High up in the clouds, out of sight for the majority of those on the ground, there is a complex world of air traffic which few people, other than pilots, scientists and air traffic controllers, understand. Fortunately for the masses, SESAR, the body responsible for the Single European Sky and general air traffic management research and implementation in Europe, has produced a comprehensive explanatory web page to make it easier to understand what SESAR has been doing, and what this means for flight efficiency leading to reduced carbon emissions.
Air Traffic Management modernisation is very much at the top of the aviation industry’s list of things to do, purely because it can reduce carbon emissions so significantly, and when the best practices are fully implemented, easily. Industry leaders such as Boeing, CANSO, and Airbus, have all recently declared greater focus on improving Air Traffic Management.
In the form of a call to industry at the 6th Aviation and Environment Summit, Boeing and CANSO, the Civil Aviation Navigation Services Organisation, requested greater industry collaboration to reach the industry target of 95 to 98 percent efficiency in air traffic management by 2050. In addition to this, Airbus declared investment of 2 billion EUR into research and development, some of which is earmarked for the Single European Sky, which Airbus believes can cut emissions by 10%.
So while it’s not possible to see exactly what is going on up in the clouds, hopefully this will shed some light on the tremendous work the aviation industry has been doing to improve efficiency and cut carbon emissions.
