With the rising pressure on the aviation industry to reduce emissions, the EPP Group calls for more efficiency, clarity and flexibility in the organisation of European airspace.

Today, the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee will adopt its position on the planned reform of the Single European Sky and reject the plan of EU Member States to water down the reform.

“The current airspace architecture is built according to national borders. This causes longer flights, more delays, higher emissions and extra costs for passengers, meaning nationalism is causing more pollution. With a truly Single European Sky and unified European air management, we would create a new airspace architecture based on efficiency and not on borders. Unfortunately, the position adopted recently by the Council is nationalistic. Therefore we urge Member States to fly high so we can finally address the problem of costs, fragmentation and emissions”, said Marian-Jean Marinescu MEP, Parliament's negotiator of the reform of the Single European Sky.

Parliament will vote today for a more European approach to air traffic management to make it safe, and cost and flight efficient. This includes the creation of an independent Performance Review Body under the administrative umbrella of the EU’s Aviation Safety Agency. MEPs also underline that the Single European Sky should contribute up to 10% of CO2 emissions savings as part of the EU's climate neutrality goal.

“We want the air traffic management reform to help the aviation sector operate in a more effective way. More sustainable flightpaths are good for carriers, passengers and for the environment”, added Marinescu.

After today's vote, Parliament and EU Member States will enter into negotiations to find common ground.Photo by Astro_Alex, Wikimedia commons.