Explanatory note

(This Note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Civil Aviation (Route Charges for Navigation Services) Regulations 1989 as follows:—

New unit rates and transatlantic charges are introduced, reflecting forecasts of costs and traffic for 1991, and taking into account the balance of over and under recoveries of revenue as compared with costs experienced by the countries participating in the Eurocontrol charging system in 989 (regulation 2).

The unit rates in ECUs set out in regulation 2 and the amount of the charges in ECUs set out in regulation 2(2) (for transatlantic flights) are calculated by reference to the costs of provision of en-route navigation services in the participating countries in the Eurocontrol charges system, the amount of traffic using each country’s airspace and the relationship of each country’s currency to the ECU over a period agreed by Ministers of the participating countries. The interaction of these elements varies in each country. In calculating the revised charges the average of the exchange rates between the ECU and the currencies of the participating countries obtaining in the month of July 1990 have been used. Cyprus, which will become a Member State of Eurocontrol in 1991, is included for the first time.

The unit rates for Greece, Ireland and Turkey have decreased on average by 19.3%. The unit rates for Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland have increased on average by 19.4%, for Portugal (Santa Maria) by 32.2% and for Spain (Canaries) by 19.7%. The unit rate for the United Kingdom has increased by 15.8%. These variations are not comparable because of changes in some countries' Flight Information Regions and because both over and under recoveries in previous years have been incorporated into the cost bases.