Concerns raised over shortage of time for consultation
All users of European airspace will have to pay standardised charges to air navigation service providers (ANSP), according to draft rules and formulae published by Eurocontrol under the Single European Sky (SES) legislation.
The deadline for industry comment on the draft regulation - which has enraged the general aviation community - is 17 September. This and other SES rules are being rushed through the consultation process by Eurocontrol on an SES timetable set by the European Commission.
To manage the charging system, the sky would be divided into "charging volumes of airspace" (CVA), including en-route upper airspace, en-route lower airspace, terminal manoeuvring areas (TMA) and aerodrome control. Charges for en-route air navigation services (ANS) would be calculated according to a formula that takes account of the distance flown in each CVA and the aircraft weight. Charges for aerodrome ANS would be made for each arrival or departure.
ANSPs would have to notify Eurocontrol and the EC of charging rates, and they would have to make full public disclosure of all costs, breaking them down for individual CVAs. Cross-subsidisation would be banned, the intention being for costs of service provision in each CVA to be recovered. Governments of Eurocontrol member states would be free "to exempt certain categories of flights" from paying charges, but would be responsible for "transparently" paying the ANSP for the cost of providing services for the exempted CVAs or operator categories.
Eurocontrol's draft rules state: "The costs of en-route ANS made available to flights performed under visual flight rules (VFR) shall be recovered from airspace users by means of a charge per flight or of an annual charge." This has enraged Europe's aircraft owners and pilots associations, who claim that "services made available" are normally not used by VFR aircraft in uncontrolled airspace.
For airlines, the charging formulae contain factors similar to those used now. Virgin Atlantic wants charges related to the cost of service provision, noting that the size and weight of an aircraft do not affect the cost of providing en-route ANS.
DAVID LEARMOUNT / LONDON
Source: Flight International
