Britain’s partly privatized National Air Traffic Services (NATS) has asked the government to allow it to raise en route charges to make up an estimated £230 million ($327 million) revenue shortfall over the next three years. It has also had to request approximately £60 million ($85 million) in loans from the government and the consortium of banks that last year backed seven leading UK airlines when they acquired a 46-percent stake in NATS. However, contrary to recent press reports, these loans have yet to be agreed or paid.
NATS has also provoked controversy by pushing for a £200 million ($284 million) package of cost-cutting measures, including the loss of several hundred administrative positions and the deceleration of investments in the planned new en route control center at Prestwick in Scotland. The moves have provoked plenty of “told you so” sentiment among trade union leaders and opposition politicians, who have said that NATS has failed to deliver the promised efficiency improvements and private-sector funding for infrastructure upgrades. The government has retained a 49-percent stake in the company and employees hold the remaining 5 percent of its equity.
More In Regulations and Government
