The EUROCONTROL Performance Review Commission (PRC) has issued its fifth ATM Cost-Effectiveness Benchmarking Report (ACE). The report analyses and benchmarks the cost-effectiveness and productivity of 35 Air Navigation…
The EUROCONTROL Performance Review Commission (PRC) has issued its fifth ATM Cost-Effectiveness Benchmarking Report (ACE). The report analyses and benchmarks the cost-effectiveness and productivity of 35 Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP), identifies performance indicators, analyses trends and gives an outlook on forward-looking cost-effectiveness performance. The report analyses forward-looking information for the years 2006-2010, drawing inferences with respect to future financial cost effectiveness performance at both system and ANSP levels, and displaying future capital expenditures.
“Total costs for the European Air Navigation system in 2005 were around ¤7 400M, of which ¤6 470M (87%) were related to the provision of Air Navigation Services. Staff costs accounted for 60.5% of the latter. According to projections from ANSPs, the average gate-to-gate unit cost is expected to gradually decrease until 2010. This is the net result of a wide range of positive and negative variations across ANSPs”, said Xavier Fron, Head of the EUROCONTROL Performance Review Unit.
The ACE report, which is based on information provided by ANSPs to the PRC, highlights that the five largest ANSPs are responsible for 63% of the total provision costs and handle 56% of the traffic. There are large variations in the cost-effectiveness of individual ANSPs. In Europe, the average cost per flight-hour is 395¤. Nine ANSPs have unit costs above 420¤. Between 2002 and 2005, the European average cost per flight-hour fell by 4.7%.
“The decline in costs between 2002 and 2005 is an encouraging trend which indicates an improvement in the cost-effectiveness of the European ATM/CNS system. Each percentage point improvement in cost-effectiveness is now worth some ¤80M in terms of savings for the airlines”, Mr Fron added.
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