One size fits all – A common unit rate for Europe?

Summary:

For more than 50 years, the provision of en-route air navigation services in Europe has been financed by en-route air navigation charges through a common Route Charges System. However, these vary considerably from State to State, ranging today anywhere between 28.72€ and 120.30€. Would adopting a common unit rate result in more direct routes being flown and help Europe achieve its challenging environmental targets, what would need to be done to ensure a fair distribution of common charges among air navigation service providers (ANSPs) reflecting their national unit rates, and how would this impact the airspace users which pay these charges?

This Think Paper investigates the pros and cons of such a shift with a view to feeding into the technical and political decision-making process.

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