DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung - Air Traffic Control in Germany

DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung is responsible for air traffic control in Germany. As a company organised under private law, DFS is 100% owned by the Federal Republic of Germany.

CONTROLLING AIR TRAFFIC IN GERMANY

Founded in 1993, DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung is the successor to the Federal Administration of Air Navigation Services, a government authority that existed for 39 years. Since January 1993, DFS has been controlling air traffic in Germany.

The company's headquarters are located in Langen, near Frankfurt. DFS is represented at 19 international and regional airports throughout Germany. The remaining airports also operate under the supervision of DFS.

CONTROLLING GERMAN AIRSPACE

Today, 1,800 controllers in the five DFS control centres and 19 towers ensure the safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic.

Each year they control up to three million flights. This figure includes 1.5 million entries and exits to and from Germany, with the remainder being overflights and domestic flights.

The control centres of Bremen, Munich and Langen are in charge of the control sectors in lower airspace (below 24,500ft / approximately 7,500m). Upper airspace (above 24,500ft) is controlled from the control centres of Munich, Karlsruhe and the EUROCONTROL centre in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

CIVIL-MILITARY INTEGRATION

Since 1994, DFS has also been responsible for regional military air traffic control in peacetime – the first air navigation services organisation in Europe to have this responsibility.

Up until 1994, Germany had both a civil and a regional military air traffic control organisation, both of which independently controlled their own civil or military airspace. This strict separation of airspaces led to the inefficient use of the valuable resource airspace.

Today, military and civil air traffic controllers work side by side. Airspaces used for military purposes no longer represent insurmountable obstacles: they can be used by civil and military aircraft, as required. Only military aerodromes are under the sole control of the armed forces.

CONTROLLING AIR TRAFFIC FROM THE TOWERS AND CONTROL CENTRES

Controlling air traffic from the towers and control centres is the core business of the German air navigation services. Apart from performing day-to-day activities, DFS also develops air traffic management systems, surveillance systems and navigation aids.

COMPILING FLIGHT-RELATED DATA

DFS compiles flight-related data and uses it for its products and services, such as aeronautical maps and charts and its pre-flight information service.

TECHNICAL AIR NAVIGATION SERVICES FACILITIES

DFS has three separate divisions: Aeronautical Solutions, Control Centre and Tower. The Aeronautical Solutions business unit is setting up technical air navigation services facilities in other countries spanning from Europe to the Middle East.

TRAINING AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS

At its Air Navigation Services Academy in Langen, DFS not only trains its upcoming air traffic controllers, but also flight data specialists and briefing officers. Technicians and engineers are also trained there to work on state-of-the-art air traffic control systems.

The air navigation services organisations of Croatia, Italy and the Netherlands, to name a few, avail of the know-how and technology of the Academy to train their air traffic controllers. In addition, DFS shares its know-how with other companies by providing consultancy services.