WRITTEN QUESTION P-0126/02

by Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN) to the Commission

(24 January 2002)

Subject: Failure to adopt the airway reorganisation plan

Europe's existing airways were last codified in the 1950s. The code in question is insufficient to cope with modern traffic conditions, resulting in intolerable permanent congestion and continual delays.

To tackle this critical situation, Eurocontrol has embarked on an infrastructure reorganisation plan which it was supposed to have drawn up by 2001.

Can the Commission answer the following:

- Why has Eurocontrol not yet taken the necessary action to finalise the airway reorganisation plan?

- What steps has the Commission taken or will it take to restore safety and free-flowing air traffic?

Answer given by Ms de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(15 February 2002)

The air route network in Europe is based on a structure which was set up in the 1950s based on traffic flows at that time. Since it was set up, this structure has undergone a number of changes to keep pace with the growth in air traffic and with advances in the technological capabilities of aircraft and air traffic control equipment.

The network is currently reviewed and published twice a year. More radical changes to the system can also be made if new operational concepts are introduced(1). Reorganising the air route network is done on the basis of proposals from the Member States each Member State having competence for its territorial airspace and under the coordination of Eurocontrol, which is an international organisation with technical expertise in the field of air traffic control and responsibility for settling disputes between Member States in the case of cross-border routes.

Despite all the improvements to the network, its current organisation and structure have proved unable to overcome constraints due national interests, be they economic or military. As regards military interests, the network has to allow for the fact that some zones of the airspace are reserved for exclusive military use. This means certain flights have to use fixed corridors, resulting in bottlenecks, or bypass the reserved or low-capacity airspace, thus increasing flight distances. Technical explanations on this situation are available in the study on airspace management on the Commission's Website(2).

The Single Sky proposals(3), which are currently being discussed in the Parliament and in the Council, aim to put an end to this inefficient situation. The proposals include airspace organisation and management mechanisms to make the introduction of direct routes easier so as to optimise Community airspace usage from an economic and environmental point of view (by reducing fuel consumption by up to 15 %).

This will be achieved by starting with the upper airspace (above 8550 metres) and will involve:

- increasing cooperation between civil and military authorities in order to minimise the impact on the design of air routes in the airspace zones reserved for military use;

- reconfiguring the blocks of airspace controlled by the air traffic control centres into more efficient, optimum-sized blocks to enhance the safety and free flow of air traffic.

(1) This was the case in 1999 when a new aircraft navigation concept was introduced (Basic Area Navigation (B-RNAV)), and again this year with the reduction by half of the vertical separation of aircraft above 8700 metres (Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM)).

(2) http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/themes/air/english/single_eur_sky_en.html.

(3) COM(2001) 564 final/2.