The air traffic controller union Trade Union Eurocontrol Maastricht warns that there could be many flight cancellations in the summer of 2022, especially in Eastern Europe. The reason for this is said to be that many air traffic controllers have taken tough corona austerity measures and are therefore not sufficiently prepared for the sharp increase in demand.

"In the next few months, the traffic density in European airspace will not only reach the pre-corona level again, but will even exceed it significantly," emphasized TUEM President Stefan Pille. "Therefore, the air traffic control providers urgently need to get out of the Corona mode and install sufficient buffers again to handle these traffic volumes". In some cases, considerable fun measures are said to have already been implemented as a result of the pandemic.

According to traffic figures from Eurocontrol, which controls the airspace over the Benelux countries and north-west Germany from Maastricht, regular traffic there will already be back to the level before the outbreak of the corona pandemic in March 2020 in April. There are also two special effects: The war in Ukraine, with changed flight routes and a significant increase in military air traffic, has led to a significant increase in traffic density throughout Europe. On the other hand, due to a system changeover in the neighboring French sector, many alternative routes will have to be flown in the Maastricht Upper Area Control Center (MUAC) sector in 2022. "This is a massive increase in traffic compared to the height of the corona pandemic, which we have to deal with," said Pille.

The union sees it positively that individual national air traffic control agencies have meanwhile moved away from their austerity measures. But that is not supposed to be the case, especially in Eastern Europe. The employee representatives cite Poland in particular as a deterrent example, because there the fronts in a collective bargaining dispute have hardened. If there is no last-minute agreement, then it will be From May 1, 2022 there will be restrictions in air traffic. According to the union, these would also have an impact on the whole of Europe.

"European airspace is highly networked and the infrastructure is only as strong as its weakest link," emphasized Pille. “If a sector can no longer accept aircraft due to capacity, this leads to massive delays and flight cancellations in the entire system. The current situation clearly shows that air traffic control is a critical infrastructure that must not be based on short-term economic fluctuations.”