Free Route Airspace for Efficient Air Traffic Management

Free route airspace is a new concept in airspace management that has emerged from the Single European Sky ATM Research program. The goal is to allow aircraft companies to freely plan their routes between predefined points, rather than force them to follow conventional pre-established routes. This mode of airspace management can short-en trajectories, reducing fuel consumption and environmental impact. However, intersection points in a free route airspace are “invisible” at a strategic level, which can increase traffic complexity, increase the workload on air traffic controllers under certain conditions, and indirectly affect flight safety and efficiency of air traffic management. This review examines the implementation of free route airspace and its effects on air traffic management efficiency, leading to suggestions for future research