Echelonment increases the number of aircraft that can safely fly in a particular volume of airspace. 

The control for echelonment is carried out by flying control officer according to the country standard documents, and at flights by the pilot according to the rules of visual flights. There are also other measures, called not to admit dangerous rapprochement of the aircrafts, for example, system TCAS.

The goal  is to reduce the vertical separation above flight level (FL) 290 from the current 2000-ft minimum to 1000-ft minimum. This will allow aircraft to safely fly more optimum profiles, gain fuel savings and increase airspace capacity. The process of safely changing this separation standard requires a study to assess the actual performance of airspace users under the current separation (2000-ft) and potential performance under the new standard (1000-ft).