Fabec: common airspace at the heart of Europe

[Boeing767copilot]

The six States of Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the Netherlands will sign today the treaty relating to the establishment of the Functional Airspace Block Europe Central FABEC to set up a common airspace at the heart of Europe and to organise air traffic management irrespective of national borders.

[jan_olieslagers]

And what will be the effect(s) at shorter and longer term?
At the longer term I reckon more countries will join, though I wonder up to where.
But what changes will pilots experience?

[earthman]

I don't think more countries will join, as other countries have joined into other blocks.

btw the name of this block is ridiculous, lots of confusion will arise with the FABCE (central europe) which is to the east of this block.

[sn26567]

Watch a video of the creation of FABEC: http://www.fabectreaty.tv/

[DeltaWiskey]

Can someone confirm this just for FL 195 and above?

[RoMax]

I don't think more countries will join, as other countries have joined into other blocks.

I think there are still some countries wich could join Fabec, but even when there are no other countries to join FABEC they can still combine the different blocks (like the GB/Ireland block, the scandinavian block) to form a single European sky. One single European sky is still the goal of the EU, especially the countries wich are now joining in FABEC are targeting a single European sky as their final goal.

[bxleu]

A short summary on this subject is available at
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/transport/newsl ... tml#ancre1

The full EC press release:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAct ... IP/10/1648

[sn26567]

EU MOVES FORWARD TOWARDS A SINGLE SKY
Performance targets are modest, say airlines, but pave the way for future efficiencies

The Council of EU Transport ministers, and the members of the EU Single Sky Committee took far-reaching decisions on 2nd and 3rd December which will impact progress towards a true Single Sky over Europe. In fact, six EU member states agreed on a legally binding treaty to deal with air traffic management over the air spaces of France, Germany, Switzerland and Benelux. The Association of European Airlines, AEA, which brings together 35 leading European network airlines, welcomed these developments as an “urgently required step in the right direction, but there are far more to go, particularly if situations as in Spain are to be avoided in future”.

“Re-drawing the map of the skies above the Single Market is an essential feature of the Single Sky”, Mr Schulte-Strathaus, Secretary General of the AEA. “These socalled Functional Blocks of Airspace, FABs, replace the current system of air space management along national borders by a „Schengen for the Skies‟. The agreement now signed on a central European FAB, FAB-EC, lies at the heart of Europe‟s airway system; it will be by far the busiest of the nine Functional Airspace Blocks which will replace the national systems”. He warned, however, that the real work lay ahead. “It is an inter-governmental agreement which creates the legal basis for FABEC, not a consensus on how it will work. The next step is for the air navigation service providers of the states involved to sit down together and get to work on the details. Key are the performance targets which must remedy the weaknesses of the current system and therefore be ambitious.”

In a parallel development, the first Single Sky performance targets have been agreed. For the three years 2012-14, the Europe-wide cost efficiency of the system must improve by 3.5% per year and targets also have been set for delay reduction and an increase in „flight efficiency‟ – in other words a reduction in the circuitous routings which waste fuel and contribute to environmental impact.

“These targets are not of themselves particularly challenging”, said Mr Schulte- Strathaus, “and the airlines believe that there are vastly greater savings to be unlocked by the Single Sky without underlining safety in any way. Nevertheless air navigation service providers will be subjected to budgetary discipline and to target achievements which will benefit customers and the environment.”

Commenting upon the work-to-rule of Spanish air traffic controllers, the AEA said that it was unacceptable the „best paid civil servants in the world‟ should be able to paralyse air transport. “The Spanish government has rightly insisted upon safety and reliability as key factors for air traffic control. But beyond taking immediate steps, such as the ones the government is contemplating, structural reforms are require – and urgently as we witnessed again, this time in the Spanish air space.”

As with the FAB-EC signature, the real work is still to come. “The next phase will be much tougher”, said the AEA Secretary General. “ the allocation of individual targets for individual governments to implement at national level with their respective air navigation service providers. We are relying on the European Commission to remain firm when it comes to one-on-one negotiations”.

European airlines, he said, were facing serious challenges to their global competitiveness, to which the present air traffic management system in Europe is probably the greatest barrier. The €9.6 billion annual cost of operating the system – borne by the airspace users – is thought to be double the figure required for a fullyfunctional Single Sky. “This is a truly Trans-European project, which will not be targeting air traffic controllers; they will become integral part of a globally competitive infrastructure service provider – to the benefit of employment and the environment”, said Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus.

AEA press release 6 December 2010