A strategically important sector that makes a vital contribution to the EU's overall economy and employment, aviation supports close to 5 million jobs and contributes €300 billion, or 2.1% to European GDP.

Despite the current economic crisis, global air transport over the long term is expected to grow by around 5% annually until 2030. As traffic increases so do concerns about safety. The common EU aviation policy aims at making Europe the safest air space in the world.

In order to fully exploit the economic potential of the sector, the European Commission constantly works on several important aspects for our skies.

Aviation Strategy

In December 2015 the European Commission adopted an Aviation Strategy for Europe, a milestone initiative to boost Europe's economy, strengthen its industrial base and reinforce its global leadership position. A strong and outward-looking aviation sector will not only benefit businesses, but also European citizens by offering more connections to the rest of the world at lower prices.

Single Market

The aviation market was gradually liberalised through three successive packages of measures adopted at EU level which covered air carrier licensing, market access and fares. So, decades of restrictions that had limited air transport markets in Europe and prevented cross-border investment by European airlines have been removed.

External Aviation

The gradual development of a more coordinated EU external aviation policy over the past decade has been the logical consequence of the creation of the EU internal market and associated common rules. This has generated significant economic benefits. But the Commission has now come with fresh ideas to move forward.

Single European Sky

Something needs to be done about the heavy airspace congestion causing lengthy delays on many European flights, and the strain on airport capacity due to the projected increase in traffic. This is the aim of the ambitious initiative for a Single European Sky (SES), launched in 2004. A second package of measures, known as SES II, followed in 2009 and had a greater emphasis on environment and cost efficiency.  We are now looking at whether further measures are necessary.

SESAR

The technology required for the future Single Sky is provided through the air traffic management research programme SESAR, which aims to modernise infrastructure and raise efficiency by optimising capacity - and so enable the SES to become a reality.

Brexit

Consequences of Brexit