The Single European Sky (SES) is a
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
initiative that seeks to reform the
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an
air traffic management 334x334px,
Air traffic management (ATM) is an aviation term encompassing all systems that assist aircraft to depart from an aerodrome, transit airspace, and land at a destination aerodrome, consisting of air traffic services (ATS) including air tr ...
system through a series of actions carried out in four different levels (institutional, operational, technological and control and supervision) with the aim of satisfying the needs of the European airspace in terms of capacity, safety, efficiency and environmental impact.
Background
![European airways](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/European_airways.svg)
Air traffic management in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
is currently undertaken by member countries, co-operating through
EUROCONTROL
The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, commonly known as Eurocontrol (stylised ''EUROCONTROL''), is an international organisation working to achieve safe and seamless air traffic management across Europe. Founded in 1960, Eur ...
, an
intergovernmental organisation that includes most of the European countries.
European air spaces are some of the busiest in the world, and the current system of air traffic management allegedly suffers from several parameters, such as using national borders in the sky, and having large areas of airspace reserved for national military use when in fact they may not be needed. This has created 'an outdated patchwork of airspace blocs and inefficient flight paths
hich
Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
impose significant financial and environmental costs on the sector.'
For example, airplanes are often forced to 'circle the skies burning fuel when traffic controllers go on strike or are at capacity'.
On average, planes fly 49 kilometres (30.4 miles) longer than strictly necessary.
Advantages
The Single European Sky is hoped to benefit airspace users by ensuring the safe and efficient utilisation of airspace and the air traffic management system within and beyond the EU.
* Airspace efficiency: Airspace management is planned to move away from the current domination by
national border
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
s to the use of 'functional airspace blocks' the boundaries of which will be designed to maximise the efficiency of the airspace.
* Safety, capacity, management efficiency: Within the airspace, air traffic management, while continuing to have safety as its primary objective, will also be driven by the requirements of the airspace user and the need to provide for increasing air traffic. The aim is to use
air traffic management 334x334px,
Air traffic management (ATM) is an aviation term encompassing all systems that assist aircraft to depart from an aerodrome, transit airspace, and land at a destination aerodrome, consisting of air traffic services (ATS) including air tr ...
that is more closely based on desired flight patterns leading to greater safety (by preventing congestion), efficiency and capacity. The SES aims to triple capacity, cut 10% in flight times, and halve cancellations and delays.
* emissions and fuel cost cuts: According to the European Commission and the aviation industry itself, the SES could cut aviation's emissions by up to 10%,
or 50 million tonnes.
According to IATA, the SES would reduce airlines' annual fuel costs by 5.5 billion euros.
* Crisis management: The SES would be able to manage transport disruptions (such as the
2010 Icelandic volcano eruption),
overcrowding (as was happening in 2019), as well as collapses in air travel demand (as
happened due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020).
* Management cost reduction and job creation: The SES would require far fewer air traffic controllers, who have high salaries, thus substantially cutting personnel costs
by about 50%;
the number of control centres might be reduced from about 60 to about 20.
Meanwhile, the development of
Single European Sky ATM Research
Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) is a collaborative project to completely overhaul European airspace and its air traffic management (ATM). The actual program is managed by the SESAR Joint Undertaking as a public–private partnership (PPP ...
(SESAR) technology could create 328,000 jobs across Europe. By comparison, the 27 member states systems employed a little under 58,000 workers (including 16,900 air traffic controllers) in 2010.
* Innovative coordination: The SES would stimulate coordination on innovation in areas such as sustainability.
* Formation flying: The SES would enable
formation flying
Formation flying is the flight of multiple objects in coordination.
Introduction
Formation flight in aviation originated in World War I when fighter aircraft were assigned to escort reconnaissance aircraft. It was found that pairs of aircraft w ...
, including
Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
' fello'fly project, which will save energy and benefit from an updraft.
Disadvantages
* ATC job losses: The SES would threaten the jobs of many air traffic controllers, because fewer would be needed to manage a pan-European sky.
* Security and sovereignty: Some EU member states, mostly larger ones, have expressed certain objections to relinquishing their current systems,
primarily relating to national security and sovereignty concerns.
For example, the SES could create problems concerning territorial sovereignty, such as over
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
;
Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
seems to have removed this problem, however (see below).
History
Origins (1999–2004)
After the
Prodi Commission
The Prodi Commission was the European Commission in office between 1999 and 2004. The administration was led by former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
History
The commission took office on 16 September 1999 following the scandal and subs ...
took office in September 1999, Transport Commissioner
Loyola de Palacio
Ignacia de Loyola de Palacio y del Valle Lersundi (16 September 1950 – 13 December 2006) was a Spanish politician. She was among the first women to rise to political prominence in Spain during the early years of reconstituted democracy. She ...
launched efforts to structurally reform air traffic management across Europe, as she and many others had concluded that Eurocontrol was incapable of effectively carrying out its duties, particularly its decision-making and its failure to implement agreements. By the end of 1999, the European Commission had obtained the consent of all EU Transport Ministers for the 'creation of a single European sky', encompassing structural ATM integration and reform, and established a high level group of senior civil and military air traffic authorities representing the member states to prepare concrete policy proposals.
After the high level group had completed its report in late 2000, the Commission used its recommendations to develop legislative proposals for regulating the SES.
In October 2001, the European Commission adopted proposals for a Single European Sky, to create a Union regulator for air traffic management within the countries forming the European Union,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. The European Union regulator was supposed to merge upper European airspaces, currently divided into national zones. It was proposed to organise this airspace uniformly, with
air traffic control
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
areas based on operational efficiency, instead of national borders. Also, there were plans to integrate civil and military air traffic management. The framework regulation that sketched the working methods of the SES, and specific regulations on air navigation, airspace and equipment, were adopted on 11 December 2003, and entered into force as Regulation (EC) No 550/2004 (Service Provision Regulation) on 20 April 2004.
There are discussions about enlarging the initiative to cover the
Balkan
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
and
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
countries.
Gibraltar issue (2000–2020)
One report from the British Parliament, dated 2000, reported that Spain blocked the inclusion of
Gibraltar Airport
Gibraltar International Airport or North Front Airport is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The runway is owned by the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of ...
in the Single European Sky, meaning the whole package was suspended. Due to
Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
, formally completed on 31 January 2020, this stumbling block was removed.
SES-I (2004–2009)
The first SES legislation (SES-I) has been viewed as 'a real breakthrough', as is stimulated progress in harmonisation in
air navigation service provider
An air navigation service provider (ANSP) is a public or a private legal entity providing Air Navigation Services. It manages air traffic on behalf of a company, region or country. Depending on the specific mandate an ANSP provides one or more o ...
s (ANSPs), the establishment of national supervisory authorities and EU competences over certification of these services.
However, progress was slow in the next two years; the establishment of
functional airspace block
Functional airspace block (FAB) is defined in the SES-2 legislative package, as follows:
A FAB means an airspace block based on operational requirements and established regardless of State boundaries, where the provision of air navigation servi ...
s (FABs) was disorganised, little progress was made in improving cost efficiency, growing air traffic threatened capacity, and with tackling climate change emerging as a political priority, European aviation's emissions had to be mitigated.
In response to strong demands from the industry, EU member states and other stakeholders, the
Barroso Commission
The Barroso Commission was the European Commission in office from 22 November 2004 until 31 October 2014. Its president was José Manuel Barroso, who presided over 27 other commissioners (one from each of the states composing the European Union ...
appointed a new high level group to develop a more detailed regulatory framework in November 2006.
The group published its report in July 2007; it contained 10 recommendations, including making the EU the primary regulator of European aviation in order to set performance targets, safety requirements, introduce economic regulation of ATM services, incentives for ANSPs to achieve their objectives, and streamlining the implementation of FABs. Eurocontrol would provide the EU with technical support for regulations, safety regulation would be delegated to the
European Aviation Safety Agency
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitorin ...
(EASA), and member states would be urged to hurry up with their commitments to implement the defragmentation of airspaces.
SES-II (2009–2012)
![Functional airspace block](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Functional_airspace_block.svg)
On 21 October 2009, a revision of the SES regulations called SES-II was adopted, which entered into force on 4 December 2009.
Focus is here on four areas:
#The existing Single Sky legislation is sharpened to deal with performance and environmental challenges.
#The
Single European Sky ATM Research
Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) is a collaborative project to completely overhaul European airspace and its air traffic management (ATM). The actual program is managed by the SESAR Joint Undertaking as a public–private partnership (PPP ...
(SESAR) programme is to provide the future technology.
#The competence of the
European Aviation Safety Agency
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitorin ...
(EASA) is to be extended to
aerodrome
An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...
s, air traffic management and air navigation services.
#The 'action plan for airport capacity, efficiency and safety' is to be implemented thus providing ground capacity.
The SES-II aimed to merge 36 national airspaces into 9
Functional Airspace Block
Functional airspace block (FAB) is defined in the SES-2 legislative package, as follows:
A FAB means an airspace block based on operational requirements and established regardless of State boundaries, where the provision of air navigation servi ...
(FABs) in order to provide better performance,
ultimately 3 years later on 4 December 2012.
The
air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption
In response to concerns that volcanic ash ejected during the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland would damage aircraft engines, the controlled airspace of many European countries was closed to instrument flight rules traffic, resulti ...
caused an acceleration to merge member states' air traffic control systems into the Single European Sky, and the immediate creation of a crisis co-ordination group to handle future transport disruptions.
On 2 December 2010, France, Germany, Switzerland and the Benelux countries agreed to form the FABEC (Functional Airspace Block Europe Central), the third FAB to be created after the Dano-Swedish and Anglo-Irish block. The FABs were supposed to enter into effect by 2012, but delays were expected due to protests from ATC labour unions. The FAB CE, consisting of Austria, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, was formed in 2011. By 26 October 2012, only the Anglo-Irish and Dano-Swedish FABs had been fully implemented, while the other 7 FABs were still in various stages of development; the deadline for the full realisation of the Single European Sky on 4 December 2012 was missed.
SES 2+ (2013–2018)
On 10 June 2013, the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
presented its plan "B" to speed up the implementation process of SES. The so-called SES 2+ is a package of measure which aim at challenging the current situation with state owned monopolies responsible for providing air navigation services. At the same time, transport workers' union ETF announced mobilising its members to protest against the suggested package. Negotiations on SES 2+ stalled in the Council in 2015.
In 2017, the
European Court of Auditors
The European Court of Auditors (ECA; French: ''Cour des comptes européenne'') is one of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg in order to improve EU financial management. It has 27 members ( ...
determined that the functional airspace blocks have failed to defragment European airspace as they have not been fully implemented, with aircraft still being serviced by a different air navigation provider in each member state with different rules and requirements. This was due to a "lack of commitment on the part of the member states".
Amended SES 2+ (2019–present)
By 2019, nothing of the plan had yet been officially realised, adding an extra 6 billion euros in costs, and 11.6 million megatonnes of excess emissions for that year alone.
In September 2019, 21 aviation organisations including Airlines for Europe (A4E), AIRE, ACI Europe, CANSO, ERA and IATA, signed an agreement in Brussels to urge the creation of an SES, and to work together with EU institutions and member states to achieve it. The Commission appointed 15 experts in the field to form a Wise Person's Group to assess the current situation and future needs.
After Brexit was formally completed on 31 January 2020 (eliminating UK objections and the Gibraltar issue), and the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
put the
aviation sector into an existential crisis, the European Commission made a new proposal for a Single European Sky on 22 September 2020.
It used the expert group's recommendations to amend the 2013 proposal's text, and introduced new measures; separately, it also drafted a proposal to amend the
EASA
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitori ...
Basic Regulation. Instead of relying on top-down regulation, which appeared not to have worked previously, the Commission stimulated voluntary alliances between so-called air traffic service providers.
Airlines for Europe
Airlines for Europe (A4E) is the largest EU airline association, representing 70% of European air traffic.
History
A4E was founded in January 2016 by Europe's five largest carriers: Air France–KLM, Air France–KLM Group, easyJet, Internation ...
supported the proposal, but stressed the importance of 'enhanced governance structure' to ensure its success.
Meanwhile, the FABEC and FAB CE zones, jointly accounting for 8.6 million flights (over 75% of all European air traffic) in 2019, agreed to formalise and intensify their cooperation in June 2020.
Timeline
* Late 1999: European Commission appoints expert group to study the creation of a single European sky.
* November 2000: expert group publishes report with recommendations.
* 11 December 2003: SES-I (Regulation (EC) No 550/2004 alias Service Provision Regulation) adopted.
* 20 April 2004: SES-I in force.
* 21 October 2009: SES-II regulation adopted.
* 4 December 2009: SES-II regulation in force.
* June 2013: SES 2+ proposed.
* September 2020: Amended SES 2+ proposed.
See also
*
Air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption
In response to concerns that volcanic ash ejected during the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland would damage aircraft engines, the controlled airspace of many European countries was closed to instrument flight rules traffic, resulti ...
*
European Common Aviation Area
The European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) is a single market in aviation services.
ECAA agreements were signed on 5 May 2006 in Salzburg, Austria between the EU and some external countries. It built upon the EU's ''acquis communautaire'' and ...
*
Eurocontrol
The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, commonly known as Eurocontrol (stylised ''EUROCONTROL''), is an international organisation working to achieve safe and seamless air traffic management across Europe. Founded in 1960, Eur ...
*
European Neighbourhood Policy
The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is a foreign relations instrument of the European Union (EU) which seeks to tie those countries to the east and south of the European territory of the EU to the Union. These countries, primarily developing ...
*
Kerosene tax
The kerosene tax (German: ''Kerosinsteuer'', French: ''taxe kérosène''; Dutch: ''kerosinetaks'') is an ecotax on the kerosene-based jet fuel in commercial aviation, which can be levied within and by the European Union. The legal basis for it ...
*
Short-haul flight ban
A short-haul flight ban is a prohibition imposed by governments on airlines to establish and maintain a flight connection over a certain distance, or by organisations or companies on their employees for business travel using existing flight con ...
*
Single European Sky ATM Research
Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) is a collaborative project to completely overhaul European airspace and its air traffic management (ATM). The actual program is managed by the SESAR Joint Undertaking as a public–private partnership (PPP ...
(SESAR)
*
South-East Europe Regional Energy Market
The Energy Community, commonly referred to as the Energy Community of South East Europe (ECSEE), is an international organization consisting of the European Union (EU) and a number of non-EU countries. It aims to extend the EU internal energy ...
*
Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe The Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe was an institution aimed at strengthening peace, democracy, human rights and economy in the countries of South Eastern Europe from 1999 to 2008. It was replaced by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) i ...
References
Further reading
Single European Sky (SES)The European ATM Master plan
External links
Single European Sky – European Commission websiteSingle European Sky – EUROCONTROL website Single European Sky – Performance Scheme Indicator meta-data
Airports Council International EUROPE websiteConstruction of the Single European SkyImplementing Rules for the Single European Sky{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721184042/http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Implementing_Rules , date=21 July 2011
Multilateral Agreement on the establishment of a European Common Aviation AreaThe Commission launches Single European Sky II for safer, greener and more punctual flyingClean Sky
Transport and the European Union
Air traffic control in Europe
Aviation authorities
Climate change in the European Union