EUROCONTROL MUAC Manages 1.79M Flights Safely in 2024

EUROCONTROL’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) reported handling 1,794,971 flights in 2024. This marks a 5% increase from the previous year. The rise reflects growing air travel demand and MUAC’s capability to manage it efficiently.

The summer months saw the highest traffic volume. From June to September, flights increased by 3% compared to 2023. This was due to seasonal travel and major sporting events in Germany and France.

July was the busiest month, with 172,195 flights. The peak day was July 11, with 5,649 flights, near the 2018 record.

MUAC reported an average delay of 0.20 minutes per flight. Weather was the main cause. This was better than the predicted 0.23 minutes and matched the previous year. Advanced Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) techniques helped achieve this.

EUROCONTROL Prepares for Increased Air Traffic 

MUAC manages the upper airspace of Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and north-west Germany. The top destinations in 2024 were Amsterdam, Heathrow, Frankfurt, Paris, and Stansted.

Peggy Devestel, MUAC Director, praised the team’s dedication. She expects traffic to exceed pre-pandemic levels in 2025. MUAC is preparing for this increase.

Commenting on MUAC’s performance in 2024, Peggy Devestel, Director of the EUROCONTROL Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC), said: “MUAC’s strong performance in 2024 reflects our commitment to providing our airspace users, whether civil or military, with safe, efficient and reliable services and it is the result of the hard work and dedication of the highly skilled team at MUAC.

“In 2025, we expect to exceed pre-pandemic levels of traffic for the first time. Our meticulous planning efforts for the year ahead mean we are well prepared for the challenges that this increase in traffic will bring. I look forward to the year ahead and to supporting our airspace users and partners as traffic levels grow,” Devestel added.

Read: Lufthansa Cargo Appoints New Executives for Key Regions

In 2024, MUAC invested in efficiency and environmental initiatives.

MUAC implemented Continuous Descent Operations (CDO) in Frankfurt. They used ATS B2 technology for trajectory optimizations.

MUAC conducted two contrail prevention trials.

One, with Google, used satellite imagery and AI. MUAC’s ATM Portal achieved 10,000 ECO rerouting proposals, reducing environmental impact.