Press Release – CANSO publishes Vision to transform European air traffic management by 2035

Brussels, Belgium – 12 February 2026 –The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) Europe has just published its new 2035 Vision, which sets out how its members, the 36 European air navigation services providers (ANSPs), will transform the services they provide to their customers.

The Vision, originally launched in 2019, has been updated to address new air traffic management (ATM) challenges, such as strong growth or sudden drops in air traffic, climate change, emerging airspace users and evolving risks such as geopolitical tensions and cyber-threats, also by promoting a shift to new ways of working. The Vision was presented by CANSO Europe CEO Committee Chair Arndt Schoenemann to the Director General of the European Commission’s DG MOVE (Directorate-General for Mobility & Transport), Magda Kopczyńska, during a meeting to address the main challenges of the sector.

CANSO Europe’s members will drive the necessary change through measures such as:

• use of new technologies to enable digitalisation and automation, as developed and deployed through the EU’s Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) project;
• transition to a new data-driven, cloud-based service delivery model, whereby interoperable ATM infrastructure may be shared between ANSPs;
• modernised training and licensing of air traffic control officers (ATCOs), enhanced by automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning;
• integration of emerging airspace users, such as drones, advanced air mobility aircraft and high-altitude operations;
• a stronger European-wide network approach;
• strengthened collaboration with other aviation stakeholders including the military.

Throughout this whole process, safety will remain the number one priority.

Arndt Schoenemann, CEO of DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH and Chair of the CANSO Europe CEO Committee, stated: “With European airspace becoming busier and more complex, the transformation of ATM over the next decade is essential to provide more capacity and meet the needs of resilience, defence readiness and new airspace users. We look forward to discussing implementation of our Vision with EU policymakers and other stakeholders.”

Mario Kunovec-Varga, CEO of Croatia Control and Vice-Chair of the CANSO Europe CEO Committee, said: “The CANSO 2035 Vision is our roadmap towards European airspace of the future. It is a forward-thinking blueprint to change how our industry serves its customers. We commit to working with the European aviation community to achieve this goal.”