For airlines struggling to reconcile their stated aims of cutting carbon emissions and making billions from flying ever more passengers, one target has emerged repeatedly for their projected frustration: the air traffic control services that manage Europe’s skies.
Irritation through years of strikes in Europe that upended peak season schedules turned to rage this time last year when a glitch in the UK’s National Air Traffic Services (Nats) system grounded planes, leaving airlines to pick up the tab for the disruption. Another festering sore for airlines is the supposed inefficiency of a system that runs European airspace based on the borders far below.
