Commission aims to reform airport timeslots in bid to ease congestion

Member states ‘failing' on single sky targets

Siim Kallas, the European commissioner for transport, will tomorrow (25 November) warn that national governments are dragging their feet on implementing the 2009 Single European Sky legislation. 

After reviewing performance plans submitted by member states in September, the Commission has concluded that the plans submitted by 22 member states are inadequate to meet the targets.

The European Airspace User Associations, a coalition of industry groups, said the lack of ambition from EU member states was unacceptable. “Instead of working together, countries are limiting their ambitions to their own borders and undermining everything Single European Sky is seeking to achieve,” it said.

Member states agreed to accelerate their efforts in setting up the blocs and improving airspace efficiency following the 2010 volcanic-ash crisis, which caused chaos in the skies over Europe. The legislation contains an EU-wide target for a 2.4% increase in cost efficiency by 2014 to deliver savings estimated at €250 million . Another target calls for delay per flight to be reduced to an average of 30 seconds by 2014, expected to deliver €920m in savings between 2012 and 2014. But neither would be achieved under most of the member states' plans.

Only Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, Poland and the Netherlands have produced plans that would enable them to meet the cost-efficiency target, the Commission says. All but ten member states would miss the punctuality target. The exceptions are Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK.

Member states have two months to submit revised performance plans to the Commission.