Aeronautical information/data is provided directly by each of the ECAC States. The current systems used by each Air Traffic Service Organisation provide data of varying quality. Data users have to contact many States to gather all the information necessary for their business operations. The EAD will act as a single point of contact for Data Providers and Data Users, offering an opportunity for quality improvement and for saving time and money.

The EAD will offer a cost-effective service to access an integrated AIS system for States without existing or planned systems. The EAD service will reduce costs and improve the quality of data for States with an existing system. This should result in overall savings in the ECAC area by avoiding costs for multiple, similar, but most likely incompatible, procurements.

By gathering all AIS data into a single reference database, the EAD will provide the opportunity to perform enhanced data checking, particularly for data relating to border areas. By avoiding excessive duplication of information, higher accuracy rates will be achieved.

This AIS data will include Static Data and Dynamic Data, such as NOTAMs provided by the States, as well as some supporting data for use by specific clients (e.g. CFMU specific data).

The maximum effectiveness of the EAD will be achieved once all data providers within ECAC have successfully migrated to the system. The outsourced service is regularly controlled with regard to its efficiency and competitiveness.

The EAD will also act as an enabler for several EUROCONTROL Agency internal clients, i.e. CFMU, the Central Route Charges Office (CRCO) and the FUA, which have already identified a need for a reference database containing aeronautical information. Thus the availability of a database in the form of the EAD will provide considerable benefits.