3.4. MODELS

3.4.1. STRATEGIC AIRLIFT SLOT TIME COORDINATION ONLY

a. Scenario

• The situation that the UN air function is limited to slot time coordination only may occur at the onset of a large-scale emergency when the overwhelming flow of transport aircraft surpasses the handling capacity at the destination airfields and/or the security situation imposes specific restrictions. Examples of such a scenario are Bosnia 1991-1995, Rwanda 1994 and Kosovo 1999. Typical characteristics are a quick build-up of a massive number of refugees requiring immediate relief assistance. In such cases, the refugee problem is caused by military actions in their country of origin. Airlift will be required to airfields in the immediate vicinity of refugee camps where bottlenecks will occur. Typical destination airfields were Sarajevo during the Bosnia crisis, Goma and Bukavu during the Rwanda crisis and Tirana and Skopje during the Kosovo crisis. Nevertheless, bottlenecks can also occur at Hubs which do not have sufficient capacity to handle the massive influx of strategic transport aircraft.
• Typical for such scenarios is that, at the onset, humanitarian airlift is arranged and managed individually by UN Agencies, IOs, NGOs, Donors and other bodies. Also, since most of such emergencies will occur in a complex environment, military operations may use a major part of the handling capacity of Hubs and Destination Airfields. As a result, a central coordination mechanism will be required to negotiate space, slot times and handling capacity at the relevant airfields. The UNJLC may be assigned to coordinate the humanitarian airlift schedule with the relevant air space management authorities and, in case of bottlenecks, prioritise the flights in accordance with the humanitarian priorities. Nevertheless, taking into consideration the urgency and specificity, and awaiting the full deployment of the UNJLC, UN Agencies may decide to activate an Air Coordination Cell (ACC). Such ACC may be installed at any location outside the crisis area such as in the premises of the Lead Coordinating Agency, which is assigned by the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), or at strategic airfields such as Brindisi, Copenhagen,Dubai, etc.

b. Structure and Responsibilities

• The organisation and responsibilities of the ACC will vary with the magnitude of the airlift and whether the aircraft are sent to hubs or directly to airfields within the crisis area. Such as described in paragraph 3.2 above, pending the concept, the ACC will deploy Air Transport Coordinators to both the hubs and destination airfields. If the UNJLC and/or UNHAS are deployed, these air movement coordination functions will be taken by UNJLC and/or UNHAS staff.
• Priorities will be established at interagency level and processed to the UNJLC.

• The Air Coordination Centre (ACC) will act as the expert adviser to the Lead Coordinating Agency on strategic airlift matters related to the ongoing crisis. It will act as the focal point for compiling all humanitarian strategic airlift requests, produce a consolidated airlift schedule and negotiate slot times with the military authorities.
• The Air Transport Coordinator at the Hubs (or Forward Mounting Bases) will be the focal point to assure smooth transition and handling of strategic humanitarian aircraft. While keeping the ACC informed, she/he will be the coordinating element between military airlift support detachment, ATC authorities, commercial handling agencies and representatives of UN agencies In some cases, the Air Movement Coordinator may assume the responsibility for coordinating the ground handling capabilities.
• The Air Movement Coordinator at the Destination Airfields (or Airheads) will have similar functions as at the hubs but will have to pay more attention to the local security situation. In addition, he/she may be involved in obtaining local facilitation measures, including customs and immigration procedures.
• Planning of strategic airlift slot allocation should start at least 3 days before execution, but should be sufficiently flexible to permit last-minute changes.The latter is to allow immediate rescheduling, when aircraft cannot respect their slot times or are not allowed to land at their expected destination. It is recommended to anticipate spare slot times for such unexpected changes and/or delays. The ACC will publisch a form to request slot times which will allow prioritisation and coordination with the military authorities. The format is available in FOM 6.2.08. Requeasts will be summarised, put in the appropriate priority and forwarded to the relevant authorities for approval. An example of such summary form is at FOM 6.2.24. A typical planning cycle is illustrated below.

Individual Functions

The individual functions within the ACC will be as follows:

The ACC Coordinator will coordinate with the Lead Agency, other agencies/humanitarian organisations and military authorities on policy, prioritisation and conceptual issues. He/she will also oversee the internal functioning of the ACC and keep close liaison with the Air Movement Coordinators. He/she will:

- Determine Office, Staff and Communication Requirements

- Propose mandate of the ACC and draft the TOR;

- Develop TOR of the individual staff members of the Cell;

- Coordinate internal technical functioning of the Cell;

- Draft the mandates of the Air Movement Coordinators;

- Be the contact point on policy matters regarding airlift coordination with military authorities;

- Establish contact with the relevant CAA and military authorities for agreeing on the coordination process, including the planning cycle;

- In case of bottlenecks, negotiate ratio between military and humanitarian priorities;

- Establish and promulgate guidelines for requesting slot times;

- In coordination with the military authorities, draft Special Instructions for Aircrew (SPINS) and update as required;

- Oversee the activities of both planning and monitoring staff;

- Receive feedback from Air Transport Coordinators through the Reports Analysis and Statistics Officer and take corrective actions as required;

- Report to Lead Agency on all matters which could influence humanitarian airlift activities;

The Planning Officer will prepare the daily schedule in close coordination with the requesting organisations and taking into account the humanitarian priorities. In this capacity, he/she will:

- Receive from the Air Movement Coordinators relevant information on the handling capacity at the hubs and/or destination airfields;

- Receive from relevant authorities the estimated number of slots for humanitarian flights at destination airfield for the relevant planning date;

- Receive requests from humanitarian organisations for humanitarian flights into the crisis at least 72 hours;

- Draft schedule of all humanitarian flights, taking into account the priorities and seek approval of the ACC Coordinator;

- Forward proposed daily schedule to the military authorities and relevant CAA, at least 48 hours before departure;

- Coordinate the assignment of slot times with the military authorities;

- If applicable, coordinate the assignment of mission numbers;

- Receive coordinated and approved flight schedule from the relevant authorities, at least 36 hours before departure;

- Publish daily flight schedule at least 24 hours before departure;

- Follow up distribution of daily schedule.

The Monitoring Officer will closely follow the ongoing operations and change the schedule as required. In this capacity, he/she will:

- Receive daily schedule from planning officer;

- Maintain liaison with the relevant military movement centre (if any) to be kept informed on specific restrictions with regard to the use of airspace inbound to and outbound from the crisis area;

- Maintain liaison with the Air Movement Coordinators to be kept informed on specific restrictions at the Hubs and Destination Airfields;

- Maintain liaison with the Operators and insist to report any changes in the timing of their flights;

- Keep the operators informed on mandatory changes in the flight schedule;

- Receive proposals for slot changes from operators;

- Coordinate proposed slot changes with the airlift coordinators at the destination airfields and the relevant authorities;

- Report important changes to relevant humanitarian organisations;

- Inform planning officer of any cancellations for taking flight rescheduling into consideration;

The Reports Analysis and Statistics Officer will compile all inputs from the Air Movement Coordinators, analyse the reports and produce weekly summaries. He/she will fulfil the functions as described in Paragraph 3.3.4.

The Air Movement Coordinators at the hubs and destination airfields will be the main source of information of both the Planning and Monitoring officers to keep the ACC continuously up to date on the activities, capacities and bottlenecks at their respective airfields. In this capacity, they will:

- Act as airlift coordinator between military airlift support detachment, Air Traffic Control authorities, commercial handling agencies and representatives of UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations;

- Obtain all information on airfield capacities and negotiate sufficient preservation of space for humanitarian flights;

- Coordinate the use of handling equipment for supporting humanitarian flights, including the use of MCDA, if authorised;

- Inform the ACC on local capacity and limitations;

- Investigate and report on fuel availability;

- Make an assessment of the total daily humanitarian airlift handling capacity including ATC constraints, parking space, cargo storage and aircraft handling limitations and forward to ACC;

- Receive the Daily Flight Schedule and inform the relevant authorities at the airfield;

- Monitor ongoing operations and inform ACC of any changes, difficulties and congestion and, if necessary, recommend the interruption of the airlift operation. Subsequently, recommend resumption;

- Collect manifests of humanitarian missions;

- Register all humanitarian flights, and report all activities to ACC.