Single European Sky

EC Acts To Reverse Single European Sky Failure

AIN Air Transport Perspective » October 15, 2012

by Charles Alcock

European Union member states such as France, Germany and the UK have failed to meet their obligations to the Single European Sky program, according to the European Commission, and will now face possible penalties and tougher legislation to prevent further procrastination.

October 15, 2012, 1:00 PM

The European Commission (EC) plans to propose new legislation to accelerate implementation of the Single European Sky (SES) program and is threatening legal action against national governments that have failed to fulfill their obligations to the far-reaching air traffic management (ATM) reorganization. In an October 11 speech in Cyprus, EC transport commissioner Siim Kallas acknowledged that SES “is not delivering” on its goals of halving ATM costs while tripling airspace capacity. Under EC mandate, member states and Eurocontrol must fully activate nine new functional airspace blocks (FABs). Although theoretically achievable, the new borderless ATM plan in practice appears likely to fall far short of delivering on its goals