The Airspace Reorganization, which has been under consideration since 2009, has finally started. To address the increasing traffic volume, the domestic airspace of four ACCs in Japan will be separated into upper airspace and lower airspace at a boundary of FL335, which is designed to enhance the efficiency of air traffic control in order to increase the air traffic volume handled by ATC.

 

Separating upper from lower airspace is being introduced for the first time in Japan, while it is already employed by EUROCONTROL for managing the western airspace of Europe. So far, the four ACCs of Sapporo, Tokyo, Fukuoka and Kobe have respectively controlled each airspace of the four areas. After the completion of the Airspace Reorganization, Tokyo ACC will control the lower airspace of eastern Japan, Kobe ACC the lower airspace of western Japan, and Fukuoka ACC the whole domestic upper airspace as well as its oceanic airspace.

 

Firstly, JANS will reorganize the western airspace of Japan, currently controlled by Fukuoka and Kobe, between fiscal years 2020 and 2021. As shown in the figure below, the airspace will be divided vertically rather than horizontally. Following five steps, the reorganization of the western airspace of Japan will proceed while moving ACC operations at each step from Fukuoka ACC to Kobe ACC, and vice versa.

 

As these processes progress, the capacity for controlled air traffic will be increased, which enables reduction of the number of aircraft that are forced to hold on the ground and delays in ACC operation. Especially, delays in flights connecting the Kyushu area and Tokyo are expected to be reduced by this reorganization.

 

Currently, while a drastic decrease in demand for air flights continues due to COVID-19, IATA has predicted that air traffic volume will not return to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2024. Therefore, JCAB is moving forward with the Airspace Reorganization continuously while looking to the future recovery of air traffic.