Almost 20 years after establishment of the single European aviation market, new legislation to be adopted by June will lead to lower environmental impact, simplified airspace, reduced air fares, and faster journeys, according to the European Commission (EC). The regulatory package, which constitutes a strengthening of earlier Single European Sky (SES) legislation, was approved by the European Parliament (EP) last week.

The package aims to increase European airspace efficiency through improved co-ordination and oversight as a result of common regulation, introduction of performance targets and new technology, and an extension of European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) responsibilities.

Environmental consideration is at the heart of SES II, which is expected to reduce aviation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by as much as 10% – equivalent to 16 million tons of CO2 a year and a €4.4 billion cost saving through reduced inefficiencies, according to the EC. It says that SES II is required to avoid a "looming crisis in the air," as traffic growth exceeds that in capacity and aviation emissions provide the highest environmental impact of any transport sectors. European air traffic is predicted to double by 2020.

SES legislation was initiated in 2000 and took effect four years later. Meanwhile, the market has grown to include 37 countries from Iceland to North Africa and the EU has expanded to 27 Member States (each with its own sovereign airspace). Such pockets of airspace, which often can be crossed in just a few minutes' flight, are served by individual air-navigation service providers (ANSPs) with their own regulations and requirements, very often lead to indirect aircraft routeing that increases distance (and therefore emissions and costs).

Routes also have to avoid military airspace in the core area of European operations, meaning that carriers cannot navigate "as the crow flies." As international flights traverse successive air-traffic management (ATM) zones, passing from one ANSP to another, current arrangements create delays, increase fuel consumption, and compromise safety. According to EC statistics, routes are on average over 30 miles "too long." Officials estimate that a reduction of less than two miles would "cancel the effect of [annual] traffic growth."

In one example, the EC considers the increased efficiency that could accrue from an improved routing o aircraft flying between Zurich and Athens. Taking account of service frequency between the two points, it estimates that optimal routeing could save some 1,350 miles and 168 minutes of flight, 14,550lb of fuel, and 45,800lb of CO2 every day.

The initial 2004 "SES I" legislation included plans to consolidate adjacent national "skies" into fewer but larger functional airspace blocks ( FABs) that would overcome national frontiers and rationalise ATM. FABs were expected to permit establishment of a network of direct routes, boosting efficiency by reducing the number of ANSPs.

Despite nine European FABs having been designed, generally slow progress eventually prompted the EC to propose SES II in June 2008. The new regulation requires FABs to be established by June 2012. As initially proposed by the EC, SES II has been enhanced by the EP, which introduced the appointment of an FAB system coordinator to facilitate agreements between member States, accelerate SES unification, and clarify the concept of common projects (including the designation of funding sources).

Established by a 2002 regulation, the role of EASA was limited initially to assurance of aircraft airworthiness and environmental compatibility. Subsequently, its mandate has grown to EASA the main agent of EU aviation safety strategy, charged with for preparation of related regulation and its implementation by Member States.

Under the SES II package, EASA's responsibilities now are increased to ensure that airport safety, air-traffic, and air-navigation regulation is precise, uniform, and binding. The agency is to set up harmonised ATM systems (on which the EC recently adopted common rules) and ANS services to maintain safety as European traffic increases sharply and air routes multiply.

A major element of SES II enhances the 2004 legislation by introducing binding ANSP performance targets, European ATM functions to combine national networks, and a deadline for enhanced cooperation between States and integration ANSPs into the planned FABs. Another part of the package focuses on introduction of new technology through the SES ATM research (SESAR) program.

Finally, an airport-capacity initiative addresses the shortage of runways and terminal facilities through co-ordination of airport "slots" with ATM provisions and establishment of an "observatory" to integrate airports in the aviation network. According to the EC, there also is a shortage of airspace capacity: "some [areas], especially in eastern and south-eastern Europe and northern Spain require a capacity increase of more than 40% during 2007-12."

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