AndrzejJeziorski/MUNICH
The Association of European Airlines (AEA) is calling for a fresh drive towards a single integrated European air- traffic-control (ATC) system, in response to rising traffic and record delays in Europe in recent months.
Worsening punctuality figures on European routes show a "severe problem", with 24% of all intra-European departures in June delayed by over 15min - the second-worst monthly result in six years. Figures for the year to date show 18.8% of flights held up by more than 15min, and the AEA fears that the trend is returning towards the 23.8% average delay peak experienced in 1989.
The source of about two-thirds of the delays is related to airport infrastructure and ATC, according to the AEA.
AEA secretary-general Karl-Heinz Neumeister says that European transport ministers responded to the last delay crisis eight years ago by meeting to consider ATC improvements. He asks: "What has happened in the meantime? A huge amount of political discussion and a limited amount of action: hence the results."
The Association says that, while the continuing European ATC Harmonisation and Integration Programme (EATCHIP) "-harmonises European ATC as best it can, it's not enough".
Eurocontrol senior director Wolfgang Philipp has hit back, saying that it should be remembered that, over the past eight years, the organisation has introduced new airport and route strategies, a satellite strategy and a redesign of the European air-traffic-management (ATM) system, and it has become clear that "better institutional arrangements" are needed. European ATC has furthermore had to cope with a 50% rise in traffic during the period.
Senior Eurocontrol officials admit that the organisation is struggling to increase its efficiency in line with traffic growth.
Philipp says that a new "ATM 2000" strategy has been drafted, aiming to achieve uniform use of European airspace by 2005, followed by a uniform European management system by 2010. This goes beyond the EATCHIP in its goal of achieving true integration of European airspace, and will be discussed with the 35 Eurocontrol member states before being presented to the countries' transport ministers for approval in the second quarter of 1999.
Passenger traffic on AEA member airlines was up by 8.9% in July compared with the same month in 1996. The AEA says that this figure is "-a continuation of the very strong growth trend which has been a feature of the European air travel market throughout 1997".
On average, traffic growth on AEA airlines has hovered at about 6% recently. The average growth rate for the year to date is about 3-3.5% above this, says the AEA.
The highest growth in July, at over 11.9%, has been seen on Far Eastern and Australian routes, while intra-European services also experienced a double-digit increase. Atlantic growth was a little behind, at 6.5%.
The AEA says that the month's overall seat occupancy figure of 77.1% was the highest ever recorded, and 2.7% better than the 1996 figure. The 68.9% result for European services rose by 4.2% compared to the 1996 figure.
Source: Flight International
