Covid-19: Eurocontrol Releases Network Recovery Plan to Help Airlines, Airports

Eurocontrol, a pan-European, civil-military organisation dedicated to support aviation in Europe, recently released a recovery plan aiming to put European aviation back in the air once more.

According to the organization, while over a million flights fewer have operated across the European network compared with 2019 since the Covid-19 pandemic hit Europe,”air traffic is now slowly starting to pick up”.

Οn April 30, Eurocontrol released its Network Operations Plan (NOP) 2020 Recovery Plan, which covers a rolling four-week period, aiming to help airlines, ANSPs (air navigation service providers) and airports to plan ahead.

The publication consolidates data from around 350 airlines, 68 area control centres (ACCs), 55 airports and 43 States into one unique plan that will be updated by the EUROCONTROL Network Manager (NM) on a weekly basis.

“After hitting rock bottom on 12 April 2020 with just 2,099 flights operated across the network, the network is starting to pick up, with a daily average of 3,734 flights in week 17 (20-26 April) – a positive development even if 27,180 fewer than the same period last year. The latest data for Wednesday 29 April show a total of 4,566 flights handled – again creeping upwards,” Eurocontrol said.

Photo source: Eurocontrol

Eurocontrol said the plan reflects a huge coordination effort by the NM and its partners to ensure capacity is available at ACCs and in the airspace they manage, and on the ground at airports, to meet the expected traffic demand from the airlines on each day of the next four weeks.

The plan will be issued every Friday, and reviewed by video conference every Monday by operational stakeholders in the Ad hoc Enlarged NDOP Recovery Cell, a body that brings Europe’s Network ANSPs, airports, airlines and military Directors of Operations together to enhance performance and tackle issues on a network basis.

“At a time of continued uncertainty, the NOP 2020 Recovery Plan is a vital coordination initiative that anticipates what needs to be done to get aviation flying again, providing aviation’s key actors with the global view they need in order to plan effectively,” Eurocontrol said.

To see Eurocontrol’s first edition of the Network Operations Plan 2020 Recovery Plan, press here.