EU Drafts Plan To Charge For Navigation Aids
What if you had to pay for things
like approach beacons, weather reports and air traffic control
services? Most American pilots would be up in arms.
So it is in Europe, where the EU's Eurocontrol -- the European
Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation -- wants to charge
pilots for, well, everything.
Further, if you don't pay, you could face big-time legal
troubles, according to a draft of the new regulations.
Eurocontrol proposes charging for:
- Air traffic management services (ATM)
- Communication, navigation and surveillance services (CNS)
- Meteorological services for air navigation (MET)
- Aeronautical information services (AIS)
- Search and rescue services (SAR)
But wait, there's more. The EU also wants pilots to pay for:
- Aerodrome control services, flight information services
including air traffic advisory services, and alerting
services;
- Final approach services using dedicated resources at aerodrome
level
- Communication, navigation, and surveillance services that are
required for landing and take off
- Local access to aeronautical information, pre-flight
information service and, where applicable, the preparation of any
aeronautical information relating to this aerodrome
Don't use all those services? No
worries. Under the proposed rule, you'll still have to pay for
them.
What Eurocontrol envisions seems, at first glance, very
complicated. Aircraft operators would be charged based on aircraft
weight, distance flown and the type of airspace they fly in. The
money would be collected from both arriving and departing
flights.
The proposed rules call on EU member states to "consult with
airspace users" before implementing the changes. If they do that,
they're more than likely to hear an earful, based on the email
we're getting at ANN. Noted European aviation journalist Nigel
Everett writes on Britain's PFA message board, "Nothing in the
draft proposals suggests that even a light aircraft flying non
radio, from one private strip in uncontrolled airspace to another
will escape being charged. The proposals apply to all civil air
traffic and General Aviation (GA) is not mentioned. It will,
apparently, be up to the governments of individual states to decide
how the payments are levied."
Everett's message continued, "I don't think that I need spell
out what this proposal could do to European GA and I hope that you
will feel moved to do what you can to argue for the retention of
the current exemption for all VFR aircraft and for IFR aircraft
below the minimum weight for incurring Eurocontrol En Route
charges."
Everett urges all GA pilots in Europe to band together and fight
the proposed levies. They can do so by commenting to Eurocontrol
about the proposed rule (link below).