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Mobility and Transport

The Network Manager

The Network Manager of the Single European Sky is the key actor for the operational and technological network performance in the areas of capacity and flight efficiency, bringing tangible daily performance benefits to the EU’s aviation network and neighbouring States.

Eurocontrol was appointed as the Network Manager for the period 1 January 2020-31 December 2029 by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/709.

The Network Manager is a key actor for the operational and technological network performance in the areas of capacity and flight efficiency. As such, the Network Manager is bringing tangible daily performance benefits to the EU’s aviation network and neighbouring States.

Thanks to constant interaction with operational stakeholders, the Network Manager responds to numerous expected and unexpected challenges. With regard to expected challenges, its direct contribution to capacity and delay savings is to reduce en-route delays.

Coordination at network level can limit the consequences of unexpected events such as strikes or bad weather, which significantly impact flight efficiency as aircraft must be rerouted to avoid the affected area. Such coordination also reduces the consequences of major disruptions in the European network resulting especially from the crises.

The Network Manager is also responsible for the European Aviation Crisis Co-ordination Cell (EACCC), which is activated jointly with the Commission in case of a network crisis such as a volcanic ash eruption or a pandemic like COVID-19. During the COVID-19 crisis, EACCC has been playing a crucial role on issues such as contingency and recovery. It is composed of representatives of, the European Commission and NM/EUROCONTROL (co-chairs), the EU Member State holding the Presidency of the European Council, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the military, the air navigation service providers, airports, and airspace users.

Overall, the Network Manager allows the ATM network to perform better than planned and the activities of the Network Manager are summarised in annual reports. The strategic orientation of the Network manager is defined in the Network Strategy plan. This plan is implemented at operational level by the Network Operations Plan.

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