The Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union have agreed to extend their research partnership that focuses on efforts to further build up air traffic service between the U.S. and Europe.Both organizations will continue to study the interoperability of avionics, communication systems and operational methods under the NextGen program and Europe’s Single European Sky ATM Research initiative, the FAA said Thursday.
“Today’s signing validates the collaborative work that began three years ago and confirms our commitment to enhance our relationship even further,†said Michael Huerta, FAA administrator.
Huerta and Joao Aguiar Machado, the European Commission’s director general for mobility and transport, signed the letter of intent on air traffic management modernization in Paris to extend the previous agreement both parties finalized in March 2011.
“Now that we are both heading towards deploying new systems, I fully support the idea that we should explore the possibility to extend this excellent cooperation to all phases of ATM modernization,†added Violeta Bulc, EU transport commissioner.
