European air navigation service providers are able to generate returns on capital investment that the rest of the aviation industry could only dream of, according to the Performance Review Commission's (PRC) report on calendar year 2008.
Their returns under the "full cost recovery" model that many operate to has allowed many to build what the PRC calls "a war chest" of healthy reserves, with virtually no incentive to become more efficient.
In fact the average economic efficiency of European air navigation service providers declined slightly in 2008, following several years in which it had improved, says the PRC. Meanwhile the costs to air navigation service providers of the Eurocontrol agency and aeronautical meteorological services are reducing.
Total air navigation service revenues in 2008 amounted to €8.1 billion ($10.4 billion), reports the PRC. European air navigation service providers employed 57,600 staff, which is slightly larger than the workforce at Airbus worldwide (52,000 employees).
Some 16,600 staff (29%) were air traffic control officers working on operational duty, compared with 13,000 in the USA. On average, in Europe 2.5 additional staff are required for every air traffic control officer.
The air navigation service provider with the highest economic costs per composite flight hour managed is Spain's AENA, and the lowest is Estonia's EANS, the differential being a factor of five. This is not factored for the complexity of traffic handled, nor influences like local labour costs.
Source: Flight International
