Deferred route charges a welcome relief for Europe’s airlines

7 April 2020: ERA (European Regions Airline Association) welcomes the EUROCONTROL member states’ decision to defer air traffic control fees.

• A financial package has been agreed upon enabling airlines to defer the payment of up to €1.1bn of air traffic control fees over the coming months. 
• Decision comes as relief measures for Europe’s airlines are urgently required to ensure recovery is possible and the future viability of the industry. 

In light of COVID-19, airlines are facing a significant cash liquidity issue due to little, or in many cases no commercial operations. As a result, deferring the payment of airspace user fees has been a matter of urgency and ERA is pleased by this decision taken by the EUROCONTROL member states to relieve this burden on airlines. 

In 2020, the cost for the European air traffic management (ATM) system was planned at €8.2bn for en route services, based on the traffic forecasted and the cost of service provision by the Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs). The total bill for February was €518m and the invoices for each airline were raised in mid-March, with payment due by 13 April 2020 for immediate disbursement to the individual states. This has now been deferred to November. 

ERA Director General Montserrat Barriga says: “With air traffic down 90 per cent across Europe, there has been an urgent need to mitigate the devastating effects of this significant and unprecedented liquidity crisis. This swift action taken by the EUROCONTROL member states will provide airlines with more flexibility as they financially plan for the future. Aviation will be instrumental in Europe’s economic recovery and financial relief measures are needed urgently to ensure our airlines can continue to operate, providing connectivity, once we move towards recovery. Today’s announcement by EUROCONTROL will certainly aid our airlines in this recovery process.” 

For more information, please contact Becky Taylor, Editor Corporate Communications, on +44 (0)1276 485582 or by email at becky.taylor@eraa.org.