Peggy Devestel, Director of EUROCONTROL’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC)
The impression of MUAC that I had before joining continues to hold true today: it is a beacon of operational excellence for air traffic management in the core of Europe, that challenges the status quo with its innovative spirit and focus on high performance.
MUAC began operations in 1972, and today, 53 years later, it remains Europe’s only cross-border, civil-military air navigation service provider (ANSP). It is a leading ANSP and a great place to work.
Over the past few weeks and months, I have gained in-depth insight into how MUAC operates. There are many key priorities, and I would like to highlight a couple of them.
Maintaining the highest standards of safety is our primary objective as it underpins everything we do. We do not view safety in isolation, but rather as an intrinsic part of the very fabric of MUAC. When we are evaluating new initiatives and ideas, they are first viewed through the lens of safety. This approach allows us to seamlessly integrate safety, ensuring it is always at the forefront and an integral part of the decision-making process.
Another priority is identifying areas to enhance efficiency and strengthen collaboration with our partners. An example of this is the recent redesign of the airspace boundary between MUAC and Reims ACC. This is the result of many years of productive work with many stakeholders and partners, and it has delivered a number of efficiency gains, including more direct routing and therefore fewer emissions, a reduction in complexity and air traffic controller workload, as well as, ultimately, an increase in air traffic control (ATC) capacity.
During the next 12-18 months I will focus on a number of key goals to guide our efforts and ensure the continued high performance of MUAC.
Firstly, ensuring that the impressive operational performance of the centre continues is paramount. This goal is crucial because operational excellence is the backbone of MUAC and the thing on which our culture depends. By maintaining high standards, we intend to provide optimised services for the airspace users, enhance efficiency and solidify our reputation as leaders in air traffic management. We engage with and listen to our airspace users and continually work together to identify opportunities to improve overall performance.
Secondly, it is essential that we are aligned with a strategy that makes us fit for the future. As the industry evolves, so must we. This strategic alignment will allow us to further improve our performance by innovating; adapt to the needs of new airspace users, and ensure business continuity while also preparing us to meet future challenges head-on. The outcome will be a forward-thinking organisation poised for growth and innovation.
Lastly, deepening our relationships with key stakeholders is vital for our long-term success. Collaborating closely with States, partners, regulators and industry leaders will enable us to share knowledge, leverage resources and drive collective progress. Strengthening these relationships will not only enhance our influence in shaping the future but also ensure we remain at the forefront of air traffic management developments.
One of the obvious challenges we foresee is maintaining and expanding our airspace capacity to accommodate the anticipated increase in traffic. With air travel demand steadily rising, our systems and people must be resilient and scalable to handle higher volumes without compromising safety or efficiency. This involves not only technological upgrades but also operational strategies to optimise air traffic flows.
Another challenge lies in the successful integration of new technologies. The industry's reliance on early adopters, like MUAC, to identify novel approaches and provide feedback is crucial for refining these technologies and setting new standards.
Additionally, we must navigate the complexities of regulatory compliance and international collaboration. Participating in international working groups and contributing to the development of new standards, as we did with the recent ATS B2 revisions, is essential. This level of involvement ensures that our innovations, can be realised and adopted across the industry, further enhancing harmonisation and safety.
Yes. In 2024, we safely handled over 1.79 million flights – an increase of 5% compared to the previous year. We are seeing this trend continue this year with traffic continuing to increase during the first quarter of 2025.
As we approach the summer months, we expect to see further growth, aligned more to pre-pandemic traffic levels. In fact, our expectation is to exceed prepandemic levels of traffic this year.
In terms of summer 2025, our meticulous planning efforts have been underway for some time. The increase in traffic, particularly during busy holiday periods, will bring challenges, for example, in terms of capacity across some of our airspace. However, our forward planning means we are well prepared to embrace these challenges and to minimise any impact. In terms of air traffic controllers, we have a full staff complement as a result of our robust training and recruitment programme that continued throughout the pandemic.
MUAC already has one of the most advanced air traffic management (ATM) systems in the world. We have a high rate of development and innovation. A key area to focus on will be to modernise the underlying system architecture with a view to a) enabling the next generation of innovative tools and b) ensuring an exceptionally high degree of system reliability.
Another key area of focus is our ongoing foray into automation, augmenting the work of the air traffic controller to further enhance safety and efficiency in our operations. Implementation of new technologies can only take place hand in hand with operations, so ensuring alignment and buy-in from all stakeholders is vital.
Looking ahead, we must also embrace emerging technologies such as machine learning to support our decision-making processes and analytics. The implementation of these technologies will not only streamline operations but also reduce the cognitive load on air traffic controllers, allowing them to focus on more critical tasks.
There are many initiatives underway as part of our commitment to support European aviation’s sustainability targets.
One example is the pioneering work we are doing to understand and further advance research on the impact of contrails. Following an operational contrail-prevention trial in 2021, which produced promising initial results, we have partnered with Google to use satellite imagery and AI to predict regions where contrails might develop. This then allows us to provide tactical clearances for contrail mitigation. This partnership will continue for the remainder of the year.
A further example is our ATM Portal Pre-Flight Check which assesses flight plans filed by the airline operators and sends a pre-flight re-route proposal if a more efficient route can be identified. This leads to fuel savings, which in turn, result in a reduction in emissions.
Our ambitious efforts are also reflected in our goal to become a net-zero centre.
Earlier this year, in February, a German Heron TP drone from the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) completed a historic flight which included crossing the upper airspace controlled by MUAC and climbing to an altitude of 8,500 metres.
The preparation for this flight required careful planning to ensure minimal disruption to existing air traffic patterns. A key challenge was the integration of the slower-moving Heron TP drone into the upper airspace, which typically accommodates faster commercial and operational traffic. Communicating with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) also requires different communications methods representing a further challenge.
The drone flight came as a result of close cooperation between the German Aerospace Center (Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (Royal NLR) and the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr).
This flight represents a milestone in our ongoing research into integrating uncrewed aerial vehicles into civil airspace. The insights gained from this will be invaluable as we continue to explore the potential of safely handling drones in our airspace in the future.
When I reflect on my career, it really has been defined by going for the glass ceiling and breaking it. Inspired by my father, who took me to airshows as a child, I set my sights on a career in aviation from a young age. My career in aviation began when I joined Belgocontrol (now skeyes) ATCO and was one of the first women in that position. As my career progressed to management, the series of firsts continued: I was the first female in senior management, the first female on the board and now, I am the first female director of MUAC.
It is true that women need to prove themselves more than men and they need to have huge amounts of resilience and confidence to push through. What helped me was having a vision for what I want to do and just going for it.
In terms of advice, I would say that mentorship is key. It is very helpful to have someone who you can ask for guidance, someone who believes in you and wants to see you succeed.
To all women out there I say: you have the power to make a difference, so dare to go for your dreams.
