What this session covered
This session brought EUROCONTROL Network Management expertise together with ANSP and airspace-user leadership to set out an honest assessment of European ATM capacity and the levers available to improve it. Iacopo Prissinotti — Director of Network Management at EUROCONTROL — was joined by Ferenc Turi, Giovanni Russo, Ourania Georgoutsakou and Peggy Devestel to examine where the European network was losing capacity, why, and what could realistically be recovered without waiting for major infrastructure change. The operational question on the table was direct: with traffic at or above pre-pandemic levels and full SESAR deployment still years away, how much headroom could the network find inside its existing rules, staffing, and airspace design before summer 2026?
Why it mattered
Going into the summer 2026 season, European traffic was running at or above pre-pandemic peaks while the system still carried the recovery-era staffing and capacity constraints that produced record en-route delays in 2023 and 2024. EUROCONTROL's seven-year forecast through 2030 had demand continuing to grow against a capacity baseline limited by air traffic controller recruitment and training lead times — a pipeline that cannot be expanded in a single season. With the EUROCONTROL Network Manager coordinating flow across more than 40 area control centres operating under different national frameworks, the practical question of what could be optimised pre-tactically and tactically — rather than what would eventually be delivered by SESAR 3 — was the one that determined whether the network absorbed the 2026 summer peak or repeated the delays of earlier years.
Key takeaways for ATM operators
- The binding constraints were structural, not cyclical. The panel located the capacity gap in ATCO staffing lead times, sectorisation limits, and airspace design — factors EUROCONTROL's forecasting confirmed cannot be relieved on a single-season timescale.
- Network Manager coordination is pre-tactical, not directive. The Network Manager does not control airspace; it coordinates demand through slot allocation, flow measures, and collaborative decision-making across member states — a model whose friction points the panel set out candidly.
- Near-term gains came from procedure, not infrastructure. Dynamic sectorisation, enhanced Collaborative Decision Making, improved flow-management-position collaboration, and cross-border sector sharing were identified as the realistic levers for capacity within current frameworks ahead of full SESAR deployment.
Frequently asked questions
Who spoke on the Network Manager capacity panel at Airspace World 2026?
The session was led by Iacopo Prissinotti, Director of Network Management at EUROCONTROL, the directorate responsible for coordinating air traffic flow across the European network. He was joined by Ferenc Turi, Giovanni Russo, Ourania Georgoutsakou and Peggy Devestel, bringing ANSP operational and airspace-user perspectives to the discussion.
When and where did this session take place at ASW 2026?
The session took place on Tuesday 26 May 2026 from 14:00 to 14:50 local Lisbon time (WEST, UTC+1) in the Viasat Theatre at FIL — Feira Internacional de Lisboa, the Parque das Nações venue that hosted Airspace World 2026 from 26 to 28 May 2026.
What does the EUROCONTROL Network Manager actually do?
The EUROCONTROL Network Manager coordinates air traffic flow across the European network without controlling airspace directly. It applies pre-tactical and tactical demand management — slot allocation, flow measures, and collaborative decision-making — across more than 40 area control centres operating under different national frameworks, working to balance demand against the capacity each ANSP declares.
What capacity improvements were realistic without major infrastructure change?
The panel pointed to operational and procedural levers rather than new infrastructure: dynamic sectorisation, enhanced Collaborative Decision Making, improved flow-management-position collaboration, and cross-border sector sharing. These were framed as the gains achievable ahead of full SESAR deployment, which remained years away from network-wide effect.
Why is European airspace capacity a persistent constraint?
European capacity is limited by air traffic controller recruitment and training lead times, sectorisation limits, and legacy airspace design — structural factors that cannot be relieved quickly. With EUROCONTROL's seven-year forecast showing continued traffic growth, the gap between demand and declared capacity remained the central operational challenge for airlines, ANSPs, airports, and regulators alike.