Eurocontrol and ACI Europe Partner for Efficiency and Sustainability in Aviation

Photo source: ACI Europe

The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, known as Eurocontrol, has partnered with ACI Europe, the trade association bringing together all of Europe’s airports, to boost commitment to work towards a successful and sustainable future for European aviation.

A joint Memorandum of Understanding was recently signed by Eurocontrol Director General Eamonn Brennan and ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec to enhance the cooperation between the two organisations.

“Eurocontrol is focused on supporting European aviation and is working closely with airports to deliver enhanced operational efficiency and sustainable solutions as we recover from the pandemic,” Brennan said.

From left to right: AENA Managing Director and ACI EUROPE President Javier Marin, ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec and Eurocontrol Director General Eamonn Brennan. Photo © ACI EUROPE/EUROCONTROL

The memorandum, which replaces an existing agreement dating from 2008, builds a framework of co-operation around 2 pillars:

– Efficient air transport through increased integration between operations at and around airport platforms and Air Traffic Management, moving to collaborative decision making.

According to the two organizations, this is essential to have operations on time and make better use of existing capacity and unlock latent capacity – both on the ground and in the air. Such integration will ultimately result in a one-on-one information exchange between the Network Operation Plan (NOP) and Airport Operation Plan (AOP).

– Sustainable air transport, through the continued development and outreach of Airport Carbon Accreditation, the global standard for carbon management and reduction at airports, as well as the continued rollout of Eurocontrol’s Collaborative Environmental Management (CEM), which provides process guidance through which airports are able to reduce their environmental impact in close cooperation with their operational stakeholders.

“For Europe’s airports, recovering from COVID-19 and the imperative to ‘Build Back Better’ means chasing every opportunity to increase their operational efficiency and reduce their environmental footprint,” said ACI Europe’s Olivier Jankovec.

Photo source: ACI Europe

“Over the past years, Eurocontrol has come to play an increasingly important role in supporting not just airports but the whole aviation eco-system in that direction,” Jankovec added.

ACI Europe is the European region of Airports Council International (ACI), the only worldwide professional association of airport operators, and represents over 500 airports in 55 countries.

Eurocontrol is an intergovernmental organisation representing 41 Member States and 2 Comprehensive Agreement States.