This is critical for global air travel, where international systems must interact to achieve the goal of a seamless, borderless process. The growth of air traffic is outstripping capacity in much of the world, particularly in Europe. After experiencing a record number of air traffic delays in the summer of 1999, Switzerland asked us for assistance. We worked with a task force of key people from the Swiss government and civil and military aviation communities, providing leadership and expertise in the areas of technology and operations. We helped the task force quickly arrive at a clear direction and implementable recommendations, many of which provide substantial benefit for minimal investments.
Regional cooperation is a major theme of our work in the Asia Pacific region.
We are helping agencies in this area collaborate to implement a next-generation ATC system and to pool resources to improve aviation safety. We are working on a similar plan for South Korea and talking to several other countries, including China and Japan, about their master plans. We are also helping clients look at the alternative of building new airports. We are advising Panama and Egypt on privatizing their airports, and we helped the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority resolve issues leading to a successful corporatization. In Belgium, we serve as system design authority and evolution architect for our long-time client, Belgocontrol, supporting the evolution of its air traffic automation systems to meet future demands.