OneSKY Australia is a joint initiative between Airservices Australia and the Department of Defence to unify the nation’s civil and military air traffic management systems. At the centre of this program is the Civil Military Air Traffic Management System (CMATS), which will oversee operations across 53 million square kilometres of Australian airspace.
The program’s objective is to enhance safety, efficiency, and capacity across Australia’s aviation network. Key outcomes include shared airspace use, improved productivity through better deployment of resources, and trajectory-based operations that enable more efficient flight paths.
Economically, OneSKY is projected to deliver more than $2.7 billion in benefits to airspace users over the next two decades. The integration of advanced technology and modernised infrastructure will support national security objectives and accommodate future air traffic growth.
For clients managing projects with multiple critical stakeholders, OneSKY demonstrates what can be achieved through effective collaboration and innovation in air traffic management.
The Challenges
Multiple stakeholders with diverse priorities
Owners, regulators, operators, and contractors all have competing and sometimes conflicting needs. Fire engineering must balance safety and compliance with operational and financial imperatives, ensuring no single requirement compromises another.
Legacy systems and the need for operational continuity
Fire protection upgrades must be delivered without interrupting critical services. Working within ageing infrastructure creates constraints on space and services, making seamless integration a significant challenge.
Fire safety and security interactions
Security measures such as access control and compartmentation can conflict with evacuation paths or smoke management systems. Fire engineering must coordinate both, ensuring neither safety nor security is compromised in an emergency.
Delayed evacuation in mission-critical operations
Where operations cannot cease immediately, evacuation may need to be staged or delayed. This requires robust compartmentation, smoke control, and reliable communications to maintain life safety until services can be safely handed over.
Bloom’s Impact
Stakeholder alignment
Bloom facilitated alignment across regulators, owners, operators, and contractors. Our fire strategies provided a unified framework that met compliance requirements while supporting operational and financial objectives.
Upgrades without operational disruption
We integrated modern fire protection systems into existing infrastructure to enable critical services to continue uninterrupted throughout the upgrade works.
Harmonising safety and security
Our approach ensured fire safety and security systems functioned cohesively. Occupants remained protected during emergencies without compromising secure operations.
Safe staged and delayed evacuation
Where immediate evacuation was not feasible, Bloom designed strategies that kept people safe until services could be handed over. This involved fire- and smoke-resistant construction, smoke control measures, and robust communications systems.
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