The air transport sector has more safety requirements than any others. And rightly so, because passengers and people living near airports must continue to feel safe. So knowledge, tools and solutions have to be developed to improve air transport safety. Stakeholders in air transport have to be supported to understand and resolve the complex safety implications of new technologies and operations that are necessary to accommodate the growth in air transport.

A runway excursion is the event in which an aircraft veers off or overruns the runway surface during either takeoff or landing. Safety statistics show that runway excursions are the most common type of accident reported annually, in the European region and worldwide. There are at least two runway excursions each week worldwide.

Safety is also the first joint research programme under Future Sky. For more information, see the Future Sky website.