Air Traffic Management

Access to airspace

Access to airspace is a key priority for business aviation, which often faces challenges in Europe’s fragmented system. Unlike many other types of aviation, business aviation operates across a wide range of airfields, altitudes, and routes, with aircraft capable of flying up to Mach 0.9. However, the way European airspace is currently managed is outdated and inefficient, resulting in longer flight times, increased fuel burn, and unnecessary emissions.

Single European Sky

The Single European Sky (SES) initiative seeks to reform the way Europe manages its skies by reducing fragmentation, making better use of scarce airspace resources, and optimising flight trajectories across national borders. EBAA calls for business aviation’s specific operational needs to be fully taken into account in the reform of European ATM. Technologies such as modern Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) systems are essential enablers of this transformation, both in the air and on the ground.

SESAR Programme

Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) is the modernisation programme supporting this transformation. It aims to deliver a new generation of ATM infrastructure that improves safety, efficiency, and sustainability. EBAA actively contributes to SESAR, ensuring that requirements remain affordable, workable, and inclusive of business aviation, while supporting the entire European network, from large hubs to small aerodromes.

Protecting Overflight Rights

Strikes within national air navigation service providers can significantly disrupt air traffic across Europe, often grounding flights in neighbouring countries that have no link to the dispute. Business aviation, with its highly flexible operations, is particularly affected when overflight rights are restricted. EBAA advocates for the protection of overflights during such disruptions, calling for European-level measures that safeguard connectivity, minimise delays, and prevent national disputes from paralysing cross-border operations.