Brussels, 09/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - The Association of European Airlines (AEA) has welcomed the 2 December agreement on the treaty on the implementation of the FAB-EC - the functional airspace block (FAB) comprising Germany, France, Switzerland and the Benelux countries (see EUROPE 10269). The AEA says in a press release published on Tuesday 7 December that this is an “urgently required step in the right direction, but there are far more to go, particularly if situations as in Spain are to be avoided in the future,” referring to the recent Spanish air traffic controllers' strike. The association also welcomed the recent approval of European Single Sky performance targets for the 2012-2014 period, which impose inter alia 3.5% flight efficiency improvements, that is, a reduction in circuitous routings which waste fuel and affect the environment. “These targets are not of themselves particularly challenging” and airlines “believe that there are vastly greater savings to be unlocked by the Single Sky without underlining safety in any way,” said AEA Secretary General Johannes Schulte-Strathaus in the same press release. (A.By./transl.rt)