Air traffic in Europe is starting to recover
While more than one million fewer flights have operated in the European network compared to 2019 since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Europe, air traffic is now slowly beginning to increase.
After bottoming out on April 12, 2020 with only 2,099 flights operated through the network, traffic is starting to recover, with a daily average of 3,734 flights in week 17 (April 20-26), which is a positive development. The latest data from Wednesday 29 April show a total of 4,566 flights, once again on the rise.
As the recovery slowly begins, the publication of the NOP 2020 Recovery Plan on the Network Operations Portal, covering a four-week period, marks an important step in putting European aviation back on track. It consolidates data from around 350 airlines, 68 area control centres (ACCs), 55 airports and 43 states into a single plan that will be updated weekly by EUROCONTROL's network manager (NM).
The Plan reflects a major coordination effort by Network Management (NM) and its partners to ensure that capacity is available in the ACCs and the airspace they manage, and on the ground at airports, to meet the expected traffic demand of the airlines every day for the next four weeks. In parallel, NM is considering a variety of actions designed to maximise network efficiency and help NM and its operational stakeholders meet their goal of near zero ATFM delays across the network, as well as efficient and green trajectories. This includes working closely with state focal points to coordinate national requirements, which already allows for the removal of more than 20% of airspace restrictions.
At a time of continued uncertainty, the NOP 2020 Recovery Plan is a vital coordination initiative that anticipates what needs to be done to get aviation flying again, providing key aviation stakeholders with the global vision they need to plan effectively.
The Plan will be issued every Friday and reviewed by videoconference every Monday by operational stakeholders in the expanded 'ad hoc' NDOP recovery cell, a body that brings together the European network's ANSPs, airports, airlines and military operations managers to improve performance and address issues in a network.
By partnering for early recovery, the NM aims to ensure a safe and smooth recovery phase for all operational stakeholders, allowing network actors to progressively increase activities as traffic returns.