Airspace design and infrastructure


FLYING AND THE ENVIRONMENT	BASICS	FLIGHT TRACKS	ACTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION	LINKS

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Airspace design and infrastructure

Potential for greener flight procedures lies not only in technological advances but also in how airspace is structured. The airspace over Europe is currently divided into 34 different air navigation services zones. Because of this and the restrictions in the airspace imposed by governments and authorities, aircraft often cannot fly direct routes. Instead, they are often re-routed. Therefore, the air navigation service providers of Europe are presently working on harmonising European airspace, an initiative known as the Single European Sky (SES). This envisages organising airspace into Functional Airspace Blocks (FAB) based on traffic flows rather than national borders.

This re-structuring of airspace could help to cut back emissions by 16 million tonnes of Co₂. The airspace block known as FAB Europe Central has much potential, as was reflected by a feasibility study conducted by Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and the upper area control centre in Maastricht that is operated by EUROCONTROL.

The Single European Sky ATM Research programme (SESAR) is the operative counterpart to FAB. By 2020, the entire air traffic control infrastructure should have been modernised and a harmonised, needs-oriented network created.

Attempts are also being made in other parts of the world to shorten flight routes. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents around 230 airlines globally, shortened almost 400 air routes in 2007. For example, 30 minutes' flight time has been cut off each route from Europe to China. This saves 2,860 hours of flight time each year and 27,000 tonnes of fuel, thus reducing the amount of Co₂ produced by 84,000 tonnes. In the years 2006 and 2007, approximately ten million tonnes of Co₂ were saved owing to shorter flight routes.

Air traffic grew by a quarter between 1999 and 2007. During this period, the total number of delays caused by air traffic control dropped by two thirds. At the same time, flight routes were shortened by approximately four kilometers on average. Every year, these improvements result in an overall reduction of 3.5 million tonnes of Co₂.


07/06/2011	PRINT