On 23 December 2009 an Agreement was signed between Estonian ANS and Thales Air Systems S.A. on the complete upgrade of the air traffic management system for Tallinn Air Traffic Control Centre.

The system modernisation costs nearly 100 million kroon – it is the biggest signed contract in the history of Estonian ANS. The preparation for the system upgrade agreement to be signed has taken almost 18 months. The system installation, testing, training of users and engineers will take about two years; the modernised systems shall be in use in February 2012.

The process has started from Tartu aerodrome: it is planned to commence the provision of services by Estonian ANS from 15.01.2010 at the latest.

According to the existing plans the entire handover process will take one year beginning from the frame agreement conclusion date.

Today SESAR Joint Undertaking signed agreements with 16 partners in the Air Traffic Management sector.

SESAR Joint Undertaking is a “Public-Private Partnership” between EU, Eurocontrol, ANS Providers and industries with the aim to harmonise the future European ATM System in order to meet the growing demands on safety, environment, capacity and reduced costs.

On the 23rd of January 2009, a contract was signed by Estonian ANS and COMSOFT GmbH – a German company – for the procurement of a fully automated electronic AIP production system with unprecedented AIXM 5 database functionality.

The acquisition of the e-AIP was triggered by the increased requirements for the quality of aeronautical information – its accuracy and integrity – as well as the membership in EAD – European Aeronautical Information Database project.

eAIP solution (with database) is compliant with EUROCONTROL's latest eAIP and AIXM 5 standards. Unlike the previous AIXM versions AIXM 5 covers the entire set of static and dynamic aeronautical data. This is a crucial precondition for the effective realization of integrated Aeronautical Information Management (iAIM) and improved aeronautical data consistency when the possibility of human error is reduced to minimum.

Once the system has become operational, it can be incorporated with the existing NOTAM Office systems as well as tools for creating charts and designing procedures.