Preparing together for busy summer traffic 2024: EUROCONTROL and European aviation executives meet in Brussels

Executives from key European airlines, airports, air navigation service providers and ground handlers met with EUROCONTROL on how to prepare for the high traffic expected this summer - 7% more than last year. To manage such a significant traffic increase, combined with reduced airspace, tripled military flights and rerouted flights due to the continuing war in Ukraine, it is absolutely essential that all operational stakeholders work in full partnership. Without close cooperation among all operational stakeholders, as encouraged through EUROCONTROL's All Together Now campaign, the aviation summer could be very challenging.

"This summer we are looking at up to 37,000 flights on peak days while our airspace capacity remains limited. We all need to partner for the aviation network. None of us can work in isolation, this is the reason why our "All Together Now" campaign is so important. For air traffic to flow smoothly across the Network, we need all operational staff to "think Network, not just local"."

For some parts of the air traffic network, e.g. along the south-east axis, EUROCONTROL expects levels of traffic that will even be up to 20% above summer 2019. Iacopo stressed that any operational actor in aviation can become a potential point of failure with a snowball effect on others, significantly disrupting the aviation network.

To support the aviation sector some key airlines, airports and air navigation services provider stakeholders (together with the EUROCONTROL Network Manager) already last year identified a number of priorities in order to maximise available capacity and keep delays to a minimum:

• Prioritise first rotation to allow for on time departure
• Disciplined flight plan execution to ensure predictability
• Deliver agreed capacities
• Realistic schedules, including turnaround times

This year the EUROCONTROL Network Manager will also reinforce its adverse weather management through advanced collaboration with meteorological services and sharing weather data with ops actors to anticipate better forecasted adverse weather conditions.