Air Traffic Control

[DimTim]

This question comes from reading the thread on creating an alliance between train operators & track maintenance where a comment was made that NATS is privatised.

How is it funded? I take a flight to say Crete. I leave London & potentially fly over UK, France, German, Austrian, Italian, Croatian, Greek airspace & no doubt the pilot is taking instructions from each.
I can understand that the departing airport charge fees together with landing fees etc. to cover ground control costs but what is the system of remuneration for each Air Traffic Control en route?

Miles in airspace, set fee?

 

[atillathehunn]

Someone else will probably answer with an actual answer.

In Europe I would think quite a bit at high levels certainly is centralised. For e.g. Maastricht covers a reasonable distance around here at some flight levels.

 

[JamboChris]

This question comes from reading the thread on creating an alliance between train operators & track maintenance where a comment was made that NATS is privatised.

How is it funded? I take a flight to say Crete. I leave London & potentially fly over UK, France, German, Austrian, Italian, Croatian, Greek airspace & no doubt the pilot is taking instructions from each.
I can understand that the departing airport charge fees together with landing fees etc. to cover ground control costs but what is the system of remuneration for each Air Traffic Control en route?

Miles in airspace, set fee?

Have a read of this:

https://www.eurocontrol.int/articles/what-are-route-charges

 

[JamboChris]

I believe it's not per mile, but rather a fixed Navigation Charge.

Someone else will probably answer with an actual answer.

In Europe I would think quite a bit at high levels certainly is centralised. For e.g. Maastricht covers a reasonable distance around here at some flight levels.

It is based on distance covered, aircraft weight and the rate of charge for each zone overflown.
The Eurocontrol booklet gives some examples:

https://www.eurocontrol.int/sites/d...files/customer-guide-to-charges-2018-june.pdf

 

[atillathehunn]

It is based on distance covered, aircraft weight and the rate of charge for each zone overflown.
The Eurocontrol booklet gives some examples:

https://www.eurocontrol.int/sites/d...files/customer-guide-to-charges-2018-june.pdf

Learned something new, thanks.

 

[DimTim]

Thanks for info.

 

[Highlandspring]

I was speaking to a manager in NATS earlier in the year and he told me the the en route fees levied for crossing the Atlantic are rather less than you’d imagine; an A380 crossing from the UK to North America is only charged about 130 quid!

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

I was speaking to a manager in NATS earlier in the year and he told me the the en route fees levied for crossing the Atlantic are rather less than you’d imagine; an A380 crossing from the UK to North America is only charged about 130 quid!

Not so surprising when you consider there is no radar service. The only real cost arising from TATL control is the planning of the track system and the maintenance of the short-wave radio base stations along with their specialist operators. Fully certified aviation-style "sat-nav" could well see even those facilities superceded at some point.