EUROCONTROL reports 'busiest summer on record' in 2019 with 3.2m flights

EUROCONTROL reported (05-Sep-2019) flights handled in its network increased 0.9% year-on-year to 3.2 million for summer 2019 (June through August). The network handled an average of nearly 35,000 flights per day, with peaks of more than 37,000, making the period "the busiest summer on record". EUROCONTROL and the CANSO stated innovation and partnership in the ATM industry have helped enable the "unprecedented" air traffic and improve environmental performance. The organisations highlighted better cooperation between ANSPs to redistribute traffic, a Europe-wide rather than national approaches to managing traffic and gaining access to airspace normally reserved for military use as measures that helped optimise airspace capacity, minimise disruptions and improve environmental performance. EUROCONTROL director general Eamonn Brennan noted network delays have improved by 10% in 2019, but added: "We still have much work to do to return to the performance levels of 2017". [more - original PR]