Reform Europe’s airspace to cut emissions, say Swiss flight experts

European aircraft don't always fly in a direct line. © Keystone / Christian Beutler

Convoluted European flight paths generate some 10% more CO2 emissions than if they were direct, Swiss flight experts have told Le Matin Dimanche.

“People sometimes think that pilots can fly the way they want above our heads, but that is absolutely not the case,” head of Geneva airport control tower Pascal Hochstrasser told the newspaper. “The European sky is extremely dense and teeming with restricted flight zones, such as those reserved for military aircraft.”

Our planes clearly do not always fly in a direct line, writes the paper. It cites flights from Geneva to various European capitals in the last ten days where the distance flown was between 6% and 47% more than if they had taken a direct flight path.

This is a big problem, notes Le Matin Dimanche, especially as the number of commercial flights in 2023 is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels and increase 44% by 2050.

“In the United States, airspace has been rationalised, you can fly in a straight line from New York to Los Angeles,” says Jean-Marc Thévenaz, head of EasyJet in Switzerland. “But in Europe, the routes are so complex that we estimate longer distances mean 10% more fuel consumption.”

A European Union reform aimed at simplifying Europe’s skies was initiated in 1999, but it is making no headway, writes the paper.