The Italian Government has set a target date of the end of the year to establish air traffic control as a standalone company.
ENAV, or Ente Nazionale Assistenza al Volo, is currently wholly owned by the Italian Treasury. The move will retain control in state hands, although a partial privatisation could eventually be a possibility.
New chief executive Sandro Gualano will, in the first instance, oversee the transformation as a special commissar appointed by the transport ministry.
Gualano expects to achieve a 10% rise in turnover over the next three years, to reach L1.187 billion ($583,000). More importantly his prime challenge is to achieve profit levels of L164 billion by 2003, against an L80 billion loss last year after extraordinary items.
The ENAV boss is seeking to reduce costs, increase efficiency and to attract new air traffic in Italy, while at the same time reducing user fees by an average of 4% within three years.
Source: Flight International
