Brussels, 12/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - The aviation lobby is losing patience with the delays and mounting inefficiency in the implementation of the Single European Sky. In a joint report, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the European Regional Airlines Association (ERA) and the Association of European Airlines (AEA) are proposing the rationalisation of air traffic control centres. The Commission is also losing patience and is currently preparing a Single European Sky 2+ in an effort to re-focus the first packages.
The three associations point out that the gradual approach of the Single European Sky has not pushed forward development of the programme at the desired pace. They add that the progress has been painfully slow and the inefficiencies detected in the European traffic control system is still generating more than €5 billion in additional costs and a further 8.1 million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. The report concludes that air traffic control structures are a brake on growth and stability in the aviation sector.
In light of US developments that demonstrated that greater traffic volumes can be managed by the same number of control centres, the three aviation industry lobbies suggest, in their report, “rationalising and modernising” the traffic control chain. They believe that the number of traffic control centres should be reduced from 63 to 40 and that modernisation should not be done in an isolated way but coordinated at a European wide level.
Tony Tyler, the director-general of IATA, declared in Madrid on 12 February during an international conference on the subject that “we need to roll up our sleeves, work together as partners, and build a stronger ATM system”. He acknowledged that “some tough choices need to be made. Our report may not be the only way forward, but whatever is agreed, we need an overall plan to realise the SES. And we urgently need to make progress by agreeing to the essential reforms and getting on with delivering them”.
This is a discreet appeal to the European Commission, which has been working on a new “Single Sky 2 +” legislative package that is supposed to correct the mistakes and shortcomings in the two previous packages. European Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas affirmed in January this year that this new casting should help resolve “persistent problems”, without going back to the beginning. (MD/transl.fl)