Air traffic flow management (ATFM), the primary objective of which is, again
on safety grounds, to regulate the flow of aircraft as efficiently as possible in
order to avoid the congestion of certain control sectors. The ways and means used
are increasingly directed towards ensuring the best possible match between supply
and demand by staggering the demand over time and space; and also by ensuring
better planning of the control capacities to be deployed to meet the demand. The
Commission communication on congestion and crisis in air traffic! J.lescribes how
this service is perfonned.