Aircraft can take a direct route across Italian airspace, and when they are on the ground they can taxi to their take-off runway without unnecessary delays thanks to our new procedures
FREE ROUTE
Free Route Airspace Italy (FRA-IT) is an innovative procedure which enables all aircraft flying at an altitude above 6,500 meters to cross the Italian skies using direct routes rather than navigating the network fixed ones that have been eliminated above that altitude.
In December 2016, ENAV became the first - among the five main European service providers - to implement the Free Route at 9,000 meters, in line with the European regulation of the Single European Sky, which made the implementation mandatory for all European states as of 1 January 2022.
From 2017 to 2023, the benefits achieved in terms of flight efficiency amount to 87 million Km saved, resulting in a lower consumption of 342,000 tons of fuel and over 1 million tons of lower CO2 emissions.
As set by the EU regulation, all Member States shall comply with the mandatory 6,500 m altitude by December 2025. ENAV met the deadline forward to 21 March 2024.
Lowering the altitude to 6,500 meters over all Italian airspace has also considerable positive impact on domestic and medium-haul flights.
By the end of year 2024, it is expected to save 90 million kilograms of fuel, resulting in around 285 million kilograms of reduced CO2 emissions.
A-CDM
Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) is a procedure used by Italian airports to transmit information on the status of all departing flights to the EUROCONTROL Network Management Operations Centre, (link) which dispatches them to other connected airports, optimising operating times.
With A-CDM all phases of a flight, from flight planning to ground operations, take-off, cruise and landing, are considered as a single process connecting the departing flight with the arriving one, optimising air traffic management and assistance operations, with the constant exchange of information between the actors involved, updated in real time. A-CDM is currently operational at all major Italian airports.
