Chaos in airspace: Frankfurt fights against delays and bottlenecks!

Chaos in airspace: Frankfurt fights against delays and bottlenecks!

In recent years, numerous challenges have arisen in European airspace, which have a lot of strain on the airlines but also air traffic control. The current security situation, influenced by the Ukraine secretary, forces airlines to fly detours, especially due to the suspended Russian airspace. This situation is further complicated by an increasing number of NATO maneuvers, which leads to bottlenecks in the already tense European airspace, as Exxpress.at.

A central problem remains the acute lack of personnel in air traffic control. Training as a pilot takes about three years, which only makes it possible to close the existing gaps. At the same time, airports like Frankfurt suffer from overloaded air rooms, which leads to frequent delays. Despite the good preparation for the travel season, Fraport expects a capacity plus of five percent for 2025. However, this remains below the level before corona pandemic, since it is predicted that Frankfurt will only reach 90 percent of the pre-crisis level.

The fragmentation of the airspace

Another decisive problem is the national fragmentation of air traffic control in Europe. Each country pursues its own systems and IT structures, which makes it significantly more difficult to harmonize air traffic management and surveillance. The initiative "Single European Sky" (SES), which was launched by the European Union in 2004, had the goal of creating a uniform structure to cope with these challenges, such as ebaa.org.

The concept includes both commercial air traffic and business aviation. The main goals include the harmonization of regulations, procedures and technologies to improve efficiency, security and environmental compatibility in air traffic. A central measure is the creation of functional airspace blocks (FABs), which are to be created across national borders to reduce fragmentation.

slow progress and persistent challenges

Despite the goals set up, progress in the implementation of SES is slower than expected, and some areas are stagnating. National interests often have priority, which means that countries do not willingly submit control over their airspace. A complex governance structure with many participants also complicates the decision-making processes. These challenges mean that the SES cannot be fully integrated, which hinder not only efficiency, but also decarbonization and minimizing flight delays.

The European Commission has already formulated proposals to revise air traffic management systems in order to tackle these difficulties. The support from EuroControl, which acts as a network manager, is crucial to increase the performance of the air traffic network, which [Europarl.europa.eu] (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factshets/de/Sheet/133/luftverkehr- Unitliche-Europaischer-lufraum) confirms.

Overall, the creation of a uniform European airspace requires both innovative approaches and increased cooperation between the various actors in order to finally achieve the desired goals of the SES. The continuing challenges illustrate the urgency of this necessary reforms in order to make European airspace efficiently and secure.