A compromise agreement on a single European sky has been labelled a “complete failure” and “absolute fudge” by Iata director general Willie Walsh.

Speaking at this week’s Aerospace Tech Week trade show in Munich, the former chief executive of BA parent IAG, said he was “very, very disappointed” with the current situation.

He said, if it is left to politicians, a single open sky will not happen, leaving advantages like a 10-fold increase in safety, three times increase in capacity and 10% CO2 reduction unachievable.

Walsh said plans to modernise European Air Traffic Control had been “kicked down the road by the politicians”. “There appears to be no political appetite to address this issue,” he added.

“I’m very, very disappointed as to where we are. Nothing has changed.” Walsh said a panel appointed to oversee ATC reform in Europe will have “no powers whatsoever”.

“All we will have is more people in Europe paid by consumers and they will do nothing because they will have no powers.

“The sad thing is the investment in technology has been made. The investment is there, we know it can be implemented.”

Walsh’s views reflected that of Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary, who branded the latest Single European Sky compromise proposal as “useless” and “like putting lipstick on a pig”.

The Iata boss said it is important that the aviation sector shows that it is capable of meeting its net zero targets by 2050 without cutting the volume of flights.

He said this approach was “a nonsense” citing a Eurocontrol study that shows stopping flights of under 500 kilometres would reduce the number of flights by 24% but cut CO2 by just 3%.

“The environmental challenge is not from short haul flying it’s from long haul flying. If you implement single European sky you could reduce CO2 by 10%. It’s a scandal, a political scandal.”

“It’s important when we as an industry gets lectured by politicians we remind them of their responsibilities. I have spoken to a number of politicians and people in the [European] Commission to try to get an understanding.

“The general assessment from a political point of view is they say the Commission is going too far, it’s overreach from the Commission.”

Walsh said the industry cannot allow the Single European Sky to be “dead in the water” and the industry should continue to push for implementation because the “benefits are too big”.

He urged the industry to continue working with all parties interested in a more sustainable aviation sector.

“I do not think many of them fully appreciate the impact a Single European Sky could have. A lot of these groups talk about demand management, reducing the number of flights. Personally I do not think there’s an environmental benefit from that.”

Walsh described the challenge of achieving net zero by 2025 as “existential” for the industry.