The Single European Sky (SES) is an ambitious initiative launched by the European Commission in 2004 to reform the architecture of European ATM. It proposes a legislative approach to meet future capacity and safety needs at a European rather than local level.

The key objectives of the SES are:

  • To restructure European airspace as a function of air traffic flows
  • To create additional capacity
  • To increase the overall efficiency of the air traffic management system.

 

In order to fulfil these objectives, the European Commission set the following High-Level Goals

  • Enable a 3-fold increase in capacity which will also reduce delays both on the ground and in the air
  • Improve safety by a factor of 10
  • Enable a 10% reduction in the effects flights have on the environment
  • Provide ATM services to the airspace users at a cost of at least 50% less