Old systems can’t cope with congested skies, vested interests block reform

But it houses the Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre ( ), where up to 100 air-traffic controllers work at a time to ensure that planes flying high above Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and north-western Germany do not bump into each other. Last October , an umbrella group for controller unions in Europe, attacked the idea of setting targets for improving air-traffic services as “a waste of time and effort”. After all, America and China, continent-sized countries with single air-traffic control services, still endure rising congestion.

Source: www.economist.com