From 31 March 2016, flight paths in and out of Geneva airport will change. The changes are part of an effort to harmonise flight routes across Western Europe. The new paths are intended to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, improve safety, and coordination between air traffic controllers across FABEC (Functional Airspace Block) countries, which include France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The new routes, between Geneva and Brussels, were announced on 27 October 2015, and as with most change, there will be winners and losers.
FABEC’s South-East project will eliminate two flight path cross-over points and modify military training zones. It will also reduce flight distances. Flights paths in and out of Basel-Mulhouse airpost will also be affected. Overall direct flight routing will save 1.5 million flight kilometres or 5,000 tons of fuel annually according to FABEC. That represents an annual emission reduction of 15,000 tons of CO2.
The high-level flight path changes can be seen in the images below.
Below, the blue lines below show the new routes for Geneva airport. The red ones are to be deleted. The new blue route on the right passes not far from Lausanne after travelling up the middle of the lake before veering right at a point close to Etoy and Saint-Prex. Green routes are existing routes that will be kept.
These images show the height profiles of the new routes.
Click here to watch a video explaining FABEC and the South-East project.
More on this:
FABEC South-East project (in English)
FABEC project Space South-East, Geneva airport (in French)
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