Future Aviation Surveillance Services and Technologies in Switzerland (FASST-CH)
Update May 2025 - Technology recommendation
In May 2025, FOCA published a technology recommendation advising airspace users on which technologies are best suited for their aircraft category. Mode-S transponder, currently mandatory in parts of the airspace for some users, is only one of the options available.
The FOCA invites airspace users to equip their aircraft according to the issued recommendation, thereby contributing to enhance safety and shaping the envisioned i-conspicuity ecosystem. The cost for equipping aircraft to guarantee e-conspicuity is eligible for financial support from FOCA via Special Financing for Air Traffic, covering measures to increase flight safety.
The FOCA wants to build a fully connected airspace by 2035. To this end, within the project FASST-CH, the FOCA is asking owners and pilots to ensure that their aircraft are electronically conspicuous, contributing thereby to make the airspace safer. A list of recommended technologies has been published for this purpose.
Since its early times, one of aviation’s principles is “see and avoid”: see other airspace users and avoid them. Several technologies have been introduced to support pilots in this task; but they do not properly interact. Even though most airspace users in Switzerland have at least one of these technologies onboard, the lack of interoperability is a safety issue.
FASST-CH Vision and goal
In 2023, FASST-CH (Future Aviation Surveillance Services and Technologies in Switzerland) was launched to tackle this issue in a broader context. The vision for 2035 developed within FASST-CH in collaboration with several Swiss and international stakeholders is a fully connected airspace where pilots can access traffic, weather and airspace status data in real time.
The envisioned airspace will build on an i-conspicuity ecosystem, to be achieved by 2028, where air to air interoperability of technologies will be complemented by a ground infrastructure, thus ensuring complete visibility of the surrounding traffic.
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