Eurocontrol has extended its contract with BT to continue delivering the Pan-European Network Service (NewPens) through to 2033.
Eurocontrol supports European aviation by delivering technical excellence and civil-military expertise across the spectrum of air traffic management. Its activities touch on operations, service provision, concept development, innovation, Europe-wide project implementation, performance improvements and coordination with key aviation players at various levels, providing support to the future evolution and strategic orientations of aviation.
The network supports 42 Member States and the wider aviation community across Europe and neighbouring territories, providing the secure connectivity used to exchange critical data for flight planning, airspace optimisation and coordination between national air traffic authorities.
Since its launch in 2009, Pens has supported the transition from what was seen as fragmented connectivity arrangements to a common IP-based regional backbone.
NewPens offers an IP-based infrastructure for exchanging critical and common aeronautical information in what is claimed to be a reliable, secure, safe and cost-efficient way.
It looks to meet both current needs for the information exchange between air navigation service providers and other air traffic management (ATM) stakeholders, as well as future applications planned in the Sesar Programme, which defines, develops and deploys technologies to transform air traffic management in Europe. It is also the technological pillar of the EU’s Single European Sky policy, and an enabler of the European Commission’s Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy.
The system’s technical service catalogue has been written to evolve with technology and business requirements, while its architecture evolves in terms of levels of end-to-end control and authority.
In terms of scope, NewPens connects stakeholders across 44 countries and supports more than 48 users in over 100 locations, including air navigation service providers, ATM organisations, airports, airlines, military organisations and meteorological services. Eurocontrol believes it has become a cornerstone of cross-border operational information exchange in Europe.
To stakeholders, NewPens looks to offer key capabilities including differentiated services, and flexibility of the offer encompasses support for applications, such as safety-critical applications with ATM-grade safety levels with, says Eurocontrol, up to 99.999% availability where needed.
What are described as “elaborate” cyber security precautions are used to protect users in security-sensitive contexts. A Europe-wide service desk provides monitoring and reporting services through the NewPens service management framework.
NewPens has been operated by BT International since 2018, and the contract extension is designed to secure operational stability for the current service and provide what is described as a necessary transition period while the community prepares the governance, procurement and service framework for Pens 3.0, the next generation of the network.
Pens 3.0 will build on the achievements of NewPens and respond to the evolving needs of European aviation, including growing digitisation, increased bandwidth requirements and the need for stronger operational resilience. Its planned dual-core architecture will provide resilience at network level through a common European approach, supporting more robust and cost-efficient connectivity for the aviation community.
At a recent symposium, Eurocontrol confirmed the continued strategic relevance of Pens as a shared European infrastructure, and underlined the importance of managing the transition to Pens 3.0 in a coordinated, transparent and community-driven manner.
With the BT contract extension in place and preparations for Pens 3.0 advancing, Eurocontrol says that, alongside its aviation partners, it will be laying a foundation for a “resilient, scalable and future-proof” communications network for European aviation.
