The Central Flow Management Unit, or CFMU, was created in 1995 as part of EUROCONTROL. This initiative followed the guidelines set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for Centralised Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM). The CFMU’s main role is to provide ATFM services on behalf of participating States within a designated area of the EUR Region. Initially, it included the Central Executive Unit and the Flight Data Operations Division, which worked with the Integrated Initial Flight Plan processing System. Additionally, the CFMU has been given responsibility for the Centralised Airspace Data Function (CADF), which is crucial for Airspace Management (ASM). This function consolidates Conditional Route information from various national Airspace Use Plans (AUPs). The CADF gathers these plans into a single, coherent document known as the European Airspace Use Plan, distributing it to Aircraft Operators on behalf of the States. Over the years, the CFMU has evolved. In line with the Single European Sky II legislation, the European Commission established the Network Manager function to enhance the performance of the European aviation network. In July 2011, EUROCONTROL was appointed as the Network Manager, a designation that continued until the end of the second Reference Period of the Performance Scheme, which concluded on December 31, 2019. EUROCONTROL intends to seek re-designation beyond 2019. According to SES II legislation, the Network Manager has four primary responsibilities: designing the route network, allocating central aeronautical frequencies for the European region, coordinating improvements in SSR Code Allocation, and managing air traffic flow (ATFM). With the regulatory changes, the functions previously handled by the CFMU, such as central flight plan processing, ATFM, and airspace data processing, are now managed by the Network Manager Operations Centre (NMOC).
