The unstable political situation within and at the borders of the NM area had a significant impact on flight efficiency and the general environment, necessitating longer routes to avoid dangerous zones. Even under these circumstances the actual trajectory targets have been met showing that the European airspace structure offers appropriate capabilities.

European aviation traffic just missed the all-time high of 2008. Capacity shortfalls, mainly in Cyprus and France, made it difficult to achieve network delay targets with industrial action adding to the complexity.

A limited number of air traffic control centres (ACCs) generated delays in summer, largely due to insufficient flexibility in sector availability. Other ACCs struggled to cope with traffic increases in those sectors affected by the shift in flows resulting from geo-political events – and higher route charges.