Airservices Australia announced in earlier this month that it had signed an agreement to adopt the Local and sub-Regional Airspace (LARA) management support software.
LARA, developed by international air traffic management coordinating body Eurocontrol, is a reservation and booking tool, which improves collaborative decision making between air navigation service providers, Defence and the aviation industry.
The system is already in operation in the busy European sky, with Airservices deploying it in Australia’s first airspace management cell, the National Airspace Management Office in Brisbane, which will be jointly staffed by Airservices and Defence personnel when it becomes operational in early 2026.
“The management of Australia’s airspace requires a balanced approach between the increasing demands of the civil aviation industry and military requirements,” said Airservices Australia Intermin CEO Rob Sharp.
“In addition to facilitating real-time information sharing and coordination between civil and military airspace users, this system will optimise the use of airspace which will bring benefits ranging from enhanced safety to reduced fuel consumption by aircraft.”
LARA will enable authorised users to see airspace reservations, review planning and airspace status, and access a large-scale graphical representation of which airspace is active at any given time.
Although LARA has been rigorously tested and validated over its development cycle, Airservices says it will conduct further security and system testing prior to the tool entering operational use.
Roll-out of the LARA tool to airspace users and authorities is expected in the second half of 2025, with completion targeted for early the following year.