ICARD USER FORUM Recommendations and Conclusions (Paris, 20. – 21. September 2010)

The ICARD User Forum noted the successful transfer of the ICARD database from Eurocontrol to the ICAO HQ portal on 27 th August 2010 recalled that there is a requirement for registration of the various user groups according to the new guidelines (multiple LOGIN process), that the full integration of all regional offices will be completed in Dec 2010 (with the current requirements for regional 5LNC coordination unchanged) and that the 5LNC reserve list will be merged into one global list in 1st half of 2011 welcomed the proposed enhancements (e.g. search time reductions and HMI improvement of application) and further development requirements (e.g. algorithm improvements) based on the user inputs (ref. PULSAR paper) 21 September

The ICARD User Forum recalled that the initial scope of the ICARD system was related to the Annex 11 5LNC definitions as outlined in Appendix 2 for the management of aprx LNC and that the ICARD data content should be matched to the national AIPs (and not vice versa) concluded that clarification would be needed for the use of 5LNC or the use of alpha-numerical codes (which is currently outside of the intended ICARD scope) for RNAV/SIDs/STARs together with the related publication process in the national AIP (ENR-ADR section), and that the correction process (i.e. granularity of data/accuracy of coordinates, deviation parameters, etc.) must be specified 21 September

The ICARD User Forum was invited to provide advance feedback on any operational problems that would arise if new letters as prefixes for ATS route designators (letters C, D, E, I, O, X for Nov. 2012) would be introduced to Annex 11, App 1 was informed about the initial results from the ICAO questionnaire on the removal of the distinction (letter U) between lower and upper ATS route designators recalled the existing procedures for coordination of reservation of regional and non-regional ATS route designators through the ICARD RD coordinators reemphasized the application of the procedure for coordination of regional agreement for all ATS routes (regional and non-regional) over the High Seas 21 September

The ICARD User Forum concluded on the 3 step approach for the optimisation of existing ATS route designators : 1.Full re-assessment of the current status of regional RDs and removal of discrepancies 2.Access for route designator reservation should be restricted to the ICAO and RNDSG secretariat for both regional and non-regional reservations, with assurance that the requests (confirmation message to States) will be treated within max 5 working days 3.Establishment of a rationalisation process covering both (regional and non-regional) route designators based on the lists from the assessment. Concerning the use of non-regional RDs for regional purposes, it was noted that these issues will only be addressed after the implementation of changes to Annex 11 in view of the acute shortage of regional RDs in the EUR Region 21 September

The ICARD User Forum concluded also on the procedures for future reservation of regional ATS route designators:  The RD coordinator will upgrade requested RDs to allocated after the AIRAC amendment for the ATS route has been published  In case that the publication has not been done within 6 months and in the absence of any indication of the planned implementation date, the RNDSG coordinator will send out a reminder message to the State/States concerned  For the RDGE coordinator, States are requested to submit the information at RDGE meetings 21 September

The ICARD User Forum recommended that clarifications be provided for the following questions:  What is the time limit for the re-use of released RDs?  Should non-regional RDs be unique world-wide? 21 September

The ICARD User Forum recalled the issues on the duplicated 5LNCs and recommended that coordination with States within other ICAO regions be initiated to achieve the goal of world-wide uniqueness of 5LNCs took note of the problems and potential safety issues with sound-like 5LNCs and agreed that the current system/algorithm needed to be optimised. The immediate enhancements proposed are: –Reduction of search time for 5LNC generation to 1 min (with the possibility to continue upon confirmation) in the random proximity check function and the reduction from 30 to 5 offered codes –Changes to HMI progress box to display a more detailed status information on the random search function –Improvements of the sound like algorithm (based on successful tests with volunteers from States, paying due attention to different language requirements world-wide, against the existing algorithm) 21 September

The ICARD User Forum concluded that there is an increasing demand to use ICARD for additional functions than it had been initially designed for and recommended the urgent establishment of a multi-disciplinary TF to investigate these aspects and to develop requirements in areas such as Point Merge in TMA design, RNAV route design ENR and TMA, FMS development, VFR routes, etc..., including the safety case for establishment of a suitable parameter/radius for search of sound-like 5LNC. States would provide input to the ICAO Secretariat on the possible Terms of Reference of this TF 21 September