Airlines face a hike in UK air traffic control charges as the aviation regulator enables the provider to recover costs from the Covid grounding of flights.
The average charge is forecast to rise from £47 in 2022 to £64 in 2023 to 2027.
The figure emerged as the Civil Aviation Authority set out its final decision on new price controls for Nats En Route (NERL), the economically regulated subsidiary of Nats Holdings.
It will allow NERL “to continue to recover its operating costs and finance new investment needed to provide a high-quality level of service in the future.
“It also allows NERL to recover revenues from the period affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which the regulator has spread over ten years to reduce the impact on charges.”
The decision is expected to increase the average cost of UK en route air traffic services by around £0.43 to around £2.08 per passenger per flight.
The average charge for NERL’s regulated en route service over the period 2023 to 2027 inclusive is forecast to change by 26% compared with 2022, from £42 to £53 in 2020 prices, according to the CAA.
The decision is separate from the CAA’s independent review of Nats’ technical issue on August bank holiday, which saw major flight disruption caused by a temporary failure in air traffic control services.
NERL provides en route air traffic control services in the UK and is subject to economic regulation by the CAA. The controls regulate the prices NERL can charge airlines for the services it provides in UK and North Atlantic airspace.
Airlines UK chief executive Tim Alderslade said: “This is yet another kick in the teeth for passengers who have been plagued by issues this summer including the August Nats IT failure and will inevitably end up footing the bill of millions of pounds for increases that simply cannot be justified while it remains unclear what action will be taken to ensure airlines and their customers do not see a repeat of this disruption.
“It is clear that a wider independent review into how Nats is regulated is needed to protect passengers and ensure that airlines are not always forced to act as the insurer of last resort and bear millions of pounds of costs for failures that are not their fault.”
CAA chief economist Andrew Walker said: “Our decision will provide the resources and investment required for NERL to provide a resilient, high-quality service for passengers and modernise its services, while recovering costs from the pandemic, which is consistent with the traffic risk sharing arrangements in NERL’s licence at the time.
“Overall, the price control should ensure that NERL provides an efficient service and value for money.
“Implementing targets around performance, efficiency and environmental impact will help deliver an improved airspace system that will benefit everyone.
“We also recognise the disruption caused by the technical issue in August and we will consider any further regulatory steps as appropriate following the outcome of the independent review.”