Modernisation of European airspace could help the aviation industry eliminate 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, according to UK budget carrier EasyJet.
EasyJet bases its estimate on a study of its own operations carried out using artificial intelligence which monitored every one of its flights over a 12-month period.
Analysis of that data shows “airspace inefficiencies” across Europe caused a 10.6% increase in CO2 emissions, equivalent to more than 663,000t.
“If EasyJet were able to fly straight and at the right altitude, we would tomorrow burn more than 10% less fuel, for us that’s about 663,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions,” chief executive Johan Lundgren told an event at Cranfield University on 4 September.
“If you extrapolate that across the whole of European aviation it would be 18 million tonnes less CO2.”
EasyJet says a “significant proportion of this efficiency” occurs around terminal airspace, particularly during descent “largely due to outdated or poorly designed lower airspace”, it says.
While the problem is Europe-wide, the carrier says “the greatest inefficiencies” are in the UK – with seven of the 10 least efficient routes into London Gatwick airport, its main base in the country.
The southeast of England is a “a particular problem area due to high demand and capacity constraints,” it adds.
David Morgan, EasyJet chief operating officer, says airspace reform is the “quickest way” to reduce CO2 emissions.
“The advancement of flight navigation technology is such that we could be achieving huge emission savings almost right away.
“Unfortunately, the navigational corridors that we use today… have seen little development since the 1950s and are based around technologies that are frankly obsolete.”
Speaking at the same event, newly appointed UK aviation minister Mike Kane acknowledged that airspace modernisation “is long overdue”.
“We have an analogue system in a digital age – closer to the time that Yuri Gagarin flew into space than today.
“That’s going to change on my watch, and we can all enjoy quicker, quieter, cleaner flights that are better for our people and better for our planet.”
While Lundgren and Morgan praise commitments from Kane and the new UK government they note that ambition must translate into action.
In addition, a “single entity” needs to be established that will take on responsibility “for the timely delivery of this programme”, says Morgan.
Across Europe, EasyJet will collaborate with “individual states, air navigation service providers, and airports to identify ways to solve these inefficiencies”, he adds.
Immediate efficiency gains could be achieved through “quick wins”, including the implementation of free route airspace (FRA) in the UK and France “the last countries to implement [this] completely across their regions”.
FRA is a specified airspace within which users may freely plan a route between defined entry and exit points.
EasyJet is banking on a 1% improvement in air traffic management efficiency each year over the 2025-2035 period as part of its net-zero roadmap, a target which Morgan says “should be entirely achievable”.
However, he warns the “stakes are too high” to miss the opportunity for reform. “If there is one lever [in the roadmap] that I am most worried about, it’s the airspace modernisation.”
Changes proposed by EasyJet include giving Eurocontrol a bigger mandate, says Lundgren. “Eurocontrol is the authority that currently sits and regulates the flow, but they are not in control of how you actually fly.
“They need to [have] greater control because there are some member states that have said ‘we are not willing to give up the sovereignty around this’,” he says.
EasyJet says it is making good progress towards its goal of achieving net-zero by 2050, having last year cut carbon intensity – measured in grammes of CO2 emitted per passenger, per kilometre – by 5% over 2019 levels. An interim target will see it cut CO2 emissions by 35% by 2035.
While the use of sustainable aviation fuel and fleet modernisation will drive many of the savings, the carrier has also seen success from operational improvements: for example, a descent profile optimisation tool installed on 330 of its 347 aircraft have helped cut emissions by 1%.
