Aircraft
Europeans study VLJ impact
A recent Eurocontrol-sponsored VLJ workshop gave the agency and potential operators the opportunity to discuss the impact of the coming class of very light

A recent Eurocontrol-sponsored VLJ workshop gave the agency and potential operators the opportunity to discuss the impact of the coming class of very light jets (VLJs) on the ATC system. While Eurocontrol suggests that the small jets will tax the system, representatives from the business aviation sector maintain that they will not have a dramatic impact on the system.

Alex Hendriks, deputy director of ATM strategies at Eurocontrol, who chaired the workshop, noted that the agency is preparing for the worst case. VLJs are expected to be one of the fastest growing sectors in aviation. According to some projections, several thousand of them could be flying in Europe by 2020. Statistics released by Eurocontrol last year suggest that VLJs could account for 200 flights a day in 2009 and as many as 1,000 flights a day by 2015.