23 September 2022

NEW SYSTEM ASSESSES ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF AIR NAVIGATION SERVICES

According to the 2021 report by the independent Performance Review Body (PRB) for the Single European Sky (SES), Air Traffic Management (ATM) in nine EU Member States has improved, in environmental terms, while it has declined or remained stable in 10. For the first time, the report uses a traffic light system to indicate environmental performance.

The SES initiative is designed to improve the performance of air traffic management and air navigation services through better integration of European airspace. The Monitoring Report looks at whether targets were met in key SES performance areas: safety, cost-efficiency, capacity and environment. It concludes that despite lower traffic in 2021 compared to 2019’s pre-COVID levels, EU-wide environmental targets were not reached.

The report’s traffic light system captures the gate-to-gate performance of air traffic management, taking into account environmental inefficiencies during different stages of a flight. The system is based on performance indicators established in the performance and charging regulation. Nine Member States, including Ireland, Denmark, Finland and Sweden had improved their environmental performance (‘green light’). Nine Member States, including Austria, Hungary, Estonia and Latvia are in the ‘amber light’ zone. Performance in 10 Member States, including France, Cyprus, Lithuania and Poland, was found to be deteriorating or stable (‘red light’). Detailed information on the performance of individual Member States is presented in the Traffic Light System for Environmental Performance.

Source: European Commission