REGULATION (EC) No 549/2004 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 10 March 2004 laying down the framework for the creation of the single European sky (the framework Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance)

‘air traffic control (ATC) service’ means a service provided for the purpose of:

‘aerodrome control service’ means an ATC service for aerodrome traffic;

‘aeronautical information service’ means a service established within the defined area of coverage responsible for the provision of aeronautical information and data necessary for the safety, regularity, and efficiency of air navigation;

‘air navigation services’ means air traffic services; communication, navigation and surveillance services; meteorological services for air navigation; and aeronautical information services;

‘air navigation service providers’ means any public or private entity providing air navigation services for general air traffic;

‘airspace block’ means an airspace of defined dimensions, in space and time, within which air navigation services are provided;

‘airspace management’ means a planning function with the primary objective of maximising the utilisation of available airspace by dynamic time-sharing and, at times, the segregation of airspace among various categories of airspace users on the basis of short-term needs;

‘airspace users’ means operators of aircraft operated as general air traffic;

‘air traffic flow management’ means a function established with the objective of contributing to a safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic by ensuring that ATC capacity is utilised to the maximum extent possible, and that the traffic volume is compatible with the capacities declared by the appropriate air traffic service providers;

‘air traffic management (ATM)’ means the aggregation of the airborne and ground-based functions (air traffic services, airspace management and air traffic flow management) required to ensure the safe and efficient movement of aircraft during all phases of operations;

‘air traffic services’ means the various flight information services, alerting services, air traffic advisory services and ATC services (area, approach and aerodrome control services);

‘area control service’ means an ATC service for controlled flights in a block of airspace;

‘approach control service’ means an ATC service for arriving or departing controlled flights;

‘ATM Master Plan’ means the plan endorsed by Council Decision 2009/320/EC ( 9 ), in accordance with Article 1(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 219/2007 of 27 February 2007 on the establishment of a Joint Undertaking to develop the new generation European air traffic management system (SESAR) ( 10 );

‘bundle of services’ means two or more air navigation services;

‘certificate’ means a document issued by a national supervisory authority in any form complying with national law, which confirms that an air navigation service provider meets the requirements for providing a specific service;

‘communication services’ means aeronautical fixed and mobile services to enable ground-to-ground, air-to-ground and air-to-air communications for ATC purposes;

‘European air traffic management network’ (EATMN) means the collection of systems listed in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 552/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2004 on the interoperability of the European air traffic management network (the interoperability Regulation) ( 11 ) enabling air navigation services in the Community to be provided, including the interfaces at boundaries with third countries;

‘concept of operation’ means the criteria for the operational use of the EATMN or of part thereof;

‘constituents’ means tangible objects such as hardware and intangible objects such as software upon which the interoperability of the EATMN depends;

‘Eurocontrol’ is the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation set up by the International Convention of 13 December 1960 relating to Cooperation for the Safety of Air Navigation ( 12 )

‘flexible use of airspace’ means an airspace management concept applied in the European Civil Aviation Conference area on the basis of the ‘Airspace management handbook for the application of the concept of the flexible use of airspace’ issued by Eurocontrol;

‘flight information region’ means an airspace of defined dimensions within which flight information services and alerting services are provided;

‘flight information service’ means a service provided for the purpose of giving advice and information useful for the safe and efficient conduct of flights;

‘alerting service’ means a service provided to notify relevant organisations regarding aircraft in need of search and rescue aid, and to assist such organisations as required;

‘flight level’ means a surface of constant atmospheric pressure which is related to the specific pressure datum of 1 013,2  hectopascals and is separated from other such surfaces by specific pressure intervals;

‘functional airspace block’ means an airspace block based on operational requirements and established regardless of State boundaries, where the provision of air navigation services and related functions are performance-driven and optimised with a view to introducing, in each functional airspace block, enhanced cooperation among air navigation service providers or, where appropriate, an integrated provider;

‘general air traffic’ means all movements of civil aircraft, as well as all movements of State aircraft (including military, customs and police aircraft) when these movements are carried out in conformity with the procedures of the ICAO;

‘ICAO’ means the International Civil Aviation Organisation, as established by the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation;

‘interoperability’ means a set of functional, technical and operational properties required of the systems and constituents of the EATMN and of the procedures for its operation, in order to enable its safe, seamless and efficient operation. Interoperability is achieved by making the systems and constituents compliant with the essential requirements;

‘meteorological services’ means those facilities and services that provide aircraft with meteorological forecasts, briefs and observations as well as any other meteorological information and data provided by States for aeronautical use;

‘navigation services’ means those facilities and services that provide aircraft with positioning and timing information;

‘operational data’ means information concerning all phases of flight that are required to take operational decisions by air navigation service providers, airspace users, airport operators and other actors involved;

‘procedure’, as used in the context of the interoperability Regulation, means a standard method for either the technical or the operational use of systems, in the context of agreed and validated concepts of operation requiring uniform implementation throughout the EATMN;

‘putting into service’ means the first operational use after the initial installation or an upgrade of a system;

‘route network’ means a network of specified routes for channelling the flow of general air traffic as necessary for the provision of ATC services;

‘routing’ means the chosen itinerary to be followed by an aircraft during its operation;

‘seamless operation’ means the operation of the EATMN in such a manner that from the user's perspective it functions as if it were a single entity;

‘surveillance services’ means those facilities and services used to determine the respective positions of aircraft to allow safe separation;

‘system’ means the aggregation of airborne and ground-based constituents, as well as space-based equipment, that provides support for air navigation services for all phases of flight;

‘upgrade’ means any modification that changes the operational characteristics of a system;

‘cross-border services’ means any situation where air navigation services are provided in one Member State by a service provider certified in another Member State.