Heathrow Director, You are of course right if ALL flights (GA, MIL, etc) are included - I am sorry I should have said airline operations. If you want more information go to
www.asas-tn.org/reports the Final seminar Report (para 5.9) and the Work Package 3 contain more information. There is a European ADS-B programme, an FAA ADS-B programme, a Canadian ADS-B programme, an Australian ADS-B programme and others too. The main initial benfits will come ADS-B-NRA to provide 'radar like' data in non radar environments (e.g. Australia, Canada and the FAA) but ADS-B-RAD which will integrate ADS-B data with radar data will follow along soon afterwards (see the first version of WP3 for definitions). Mandates are coming in all the above mentioned areas of the world (I forget dates), and once ADS-B is fully certified and used I am sure it will be of great benefit to all users of ATM on the ground and in the air, whether they be controllers, pilots, ANSPs, airports or airlines. Hope this helps!