Pending privatisations could create a competitive market in European air traffic control (ATC)services, complete with cross-border acquisitions, believes Sir Malcolm Field chairman of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, now preparing for the sale of its National Air Traffic Services (NATS).
Field points to the experience of the airports, where commercialisation has been followed by increased competition between airport authorities and their aggressive expansion into foreign markets. "We'll see ATC services bidding for systems in other countries," he says, adding that NATS is "excited" about the new options for venturing outside the UK. Competition is also likely to help bring down Europe's notoriously high ATC charges, according to Field.
The UK Government has yet to produce proposals for privatising NATS, but Field believes that a stock market flotation would be the optimum solution, arguing that the Canadian model of a not-for-profit company owned by trade partners is too restrictive.
Source: Flight International
