In the years preceding the launch of the AIS AHEAD Programme, there was an increasing trend in the European area for implementing and using electronic document technologies for Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) publications.

The undertaking by States of such developments in isolation was an unnecessary multiplication of effort which was likely to lead to incompatibility problems. Each such development was proposing a different way of browsing/navigating the AIP content on screen. The users did not apreciate the idea of having to learn a dozen of different styles, navigation patterns and layouts.

There was a clear need for a standard. Thus, the decision of EUROCONTROL to develop an Electronic Aeronautical Information Publication (eAIP) Specification aiming to harmonise the publication and consultation of the Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) in electronic format.

Between 2000-2001, EUROCONTROL contracted with the company Mekon Ltd., UK the development of an Extensible Markup Language (XML) Document Type Definition (DTD) for the Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP). XML is a subset of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML, ISO 8879). Since 1998, when it was published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), XML has rapidly become the de-facto industry standard for electronic data interchange.

The first draft version of the AIP DTD was finalised in April 2001 and was inspired by the DocBook DTD. Also contracted was the development of stylesheets to be used for converting the XML files into HTML format (for browsing) and PDF format (for printing).

From August 2001 till March 2004, EUROCONTROL contracted with Moltek Ltd. and their partner Synclude Ltd. to continue the work on the DTDs and the style sheets with the help of a number of Pilot Countries. The pilot implementations initiated in Belgium, Slovenia, The Netherlands, Germany (military AIP), Armenia and Moldova have significantly contributed to the improvement, testing and validation of the eAIP Specification.

The eAIP has advantages both for producers and for users. The on-screen presentation part of the eAIP Specification was validated with a group of real users, in the form of a Usability Study. Some of the most important advantages for users of an eAIP are listed below:

Some of the advantages for the producers (AIS offices), as identified during the pilot implementation phase, are also listed below:

Although run by EUROCONTROL primarily for the benefit of the ECAC area, the project took into account that AIS is a global business and attention was paid to ensure that it is globally applicable.

The eAIP Specification is fully compatible with the ICAO SARPS. The current paper based AIP, including Amendments, can be produced from the eAIP files.

The eAIP Specification is fully compliant with the ICAO requirements for AIP content and structure, as laid down in ICAO Annex 15. In addition, through the use of the XML DTD technology, the requirements for AIP structure are enforced by the eAIP Specification in a way which is not possible for a paper document.

The eAIP is an enabler for Aeronautical Information Management (AIM): information content is separated from presentation aspects and the user can select and further process data directly from the eAIP in electronic format, according to his needs. All electronic media, be they on-line or off-line - Internet, intranet, CD-ROM, DVD - can be supported.

The EUROCONTROL eAIP is not a software tool. It is a concept and a technical specification. It is a foundation on which aeronautical information users and industry can define and build the tools they need in order to exploit the "electronic AIP" concept at its full potential.