European airline leaders have called for reform of EU airspace as a matter of urgency and proposed a financial restructure of air traffic management in Europe.
Meeting at the Airlines for Europe (A4E) summit in Brussels on Wednesday, the heads of Ryanair, easyJet, Lufthansa and British Airways owner IAG insisted there should be no more delay to airspace reform.
They noted it’s already five years since the launch of the Seamless European Sky initiative aimed at simplifying Europe’s airspace, with the increasing volume of traffic post-pandemic making the issue “more pressing than ever”.
A4E argues airspace reform would unlock a host of benefits, enabling airlines to fly the most-efficient routes and make CO2 emissions savings of up to 10% while reducing delays.
It points out reform of airspace has failed to match the rate of innovation in most other aspects of flying in Europe.
The A4E leaders called for the EU’s Single European Sky (SES) legislation to be implemented immediately.
The association issued a study undertaken by Transport and Mobility Leuven, a University of Leuven research body, into Europe’s air traffic management (ATM).
This notes ATM costs rose by 130% in some regions between 2019 and 2021 while carriers lost billions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The report points out Europe’s ATM system remains fragmented and makes a case for structural reforms, “potentially leading to a model of tendering” for all air navigation service providers (ANSPs).
Such reform “could ultimately allow specialised companies providing ANSP services to compete”.
Laurent Donceel, acting managing director of A4E, said: “Airlines, ANSPs and other aviation stakeholders signed the Efficient Airspace Declaration half a decade ago, calling for a proper regulatory framework for airspace in Europe that would lead to a more seamless airspace.
“Since then, there has been no movement.”
He argued: “Policymakers can no longer roll out excuses for not reforming something so vital for European aviation and which can deliver real environmental savings.”
Luis Gallego, incoming chair of A4E and chief executive of IAG, said: “By reforming air traffic management, European aviation could run more efficiently and with lower carbon emissions.
“We’re calling for the European Commission, European Parliament and member states to make progress on the Single European Sky implementation and the EU Commission’s proposed legislation.
“We would like all parties to put their differences aside and focus on delivering change.”
Gallego also demanded EU support for production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), saying: “Europe needs a supply of SAFs. But to scale-up production in Europe, industry will require investment support.
“With the right policies, 30 SAF plants could be built across Europe over the next eight years, saving seven million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2030.”