Big news in the ATM event landscape. CANSO has taken over the WATMC time slot with a competing event and after 2022 there will no longer be an event in Madrid.
CANSO recently announced they have elected to host their own event, which is not affiliated with the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA) and World ATM Inc., in Geneva, Switzerland, in March 2023. In the interest of the entire ATM community and to avoid a scheduling conflict, ATCA has elected not to host an event in Madrid, Spain, in March 2023.
Instead, ATCA looks forward to welcoming you to our expanded ATCA Global Conference and Exhibition, brought to you by ATCA and World ATM Inc., taking place November 7-9, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
ATCA has partnered with Functional Airspace Block Europe Central (FABEC), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF), ANSPs from around the world, and many others to bring you the largest and most diverse gathering of decision-makers and industry leaders.
ATCA is excited to be recognized as the world’s airspace integration leader, and we invite you to be part of discussions that will shape tomorrow’s policies and investments.
ATM Magazine take on these changes. On the positive side it would be great to have two large events in our industry to showcase the pace of technology change. Historically the ATCA Annual has been very FAA focused and we have to wait one year between WATMC events for an update on the international landscape.
There are some challenges to this plan that shouldn't be overlooked. Shifting the focus for the ATCA Annual to be more global will take some work and it likely will be a challenge for the 2022 event as vendors have already made their event spending plans for the year at this point, with the big spend for global players at WATMC and those with an FAA focus also at ATCA Annual.
Regarding the CANSO event, there is no way around the fact that Geneva is expensive. Even if the cost of the show doesn't increase the travel and lodging will prove challenging to many travellers, especially with the timing still during the winter when international travellers may be passing through Geneva to get to ski holidays. The number of close by hotels and travel infrastructure are a plus vs the Madrid location, but I fear there will be sticker shock from attendees and exhibitors.
Let's hope the outcome is positive and we end up with two great events for our industry to gather and exchange ideas and visions for the future.
