On 28 November 2023, EATC executed the first mission for the benefit of the European Union. This cooperation was established in a recently signed arrangement between the seven EATC nations and the EUMS, offering the EU quick and first-hand access to the EATC air mobility portfolio.
Thanks to an accurate pre-defined procedure, EATC responded without delay to an urgent EUMS need for humanitarian aid to be transported from Valencia (Spain) to Cairo (Egypt). EATC’s planning branch experts selected the best asset to perform the mission, identified an already planned flight from the Belgian-Luxembourg A400M unit and coordinated the mission with the Belgian Movement and Transport Control Center. Under monitoring of EATC’s mission control, the A400M left Brussels to load all the additional EU material in Valencia, head to Cairo and deliver the humanitarian and medical material on schedule.
The EU will refund the air transport mission through the cashless exchange system, ATARES.
More information on the Technical Agreement
In July 2023 the seven EATC member nations and the European Union Military Staff signed a technical arrangement regarding the provision of strategic air transport and aeromedical evacuation services for the benefit of the European Union. Through this arrangement, the seven EATC nations offer to the EU quick access to the EATC air mobility portfolio.
In practical terms, the EU can introduce an air transport request through the Belgium or German movement centers, who provide procedural and operational expertise necessary for EU airlift or aeromedical evacuation missions. Then the EATC takes up the request, chooses the best asset, plans and tasks the mission, and finally supervises the execution on a 24/7 basis. It goes without saying that the mission is executed in accordance with the national regulations and EATC’s procedures. Once successfully executed, cashless payment is settled via the ATARES system.
@Photo courtesy of the Belgian Airforce