The European Satellite Services Provider (ESSP) and the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) organized another edition of the the EGNOS Annual Workshop. This year's event took place in Rome on the 24th and 25th of September.

In the course of the EGNOS Annual Workshop, a special recognition was provided to Luxembourg's Air Navigation Administration (ANA) for having signed an EGNOS Working Agreement and having published its first EGNOS-based procedure. The EGNOS Service Provision contract is funded by the European Union and managed through the GSA, with the objective of developing the use of satellite navigation within Europe and particularly in the aviation sector

The implementation of performance based navigation (PBN) procedures based on EGNOS is planned at Luxembourg airport (ELLX) for February 2020.

As the aviation domain has evolved, the methods of navigation have bettered to give operators more flexibility. In the frame of area navigation, there are conventional and PBN methods. PBN makes use of modern satellite technology and involve a major shift from conventional ground-based navigation and procedures to satellite-based navigation and area navigation procedures. PBN is more accurate and allows for more direct routes, as well as more efficient take-offs and landings. This will help to decrease airport and airspace congestion, improve safety even further, reduce fuel burn and noise impacts and reduce aircraft-CO2-emissions. Furthermore, even if space-based augmentation systems (SBAS) can currently only provide up to Cat I minima, SBAS does however not need an additional ground station, which gives it an advantage in terms of cost and maintenance.

With new technologies come new challenges such as the assurance of adequate signal strength. The agreement between ESSP and ANA make sure that Luxembourg airspace users can have full confidence in the procedures offered by ANA in cooperation with ESSP.