FABEC CEO Board draws up environmental agenda

The Functional Airspace Block Europe Central (FABEC) CEO Board incoming chairman John Santurbano is overseeing a shift in focus from pandemic recovery to sustainable traffic growth in European airspace. The Director of MUAC takes over from Alex Bristol, CEO of Skyguide, in the annual change of leadership. The new work programme features wider implementation of free route airspace, a reduced environmental footprint, adherence to Europe’s digitisation agenda, and constructive engagement by FABEC Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) in preparing the next performance review period (RP4) in support of the Single European Sky (SES).

In addition, FABEC CEOs decided to re-allocate the CEO Champion roles 2022:

• Environment > John Santurbano, Director MUAC
• Finance and Performance > Arndt Schoenemann, CEO DFS
• Human Resources and Training > Michiel Van Dorst, CEO LVNL
• Institutional, Regulatory and Legal > Alex Bristol, CEO Skyguide
• Operations > Johan Decuyper, CEO Skeyes
• Safety > Claudio Clori, CEO ANA Luxemburg
• SESAR / Technical Systems > Florian Guillermet, CEO DSNA

John Santurbano said: “FABEC’s common approach to managing uncertain traffic recovery and environmental objectives will be key to meeting revised performance targets. We anticipate several quick wins through further alignment between activities carried out by the FABEC Environment and Operations standing committees. A joint workshop, to be held later this year, will be instrumental in supporting this process.” Contributing to the continued dialogue on SES 2+, FABEC is co-hosting a joint workshop with DANUBE FAB addressing SES and Resilience in European ATM in September 2022.

Alex Bristol said: “FABEC ANSPs introduced major environmental benefits over the past 18 months, removing hundreds of route restrictions and optimising flight paths. The FABEC Environmental Day brought stakeholders together in person in July 2021 to address objectives of the Commission’s Green Deal and agree on greater industry collaboration for more sustainable operations. FABEC is ready to build on these achievements and is already finding ways to improve performance as a result of exchange and wider stakeholder engagement.”

John Santurbano joined EUROCONTROL as Director MUAC in 2017, previously serving as Director of Luxembourg’s Administration de la Navigation Aérienne (ANA). John Santurbano has been the Champion CEO of the FABEC Environment Standing Committee since March 2020.

Alex Bristol joined the Skyguide Executive Board in 2011 after previously serving as NATS’ Director Strategy & Investment and General Manager, Swanwick. He has led Skyguide since 2017.