A vision to improve European airspace management

As the new CANSO Director Europe Affairs, I have the honour of introducing myself to you. Having now completed my first month with CANSO Europe, I am pleased to have gained a real insight into the region, and the ambitions and objectives of the Europe region Members.

CANSO Europe is the voice of the ATM industry in the region, working alongside aviation industry partners and European institutions to represent the interests of ANSPs and steer the development and implementation of European ATM legislation. ATM in Europe is complex and challenging, so the work that CANSO does to raise the profile of ATM, influence regulation and support best practice in close collaboration with industry partners and stakeholders is important.

For example, CANSO recently held a productive meeting with European Commission Director-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE), Henrik Hololei. We agreed that only by working together will we succeed in improving efficiency, accommodating rising traffic demand and achieving a truly Single European Sky. This means continuing our dialogue and ramping up efforts to encourage States and European regulators to implement the necessary reforms.

This meeting was an initial step in delivering on my mandate to raise CANSO’s profile and voice in Europe. I joined CANSO with this specific objective and I intend to harness my 25-years of experience in driving policy and technical implementation for the air transport industry, in particular air traffic management, to fulfill this charge. But I can’t do this alone. I want to listen to CANSO Members and the ATM industry and learn from this experience. To that end, I will be visiting CANSO Europe Members to get to know these organisations better and ensure that my team and I are best equipped to respond to the region’s needs.

As for what I intend to accomplish within my first six months – apart from delivering on the agreed programme for 2018 – I also aim to develop a clear CANSO Europe vision, building on the outline framework already laid out by Members. 

With vision comes clarity, as we focus on the challenges ahead in Europe’s airspace. Finding a long-term solution will require greater cooperation between all relevant parties, including airlines, airports, air traffic control, regulators and government authorities. I will ensure that CANSO actively promotes dialogue and cooperation among stakeholders and that our efforts to achieve safer, more efficient ATM in Europe are recognised and sustained.

As always, if you would like to find out more about CANSO Europe, please get in touch, read the latest updates and follow us on Twitter.

Tanja Grobotek

CANSO Director Europe Affairs