Targets for improved ATM cost-effectiveness should be set "as a matter of urgency", the Eurocontrol Council stated three years ago, according to outgoing Performance Review Commission chairman Keith Williams. He says, however, that although average cost-efficiency is improving among Eurocontrol member state air navigation service providers, no system for setting individual targets has yet been agreed although viable formulae have been proposed.
There is, however, a "notional target" for cost-effectiveness improvement for the European system as a whole, and although the report says that average unit costs are going down, the fact that 15 smaller states made marked improvements was completely wiped out by cost increases in a large air navigation service provider like Spain. The PRC has recommended that the Eurocontrol Council adopt a target for ANSPs to reduce their costs and charges by 3% a year in real terms. It has also proposed a target for improving "flight efficiency" by reducing the "average route extension per flight" by 2km (1nm) a year until 2010.
Source: Flight International
