IACA applauds vote on the Single European Sky (SES) package II in the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN). The Committee’s vote on this vital piece of legislation sets a good precedent for EU Member States to follow suit and finalise this package urgently, for the benefit of European airlines, their passengers, as well as the environment. The vote builds on the strong proposal of the European Commission on SES II which set ambitious targets for finally achieving a long overdue Single Sky in the European airspace.

IACA is particularly pleased that binding performance targets for Air Navigation Service providers are part of the package along with an obligation to implement Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs) by 2011, in order to reduce fragmentation across the European airspace.

The SES II package will bring wide ranging benefits to the European aviation sector.  The current fragmentation in the European airspace, coupled with monopolistic service provision of air traffic management has created considerable cost inefficiencies, insufficient capacity and delays.

In 2009, air traffic management (ATM) costs in the Eurocontrol zone will amount to €8 billion for airlines.  This is twice as expensive as the ATM costs for the US airspace.  The SES II could also help to reduce in CO2 emissions for aviation by up to 12 percent.

Commenting on the vote, IACA Director General, Sylviane Lust said: “Yesterday’s vote is good news for airlines, passengers and the environment.  Currently all have to carry the burden to pay for the inefficiencies in the European Air Traffic Management system in terms of time, fuel burn and money.   The European Parliament’s TRAN committee has assembled a solid package of legislation which should lead to a genuine Single European Sky. It is particularly encouraging that a performance related system is at the heart of the package. This will help to re-balance the monopolistic behaviour of ATM services and reduce inefficiencies. Such is the importance of this project to the future of European aviation and the environment, we urge EU Member States to make sure the SES II legislation is adopted swiftly along the lines of the TRAN vote.  The benefits of achieving a Single European Sky quickly are plain to see.”