A mechanism that would allow a more flexible air space allocation to help enhance air traffic management in the Middle East region will be in place before end 2018.

Half of the air space across the Middle East countries is currently allocated to military use, and the civil aviation sector has been lobbying for flexibility to address worsening air traffic management.

The Middle East office of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) along with the regional civil aviation agencies are jointly conducting the study, which would allow for a working mechanism to be in place by 2018.

“Security remains a priority, but what the civil aviation sector is looking for is some flexibility, where additional air space could be released when not in use,” says Abdelwahab Teffaha, secretary general of the Arab Air Carriers Organisation.

Limited air space, along with dated ground navigation equipment and a fragmentation of air space are cited by Teffaha among the key issues that must be addressed in order to improve air traffic management in the region.

An Oxford Economics study released earlier this year that addressing these issues, among others, could result in some $16bn in savings for the region’s aviation agencies and passengers over a period of 10 years.