SkyRadar Blog

This article will explain what ICAO’s TRAINAIR PLUS Programme is, its mission, and the value it can provide to all civil aviation training organizations.

This article will explain what the ICAO Doc 10057 Manual on ATSEP Competency Based Training and Assessment is and how it is used for training guidelines.

Requirements are set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for ATCO training to help maintain safe airspaces. ICAO’s requirements apply to all ATCOs across the globe. However, EASA’s requirements apply to ATCOs who work within Europe. 

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have developed requirements for the structuring of ATSEP training. While ICAO’s requirements in its training structure apply worldwide, EASA’s requirements for training apply to ATSEP in European countries and slightly differ from ICAO’s requirements.

Beginning January 2, 2020, EU Regulation 2017/373’s Annex XIII Requirements for Service Providers Concerning Personnel Training and Competence Assessment, Subpart A concerning the training of Air Traffic Safety Electronic Personnel (ATSEP) comes into full effect. While ATSEP rules will remain the same as in the previous regulation, Regulation 1377/2016 there will be changes where service providers are concerned.

The acronym ATSEP refers to Air Traffic Safety Electronic Personnel. This select group of technical specialists provide and support the electronics and the software used to operate and allow air traffic safety (ATS) systems. This includes communications, navigation and surveillance and air traffic management systems (CNS/ATM). The ATSEP group is comprised of technicians, engineers and computer software and hardware specialists.

Exposure to common and not so common operational situations are a key component of air traffic control training. This is accomplished using highly-advanced simulators that create conditions for not only normal day-to-day operations that air traffic controllers are exposed to but also emergency and failure situations that they might not encounter often in real traffic.

This article discusses what an ATCO is and what training and training equipment is required to be licenced for international air traffic control.