The EU has a large program underway called Sesar that’s designed to ensure planes can keep flying over Europe in the years ahead.

There are a number of problems. There’s no single air traffic control in Europe and so lots of systems have to talk to one another.

The system was designed in the 50s; that’s when we watched black and white TV and listened to records. In fact, pilots still use 1950s style communication devices to radio back to control towers – technology miles behind the smartphones we’re supposed to turn off when we fly in case they jam some of this ancient tech.

Importantly, there’s also the pollution problem which will get much worse as more planes take to the air. Despite the economic crunch, the EU is predicting a +5% growth of flight numbers each year right up until 2030.

The Sesar project is designed to get pollution down while also getting costs down and technology up. This video explains things in a far more eloquent way and is ideal if you’re doing a school project on aircraft, aviation, commercial flights or related subjects.

In Pure Spirit

Do you think the EU regulators have everything in hand? Is this a sensible project to be engaged in? Should we be building better airports and planes to allow for business growth and reducing pollution levels with each flight… or should we be taking steps to scale back on flying in the first place?