“How do you best handle crises?”, a workshop organised by EUROCONTROL, brought together 120 participants to discuss among other things how to establish an effective crisis management process in Europe. EUROCONTROL is responsible for coordinating the management of responses to crises affecting the aviation network.

EUROCONTROL, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, celebrated on 22-23 May 2012 the Aviation Crisis Management Workshop in order to explore answers to the question “How do you best handle crises?”. The workshop brought together 120 participants from more than 30 States and expert organisations, such as NATO, European Space Agency (ESA), AIRPOL, and Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAAC) and industry.

The European Aviation Crisis Coordination Cell (EACCC) is the body that was established to support the Network Manager in coordinating the management of responses to network crises. At the workshop, delegates discussed lessons learned from the ash crises in 2010/2011 and how these could be applied to other events with a network-wide impact. For instance, in April 2010, Eurocontrol coordinated the progressive reopening of European airspace. They talked about the responsibilities of various actors involved, in particular that of the Network Manager and EACCC which, they agreed, is a strategic and political layer to help in coordinating a response to a major crisis effectively.

As Network Manager, EUROCONTROL is responsible for publishing pertinent operational information on the NM Operations Portal during a crisis, so contributing to situational awareness and helping stakeholders take informed decisions. Delegates also saw a series of presentations on crises that could affect the network in the future, such as space weather, uncontrolled re-entry of satellites, a cyber attack, a nuclear emergency and security threats.