Commission Raps UK ATC

ATC in Europe costs about 70 percent more than in the U.S., according to the 2001 annual report of the Eurocontrol Performance Review Commission (PRC) published in late July. The commission demanded fundamental reform of Eurocontrol’s user-charge formula, arguing that the agency’s constituent national ATC service providers currently have no real incentive to become more efficient.

The report also condemned the continued “fragmentation” of ATC services throughout the continent, resulting in inefficient duplication of effort. In particular, it criticized the failure of Eurocontrol states to coordinate the allocation of military and civilian airspace across borders.

The PRC report is expected to build momentum for the campaign to revise Eurocontrol user charges this coming winter. However, business and general aviation lobbies, as well as regional airline officials, have expressed concern that this will be done in a way that discriminates against smaller aircraft.