Airspace Q4 2018: Free routes above 9000 meters

From 24 May 2018, ENAV allows all the aircraft that cross national skies to plan a direct route from an entry point to an exit point of the Italian airspace without referring to the routes network even below 11,000 meters up to 9,000 meters.

This innovative procedure – called Free Route – allows airlines to fly the best route without restrictions as regards trajectory, with consequent benefits in terms of flight efficiency, fuel savings and hence lower harmful emissions into the environment.

Free Route is a procedure laid down in the EU Single European Sky regulations which all European countries must comply with by 2022. With implementation 4 years ahead of time, ENAV is the first among the five major European service provider to implement this procedure in December 2016, initially setting the relevant altitude at above 11,000 meters.

From January to August thanks to Free Route procedure over 9,000 meters, the airlines have saved 28.5 million kg of fuel and CO2 emissions were reduced by 94 million kg.

With Free Route available in 2017 to aircraft flying at over 11,000 meters, airlines that crossed Italian airspace saved 30 million kg of fuel and CO2 emissions were reduced by 95 million kg. It should be noted that ENAV handled more than 1.8 million aircraft movements in 2017 and 30% of these were overflights i.e. those that do not land at or take off from Italian airports