Colombia's Aerocivil signs technical safety agreement with Airbus and Avianca

Colombia's civil aviation authority, Aerocivil, has signed a technical cooperation agreement with Airbus and Avianca aimed at producing operational safety studies for a comprehensive redesign of Bogotá's airspace.

The authority said the studies are intended to ensure that each new route and procedure is supported by a rigorous analysis before it enters service. The announcement was made at a working meeting led by Aerocivil's director general, Arnaud Penent D'Izarn, Airbus Colombia president Fernando Caro and representatives of Avianca.

According to the authority, the capital faces a particularly complex operating environment for two reasons: growing domestic and international flight volumes, and operations constrained by mountainous terrain and shifting weather patterns. Under those conditions, it said, any change to the structure of the airspace requires a full assessment of how the entire air navigation system behaves.

The agreement's studies will focus on identifying hazards, assessing risks and defining mitigation measures in line with International Civil Aviation Organization guidelines. The analyses will take in projected and current air traffic flows as well as the workload of air traffic controllers and flight crews.

The arrangement is structured around each party's specialised contribution. The authority did not give a timetable for the studies or say when any airspace changes might take effect.