EUROCONTROL has just delivered Wave 2.3 of iNM, the Agency’s new integrated Network Management system, extending the operational rollout of iNM with additional user interfaces for flow and tower operations, improvements for aircraft operators, and stronger service resilience. The release enables operational stakeholders to progressively familiarise themselves over the coming months with the new interfaces, ensuring a smooth transition while maintaining business continuity through the legacy interfaces. iNM is EUROCONTROL’s flagship initiative to modernise the operational systems used by NM, the EUROCONTROL Network Manager (NM), and is a key priority of EUROCONTROL’s corporate strategy Trajectory 2030.
Building on the successful release in November 2025 of iNM Flight & Flow, which integrated four systems into one database with a single view on flights, Wave 2.3 expands the scope of NMUI (NM User Interface) Flow to Flow Management Positions (FMPs), and introduces NMUI Tower for tower operational users.
The update to NMUI Flight provides aircraft operators with clearer and more consistent flight planning tools, alongside targeted improvements across Flight Planning, Flow Management and NM B2B (business to business) services, together ensuring a more timely and resilient service. Planned maintenance can now be carried out with little or no service disruption. Together, these changes improve day to day decision making and help maintain stable operations across the European network.
“Today’s progress milestone for iNM – Wave 2.3 – marks another important step in implementing our integrated Network Management (iNM) Programme in 2026 as outlined in Trajectory 2030. By delivering modern, integrated user interfaces alongside enhanced B2B services, EUROCONTROL together with its partners in European aviation is building the tools with which we will manage growing traffic flows more efficiently, while at the same time ensuring continuity during the transition from legacy systems. This progress directly supports a more resilient, predictable and digitally enabled European aviation network, benefiting airlines, air navigation service providers, airports and, ultimately, passengers across Europe.”- Raúl Medina Director General EUROCONTROL
This latest iNM delivery is the latest in a series of upgrades to EUROCONTROL’s legacy operational systems, designed 30 years ago, at a time when flight planning and flow management were considered and treated as separate domains, and developed incrementally over the years. These legacy systems have proven reliable, stable and safe – but over time, the fact that they have become increasingly interdependent has prompted the need for a unified system that can better serve operational staff across Europe.
The key updates of Wave 2.3
iNM Wave 2.3 brings a new, unified NM user interface in the form of NMUI Flow. NMUI Flow supports FMPs in their Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management (ATFCM) activities. It is designed to progressively replace the current graphic interfaces of legacy network operations systems, while ensuring operational continuity. Users can create, update, cancel and simulate regulations before submitting proposals to EUROCONTROL’s Network Manager Operations Centre (NMOC), and benefit from improved navigation and more detailed analysis. Wave 2.3 also delivers an update to NMUI Flight for aircraft operators, bringing a number of usability improvements such as improved column labelling to better match operational usage, improved possibility for editing, and access to forecasted ATFM delay information. It additionally offers early access to the new NMUI Airport product on an operational test platform for testing, familiarisation, and feedback. This is the first step toward replacing the current Airport Corner system. NMUI Airport introduces a new NMUI integrated interface for airport-related information with a redesigned and simplified interface. The legacy Airport Corner will continue running operations until the full switch in December 2026.
The upgrades to NM’s B2B services offer clearer rerouting attribution (in cases of weather or capacity constraints), improved data consistency in flight data distribution, and an extended query horizon (of up to 5–6 days ahead). A new type of notification is now being automatically broadcast to subscribed systems whenever a flight plan is revalidated by EUROCONTROL’s Integrated Initial Flight Plan Processing System.
Wave 2.3 improves the contingency capability of EUROCONTROL’s integrated Flight and Flow (iFF) management services, which are core NM systems supporting daily air traffic operations. These services include flight management, flow management and ATFM coordination tools such as the Centralised Code Assignment and Management System (CCAMS). iFF contingency ensures that these essential services remain available by allowing operations to switch to a backup system if the main system were to need to be taken offline.
Wave 2.3 completes Phase 2 of this capability by enabling a planned and controlled switchover of iFF services to the backup system during scheduled maintenance or major software releases. This significantly reduces service downtime—and during regular maintenance windows can avoid it altogether—while keeping data synchronised to prevent data loss. This builds on Phase 1, delivered in Wave 2.1, which already enabled a switchover to the backup system in the event of unexpected incidents or disasters. Together, these improvements make iFF services more resilient, reliable and continuously available.
iNM deliverables
Wave 2.3 follows on from previous iNM Waves, which started with the release of EUROCONTROL’s brand-new digital platform – the foundation of our new operational systems – along with three digital products launched in October 2024; followed by the start of an incremental roll-out of the enhanced European Aeronautical Database (eEAD) and the deployment of iNM Flight & Flow and the NMUI Flight application. Overall, iNM is set to modernise all of NM’s operational systems, introducing a powerful, scalable, and integrated digital architecture that will drive greater efficiency, safety, and sustainability across the European aviation network.
Next steps
The remaining iNM deployments planned for 2026 are reflected in the iNM delivery roadmap below. By the end of 2026, the iNM Programme will deliver the full initial Integrated Digital Roadmap except for the iDL (integrated Data Layer) product.
