US, German sign civil aviation agreements

WASHINGTON - US space agency NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have signed two cooperative agreements to advance air traffic management benefiting airline passengers and citizens of both countries.

The agreements were signed Tuesday at a Berlin Air Show ceremony by NASA's Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Research Jaiwon Shin and DLR's Executive Board Member for Aeronautical Research Rolf Henke.

"NASA has enjoyed a long history of successful cooperation with DLR," Shin said in a statement. "Our ability to work closely together will benefit each nation by increasing air traffic capacity and reducing aviation's impact to the environment."

One agreement sets the terms and conditions on a range of activities relating to coordinated aircraft arrival, departure and surface operations research. The other agreement outlines cooperation on efficient airspace operations under constrained conditions, such as mitigating the impact of severe weather and volcanic ash clouds to air traffic while minimizing the environmental impact.

"DLR is bringing its extensive research experience in the air traffic management sector," Henke said. "At the same time, our scientists will be able to benefit from the experience of their NASA colleagues."