- COOPANS celebrated 20 years on 8 June 2026.
- The alliance includes six European ANSPs.
- Shannon operated as the first COOPANS centre in 2011.
- AirNav Ireland plays a key role in the partnership.
- The group develops the EXODUS virtual centre.
The Co-operation of Air Navigation Service Providers (COOPANS) Alliance has marked 20 years of European air traffic management cooperation, an award-winning European air traffic management (ATM) partnership. It manages 14pc of European air traffic across six countries: Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, and Sweden alongside Thales.
The alliance has significantly shaped the European aviation landscape through several key achievements and projects by pooling resources and acting as a single organization alongside industry partner Thales, members save roughly \(30\%\) on capital expenditures while significantly increasing airspace capacity.
AirNav Ireland plays a crucial role in this network, as Shannon was the first operational COOPANS centre in 2011, putting Ireland at the forefront of the collaboration.
The alliance is currently rolling out the Thales TopSky-ATC One system across its Area Control Centres (ACCs) to further improve efficiency and safety.
COOPANS leads innovation by participating in EXODUS, one of the first multi-state virtual centres designed to decouple ATM data services from a controller’s physical location
COOPANS pools resources to deliver safer and more efficient services. Shannon became the first operational COOPANS centre in 2011. AirNav Ireland manages 451,000 square kilometres of controlled airspace and handles a large proportion of North Atlantic traffic.
The alliance advances projects such as the EXODUS virtual centre concept. It aligns with the Single European Sky framework and Digital Sky vision. COOPANS focuses on automation and system virtualisation for future modernisation.
Mario Kunovec Varga shared “our greatest strength is not the technology we have built, but the partnership and collaboration that define the way we work together… We truly live our motto: real cooperation, real results.”
