How to Reduce Aircraft Emissions by 12% at a stroke

11.29.52am GMT Sat 15th Mar 2008

At a briefing for MEPs given by the European Air Safety Agency (EASA) we are told that they "could reduce aircraft emissions by 12% at a stroke". Challenged to explain how, the EASA answer is to "create a single European air space". At present, aircraft weave their way across Europe, being subject to instructions from each separate country's air traffic controllers. The result is a zig-zag flight-path across European skies. If air traffic controllers controlled a single European air-space - as there is for the USA - aircraft could come in to land on a straight line and thus save lots of fuel. Why doesn't this happen ? Because each national government in Europe wants to keep control in its own hands, rather than seeing the overall beneficial European picture. - From Bill Newton Dunn MEP