NATS increases fees to recover pandemic losses

LONDON - The UK Civil Aviation Authority published for consultation its initial proposals to establish new price controls for NATS En-Route ("NERL"), a subsidiary of air navigation service provider NATS. The controls regulate the prices NERL can charge airlines for the services it provides in UK airspace.

"The UK Civil Aviation Authority has proposed that NERL can increase the unit rate for its regulated activities over the period 2023 to 2027 inclusive by approximately 27 per cent from £43 to £54 in 2020 prices, or £47 to £65 in nominal terms," the CAA said.

In addition to providing for efficient operating costs, capital investment and regulated returns for the next five years, the regulator's proposals would allow NERL to begin to "recover its costs from the period affected by the Covid-19 pandemic".

The CAA expects its proposals would increase the average cost of UK en route air traffic services by around £0.43 on average, to around £2.03 per passenger per flight.

"Today's announcement will incentivise NERL to continue to put in place resources and investment required to deliver a resilient service while air travel numbers continue to recover following the impact of the covid-19 pandemic", CAA Director of Consumer and Markets Paul Smith said.