It was announced by EUROCONTROL on 8 March at the close of the World ATM Congress in Madrid that its workshop on the latest developments in the implementation of Free Route Airspace (FRA) in Europe will allow aircraft to fly more direct routes, reducing fuel burn and cutting delays.

FRA is most effective when it operates cross-border, with aircraft not constrained by specific crossing points on the borders between countries. Two existing cross-border initiatives in the important south east region of Europe are SAXFRA (Slovenia/Austria) and SEAFRA (Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia). At the workshop, representatives from the five air navigation service providers from these countries signed a memorandum of cooperation aimed at merging SAXFRA and SEAFRA, which will generate even greater benefits for European aviation and is a significant step towards achieving a common European Free Route Airspace by 2022.