On 11 May 2011, representatives of the four Participating Nations, Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands met in Eindhoven under the chairmanship of LtGen J.H.M.P. Janssen, Chief of the Royal Netherlands Air Force and declared the European Air Transport Command (EATC) having reached Initial Operational Capability (IOC).
After the receipt of the four Nations' Transfers of Authority (TOA) the EATC is now able to plan, task and conduct 24/7 control over missions for more than 160 military fixed wing transport aircraft without any restraint.
With the nationally provided defined levels of authority over force generation tasks the multinational command is now in a favourite position to improve harmonization, to increase the level of standardization and interoperability between the four participating nations' air transport and air to air refuelling fleet.
Since the first TOA from Germany on 15 October 2010 the EATC already handled more than 3.000 missions successfully and moved more than 110.000 passengers and 6.000 tons of freight. Moreover, the EATC now is handling daily more than 60 missions and has already successfully been involved in operations exercising for instance Operational Control over its assets during the non combatant evacuation of more than 1.100 European citizens from Libya early March and thereby proved its high level of professionalism and responsiveness.
In addition relevant national documentation has been collected and adequate working relationship with the Participating Nations and their staffs have been established. This is the basis to live up to the nationally defined levels of authority over force generation tasks. These include training and concepts as well as harmonization and the increase of standardization and interoperability between the four participating nations' air transport fleet.
In order to ensure an efficient air transport request and execution process between all parties involved a dedicated, unique EATC IT tool has been implemented which is now stable as well as responsive and up and running. This tool, called MEAT (Management of European Air Transport), provides fidelity for a common shared data base and high cross national situational awareness in the field of military fixed wing aircraft.