In the 1995 Budget, the Danish Parliament appropriated DKK 440 million (1999 prices) for upgrade of the existing air traffic management system and new simulators for training of air traffic controllers. In the same year Denmark joined the European Eurocontrol organization. Denmark thereby joined the club of 37 countries working for harmonization and integration of air traffic management systems. This means that the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA-DK), to which Naviair belonged until the separation in 2001, is moving from a national perspective to a European perspective - politically, organizationally, personnel-wise and, not least, technically.

This is extremely important for the selection of future technology. Because participation in Eurocontrol means that Denmark is committed to work toward the ability of future air traffic management systems being able to communicate with each other so that they can be integrated. Integration is a precondition for closer cooperation or consolidation of European air navigation services. All thoughts of expanding the existing air traffic management system were abandoned in 1996. The existing system could only be upgraded to make it able to handle the increasing traffic until a completely new standardized system was ready for use. It was therefore decided that the old system would have its service life extended—and that Naviair would focus on an entirely new, modern and internationally standardized system. In the mid-1990s Copenhagen Airport had plans to expand the airport to be able to handle increasing traffic. This would mean building a new control tower at a different location than the current one in order to ensure that the air traffic controllers would have a clear view of the gates and runways in the expanded airport. The new tower became part of the project for an entirely new air traffic management system in Denmark. At the end of the decade the entire system had been specified and was ready to be buildt. In 1999 the project was reviewed and changed by Parliament’s appropriation of a further DKK 514 million (1999 prices) for a new air traffic management system, incl. a new building for a new Area Control Centre and a new control tower at Copenhagen Airport. At the end of the 1990s the existing air traffic management system was expanded, while Naviair, at the same time, was specifying the requirements for the future system and beginning to look around for suppliers. In Sweden and Ireland - among many other European countries - the same process was going on. The new air traffic management system required entirely new equipment and, not least, entirely new computer programs - and because it turned out to be difficult and led to delays in the development of new systems, Naviair decided to hold back slightly with the investment and selection. After reviewing the proposals, Naviair decided that the French producer Thales had provided the most advantageous proposal for the new Danish system. They also supplied the Swedes. Because the project was coming along so well in Sweden that the Swedes could see the final outcome, Naviair signed a contract with Thales. That was in 2002. Once underway, the project was modified and expanded several times. In 2001 the Danish Armed Forces decided that they would not utilize the opportunity to join in with Naviair on acquiring new air traffic management equipment and chose instead to acquire a system of their own. That meant that the appropriation for the Naviair part of the project was increased by DKK 46 million in the budget of 2002. In 2001 Naviair took over responsibility for the ATM-equipment in the control tower in Billund, which was also not part of the original contract. The final budget appropriation was in 2006, where DKK 123 million (2005 prices) was appropriated, primarily on the basis that the original budget for the new control tower at Copenhagen Airport was insufficient. This means that the total appropriations for Denmark’s new air traffic management system is DKK 1228.4 million (2005 prices).