The modernization of air traffic management in Europe, which thus far has been a protracted process, may benefit from a new impetus. The COVID-19 crisis highlighted the inadequacy of the business model used by European air navigation service providers. And it gave them time to think. Switzerland's air navigation service provider (ANSP) Skyguide sees the country as a laboratory for European air traffic management (ATM). A reorganization program and accompanying system change are well underway there. If the project succeeds, it will show other European countries that a fragmented airspace can be unified and that air traffic controllers can accept a major methodological change. The idea is to provide service independently from the controller's location, which may solve the vexing issue of human resources in ATM. The dual goal includes greater cost efficiency and aircraft route streamlining.
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