Ready as traffic starts to recover: EUROCONTROL NM publishes Network Recovery Plan

The first edition of the plan was published on 30 April, as European traffic began a slow recovery from its lowest point of just 2,099 flights across the network on 12 April 2020.

An updated version of the Plan is published every Friday, covering a rolling four-week period and consolidating data from 350 airlines, 68 area control centres (ACCs), 55 airports and 43 States. It is then reviewed every Monday by operational stakeholders in the Ad hoc Enlarged NDOP Recovery Cell, a body that brings Europe’s Network ANSPs, airports, airlines and military Directors of Operations together to enhance performance and tackle issues on a network basis, as inputs for the next edition.

Download the 8th edition of the Eurocontrol Network Manager's NOP 2020 Recovery plan here

The Plan plays a major role in helping European aviation to recover by providing aviation’s key actors with the global view they need to plan effectively.

NM coordinates with all partners to ensure capacity is available at ACCs and in the airspace they manage, and on the ground at airports, to meet the expected traffic demand from the airlines on each day of the next four weeks. In parallel, the NM factors in a variety of actions designed to maximise network efficiency and help the NM and its operational stakeholders meet their goal of close to zero ATFM delays across the network, as well as efficient and green trajectories. This includes working closely with State Focal Points to coordinate national requirements, already enabling more than 20% of airspace restrictions to be removed.

By partnering for recovery from the start, the NM aims to ensure a safe and smooth recovery phase for all operational stakeholders, enabling network actors to ramp up progressively activities as traffic returns.