The UK plans to upgrade its outdated airspace to make it’s the aviation sector greener and cut down fuel burnt by a fifth.
According to the Department for Transport (DfT), technology will be used to boost the efficiency of flights and speeds, which would enable planes to cut down the fuel they burn.
This would be the equivalent of 400,000 fewer flights annually, reported the BBC.
Aviation Minister Charlotte Vere was quoted by the publication as saying: “We need to keep our infrastructure in the sky up to date to keep people moving.
“It hasn’t fundamentally changed since the 1950s and, without action, one in three flights could face delays of half an hour or more by 2030.
“It is a complex and pressing task, but it will make flying cleaner, quieter and quicker as we make our aviation sector one of the greenest in the world.”
The DfT said that the modernisation will reduce circular queues in the sky above airports that are busy. At busy airports, aircraft are made to wait to land, a process called stacking.
In April, activist group Extinction Rebellion urged people to fly less. According to travel firms such as Thomas Cook, environmental campaigns have reduced the demand to fly in 2019.
Tough competition between airlines has raised overcapacity, which added pressure on the aviation sector, reported the BBC.
Today could be the busiest ever day for the UK airspace, with more than 9,000 flights, given that football fans are travelling to Madrid, Spain, for an all-English Champions League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.