ENAV: an innovative procedure. "Free Route" above 9,000 meters

As of  May 24, 2018, ENAV allows all the aircraft that cross the Italian airspace above 9,000 meters to plan a direct route from an entry point to an exit point without referring to the routes network.

This innovative procedure - called Free Route - allows airlines to fly the efficient route without restrictions on their trajectory, leading to benefits in terms of flight time, fuel savings and hence lower harmful emissions into the environment.

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

From January to August 2018 thanks to Free Route procedure above 9,000 meters, the airlines have saved 28.5 million kg of fuel and CO2 emissions were reduced by 94 million kg.

In the summer season of 2018 (June, July, August) the savings delivered thanks to the Free Route procedure are as follows:

about 4 million km flown less, 14.5 million kg of fuel saved with a positive impact on the environment with 46 million kg of lower CO2 emissions.

Thanks to the Free Route, in 2017, airlines that crossed Italian airspace above 11,000 meters 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.