forces, air ambulance services, police, search and rescue, general aviation, air sports and new users such as drone operators and space actors. The development of drones has especially resulted in an increase in the number of users in recent years.

4.1 Different needs, different framework conditions

Actors who wish to operate in the airspace have different needs and different prerequisites for airspace use. Some activities are compatible with simultaneous use by multiple actors, while other activities require a segregated airspace. The equipment level on aircraft, the nature and purpose of the assignment and the commercial or societal value of the activities, are factors that must be taken into consideration when assessing whether a user shall be granted airspace access. It is not decisive whether a user is already established in aviation or it concerns a new actor.

Certain users will mainly operate at lower altitudes. This first and foremost involves drone operators but also certain parts of the general aviation segment and air sports activities such as hang gliding, paragliding, parachuting and model aircraft. This, in part, relates to needs, but also performance requirements may be decisive, since not all aircraft can operate at the same altitudes and over the same distances.

Some parts of aviation have an extensive need for air traffic services, e.g., air traffic control, due to traffic density and a need to maintain an acceptable safety level. This especially relates to commercial aviation, typically passenger and cargo traffic. The requirements for and orders concerning the establishment of air traffic services are largely set out in regulations and are also strongly harmonised internationally. Air traffic services are also to varying degrees provided in the airspace, and air traffic control is only provided at higher altitudes relating to approaches to and departures from larger airports. Increased traffic density can trigger a need for increased regulation.

State flights is aviation performed by a state in connection with the solving of duties and exercising of authority relating to, among other things, police duties, customs, search and rescue, fisheries surveillance and military duties. In Norway, the Norwegian Armed Forces performs several of the duties defined as state flights on behalf of other ministries and agencies. With increased complexity and increased dependencies, this creates challenges in that support functions may be distributed across several agencies. State flights are in principle exempt from the ICAO rules, and these exemptions are continued in the EU. On 26 May 2020, national Regulations relating to state flights for public purposes etc. were adopted. These Regulations entered into force on 1 January 2021. Missions are also carried out on behalf of the state that are not classified as state flights, e.g., in the areas of surveillance and health services.

Military air operations and certain other state missions may have a need for an entirely separate (segregated) airspace, e.g., in operations of a confidential nature or for safety reasons. Examples of this are flights in connection with larger military exercises, or larger accidents or disasters that cannot be executed in a safe manner in the same airspace as other aviation.

4.2 Civil airspace users

The airlines offering scheduled transport of persons and cargo on commercial terms are clearly the largest group of airspace users. Norway has a vast airport network that covers the entire country. 43 out of 48 airports with ordinary scheduled traffic are operated by Avinor AS. A good flight service is crucial in order for people to be able to reside throughout the country and at the same time have an acceptable access to hospitals, public authorities, larger cities and regional centres, as well as other important institutions and other infrastructure. Norway’s location in the northernmost part of Europe and access to other countries also requires good accessibility with flights and suitable air transport services to the rest of the world.

In 2019, Norway was the country in Europe with the most airline passengers to/from the country, in relation to the size of the population. A share of these were tourists and other visitors, but Norwegians are nevertheless among those who travel the most by plane. Long distances, challenging topography, dispersed population, high income and an open economy are important reasons for this.

Aviation is the part of the transport sectors that has been hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and infection control measures. From January 2020 until January 2021, the number of domestic aircraft movements at Avinor’s airports fell by 33 per cent, while the number of aircraft movements to and from foreign countries fell by 81 per cent. Air traffic remains far lower than it was before the pandemic.

In addition to scheduled, commercial transport of persons and cargo, civil aviation also includes what is referred to as General Aviation (GA). GA includes both commercial and non-commercial aviation activities, including private and commercial small aircraft activities, as well as air sports activities that use hang gliders, paragliders, parachutes, model aircraft, etc. The GA community believes restrictions to access to airspace is one of the greatest challenges for the activity, today. In the Norwegian Government’s Small Aircraft Strategy4 which was presented in 2017, it is stated that hobby and leisure flights using small aircraft shall be ensured access to airspace but shall be given lower priority than other useful traffic. The Small Aircraft Strategy also states that the establishment of a controlled airspace shall not occur to a greater extent than necessary, and that considerations shall be made for small aircraft activities when introducing restricted areas.

Prioritisations between airspace users is discussed in more detail in Chapter 6.

4.3 The Norwegian Armed Forces as airspace user

The Norwegian Armed Forces has nine duties that are imposed by the Norwegian Parliament and stated in the long-term plan for the Norwegian Armed Forces. All of these duties may involve an airspace dimension, whether in times of peace, crisis or war. It is the duties to ensure a credible deterrence and defence within the framework of NATO’s collective defence, to avoid and address security policy crises with national resources, and facilitate allied engagement, which are the most challenging duties relating to airspace authority and administration.

In practice, these duties entail that the Norwegian Armed Forces shall have the capability to fly aircraft for national missions in the airspace of the at all times applicable civil airspace organisation in times of peace, crisis and war, as well as lead air operative reinforcements through the national airspace under corresponding conditions.

The development of aerial warfare is characterised by an increasing use of sensors, electromagnetic spectra and more precise weapon effects with longer range. Overall, this results in a greater need for airspace. It is a security policy trend that, with increased use of the airspace and a greater focus on achieving objectives without escalating to conflict, there are greater requirements for surveillance of the state’s airspace and for the identification of activity in the airspace.

The Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) has recently had great success with shared use of the airspace across national boundaries and there is an increasing demand from other nations to participate in exercises taking place in the NORDEFCO airspace. The EU views this airspace cooperation as a good example of how operations across national boundaries can be established. Future needs, e.g., in the North Sea/Skagerrak may generate a potential for new areas in which to establish air operative cooperation. New states for this type of cooperation will, in addition to Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, be Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

In order to safeguard the Norwegian Armed Forces’ interests in the future, and to ensure necessary scope of action to execute air operations, the Norwegian Armed Forces must be capable of:

  • Establishing the capability to assume national control of the airspace in a sector within a limited time frame.
  • Ensuring a national capability for military airspace control, including a satisfactory capability for air surveillance.
  • Having competence regarding military air operations overall.
  • Having guaranteed short response times for adapted services.
  • Having robust Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) and secure communication infrastructure.
  • Providing surveillance and air navigation services for civil aviation.

The Norwegian Armed Forces is one of several state airspace users but is distinct in having its own aviation authority which is particularly intrusive in relation to other users in times of crisis and war.

Photo of a drone.

Photo: WeiseMaxHelloween

4.4 Drones and the integration of drones in the airspace

When we use the term drones in this document, this covers UAS (Unmanned Aerial System), UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System) etc.

The common denominator is that drones can be defined as unmanned aircraft that consist of various components, both on the ground in the air. Drones represent a risk for other airspace users and can, with varying degrees of autonomy, be controlled from the ground in order to reduce this risk.

Drones represent a new, important and complex group of aircraft in the Norwegian airspace. They open for the possibility of new forms of airspace operations and far more actors in aviation, and may, for a number of operations that are being carried out today, offer benefits in terms of safety, environment and cost-effectiveness compared to manned aviation. As of autumn 2020, there are more than 5000 registered drone operators in Norway, and more than 100,000 Norwegians own one or more drones. In recent years, we have witnessed a strong growth in the number of drone operators, and this trend is expected to continue.

In 2018, the Norwegian Government presented its first Drone Strategy5. The Strategy outlines the main challenges relating to the use of drones and is to contribute to the development of Norwegian drone activities occurring in a market-driven and socially beneficial manner. The Strategy only focuses on drones that are utilised for ordinary civil use and for public, civil purposes.

The Norwegian Armed Forces uses drones in several contexts and sizes, ranging from combat drones barely weighing 20 grams (10cm in length) and to strategic drones weighing 6-7 tonnes, the size of large passenger aircraft. For the period 2022-2026, the Norwegian Armed Forces has planned to procure a larger number of drones distributed across several different classes/types. The largest drones (Global Hawk) will only be deployed in Norway in an allied context to operate from dedicated bases.

The development of drones has until now not had a significant focus on interaction with existing actors in traditional aviation, especially with regard to equipping for necessary navigation, communication and surveillance.

Furthermore, most drones that are currently used in the airspace are significantly smaller in size than traditional aircraft.

In order to achieve the target of integration of drones in the airspaces used by manned aircraft, there needs to be a focus on acts and provisions regulating the entire chain of unmanned aviation. Operators of unmanned systems cannot expect to be able to operate freely alongside manned flight systems without meeting corresponding requirements throughout this chain.

In sum, this means that existing safety functions that aviation uses in the various parts of the airspace are not equally effective in relation to drone operations as they are for operations of manned aircraft. On this basis, Norwegian provisions determine that aircraft that do not have a pilot on board shall yield to other aircraft, cf. Section 49 of the Regulations of 30 November 2015, no. 1404 Relating to aircraft that do not have a pilot on board etc.

Thereby, as a main rule, unmanned aviation is not given the same priority to airspace access as manned aviation in the current system, cf. Chapter 6. This challenge must be solved before the potential relating to the use of drones in the Norwegian airspace can be realised. Among other things, there is currently a new type of service being developed that specifically targets drones; Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM). UTM is to contribute to drones being granted easier access to airspace and become better integrated in the existing systems of aviation. In Norway, Avinor Air Navigation Services plans to roll out a UTM system at the largest Norwegian airports during 2021. The UTM system will simplify – and in the long term be able to automate – the processes relating to requesting access to airspace around these airports.

At the European level, the European Commission has prepared a regulation on a regulatory framework for U-space. U-space does not have a legal definition but is described as a set of air traffic services particularly directed at drones that are used in an automated manner through a digital system in a given airspace (“U-space airspace”) determined by the individual state in its own territory. The U-space regulation is expected to be incorporated into Norwegian law and will establish the frameworks for how UTM services shall function and be offered to users. The rules will take effect from the beginning of 2023.

The development of UTM and U-Space will be able to reduce the challenges relating to the use of drones in the Norwegian airspace and it is important to monitor the technological and regulatory developments in this area. At the same time, we have to expect that well-functioning management services for drones will result in a significantly higher number of drone operators in the Norwegian airspace. This will create additional pressure on the capacity in the airspace, which in turn requires clear guidelines for prioritisation of airspace access.

A major and unresolved question in connection with the establishment of UTM is how the provision of services in uncontrolled airspaces shall be addressed. Currently, there does not exist any form of control services in this airspace. Activities that involve risks or require separation occur within activated danger and restricted areas. Manned aircraft in this type of airspace operate in accordance with standards and recommended guidelines determined by ICAO/EU, including established rules regarding the duty to yield. For this type of aviation, there exist safety nets such as the concept “sense and avoid”, the principle of announcing one’s own position and intentions using VHF radio and the use of anti-collision systems and radar transponders. Currently, uncontrolled airspace is freely used by all actors in respect of manned aircraft. If UTM were to cover this part of the airspace, it would entail a significant additional equipment requirement to be imposed on manned aviation to ensure the necessary interaction between the various airspace users. The most extreme consequence of this would be an amendment of the regulatory framework so that users have to be granted positive access to uncontrolled airspace in breach of the right to free movement.

4.5 New types of aircraft with low or zero emissions

In the Climate Action Plan 2021–20306 it is stated that the Norwegian Government wishes to contribute to the rapid phasing in of aircraft with low or zero emissions in Norwegian aviation.

With the phasing in of new types of aircraft, e.g., electric or hydrogen-powered aircraft, the consequences for all parts of the aviation system will have to be assessed and resolved. This includes consequences for the infrastructure on the ground, the operations of the aircraft, personnel and the use of the airspace. The assessments to date are that these aircraft do not create particular challenges for the use of the airspace. It is expected that air traffic flow management and separation in relation to other traffic are safeguarded by existing procedures. During a phasing-in period, it is relevant to allocate airspace for testing of low and zero-emission aircraft.

By conducting ongoing impact analyses, it will be possible to identify security, operational and commercial challenges and opportunities the development represents.

4.6 Strategy

The Norwegian Government will:

  • Review preparedness measures and preparedness agreements so that the Norwegian Armed Forces receives the necessary provision of services for military preparedness purposes in times of peace, crisis and war.

Footnotes

5.

Norwegian Drone Strategy www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/norges-dronestrategi/id2594965/

6.

Climate Action Plan for 2021–2030. Meld. St. 13 (Report to the Storting (white paper) (2020–2021). www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/heilskapeleg-plan-for-a-na-klimamalet/id2827600/
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