Many aircraft are flying over Europe at any given time. Image from PlaneFinder.net / Google Maps.

Story written by Steve Fulton, Technical Fellow at GE Aviation and shared on AirlineReporter.com:

We are taught from a young age about the importance of working together.

’œThere’s no I in team’ was a common inspirational poster in my children’s classrooms and libraries. This is certainly still relevant to our lives today — in business, it is critical for groups to partner to address a common challenge. This mantra is especially applicable to aviation, as we must work together to make the most out of our increasingly congested skies.

With business and government leaders and even industry enthusiasts gathering in Le Bourget for the Paris Air Show last week, we were reminded of the importance of an efficient airspace system that can accommodate increased demand in interconnected air travel. The international airport that supported the influx of visitors from around the world was Charles de Gaulle Airport, located outside of Paris.  It is Europe’s second busiest airport and in 2011, the year of the previous Paris Air Show, the airport handled 514,059 aircraft movements and 60.97 million passengers.

Whether it’s to manage an increase in traffic to support a major event or to plan for steady global growth, stakeholders working as a team to create an efficient, interconnected sky — and a modern air traffic control system to effectively manage and improve it — will be critical to the success of the future of aviation.