EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Lithuania, Transport

At the press conference which was taking place after the meeting of the EU Transport Ministers, Lithuania's Minister of Transport and Communication Rimantas Sinkevicius said that the creation of the Single European Sky was one of the most important priorities of Lithuania's Presidency of the EU Council in the sphere of transport.

"The enlargement of the Single European Sky is our priority (). The main aim of the initiative of the Single European Sky is the improvement of the security of the air services, the increase in the capacity of the airspace and the reduction of the costs and negative effect on the environment," said Sinkevicius.

According to the minister, there was a need to keep the ears open to the interests of the air carriers and EU citizens who were actively using the services.

The Single European Sky is a European Commission initiative by which the design, management and regulation of airspace will be coordinated throughout the European Union (ECAA area).

This is expected to benefit all airspace users by ensuring the safe and efficient utilisation of airspace and the air traffic management system within and beyond the EU. Airspace management is planned to move away from the previous domination by national boundaries to the use of 'functional airspace blocks' the boundaries of which will be designed to maximise the efficiency of the airspace. Within the airspace, air traffic management, while continuing to have safety as its primary objective, will also be driven by the requirements of the airspace user and the need to provide for increasing air traffic. The aim is to use air traffic management that is more closely based on desired flight patterns leading to greater safety, efficiency and capacity.