The number of flights in Europe in July, August and September 2003 reached an all time high, while delays…
The number of flights in Europe in July, August and September 2003 reached an all time high, while delays related to air traffic management dropped dramatically due to ongoing infrastructure investment and system improvements Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, announced today.
July-September 2003 had the highest average number of daily flights ever recorded. At the same time, average delays related to air traffic flow management dropped 58% compared to July-September 2001, previously the busiest summer period.
The month of September had the highest-ever average daily number of flights with 25,756, approximately 350 flights per day more than in 2001, while July had an average of 25,138 flights per day, and August an average of 25,127(1). September 12 2003 now holds the record for the largest number of flights on a single day – 28,173.
The figures over the past three months show some recovery in the air transport industry and demonstrate that growth in air traffic can go hand in hand with reduced delays, said Mr. Victor M. Aguado, Director General of Eurocontrol.
This positive trend is very much a result of close cooperation between all the actors involved in air traffic management – national service providers, airline companies, airports, States, Eurocontrol, and last but not least, the controllers themselves.
Their commitment to capacity growth despite difficulties in the sector is now paying dividends for airlines and passengers. Increases in air traffic management capacity are due in particular to efforts by national service providers to boost their individual capacities and to improved management of the pan-European air traffic management network on the part of Eurocontrol and aircraft operators.
Much work remains to be done however to maintain these levels of service. Air traffic management systems are expected to come under heavy pressure in 2004 with increased intra-European air traffic following the accession of new Member States to the European Union and expected economic recovery. In order to ensure that these events do not result in increased delays, it will be necessary to increase overall capacity by between 25% and 30% over the next 5 years.
If we want to ensure that air traffic management delays remain low in the future while maintaining or increasing safety levels, we must sustain the current level of planning and investing. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure increases in capacity in the most cost-effective manner so that the problem of en-route delays remains a thing of the past, Mr. Aguado added.
(1) Figures for numbers of flights are calculated for the following States: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
(2) Delays occur when the capacity of a controlled airspace, either en-route or at airports is not sufficient to accommodate the demand of traffic. This may be due to structural lack of capacity, weather conditions, technical outages, industrial actions, etc.
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