LookingForaJob
I have no idea whether what NATS does warrants the higher costs but the fact is that there are other ANSPs in Europe which demonstrably are able to provide high quality services and whose costs for doing so are lower
Only on headline figures... it is not a level playing field... NATS costs include pension costs, the vast majority of other ANSPs do not include these in their costs as they are subsidised by their governement.
That said, it is the hand NATS has been dealt with PPP; no point whingeing too much about it; we (NATS) needs to prove that the extra cost is worth it to the customers.
I get sick of BA et al complaining that we pass through pension costs to them, the customer... that is exactly what every service industry does, BA included!!
Gatwick will not achieve more movements per hour now without paying NATS over and above the cost of the DFS contract as the 60+ movements per hour they are hoping for is reliant on systems etc designed and supplied by NATS who will, hopefully, not give this away for peanuts. The LTMA works fairly well given the outdated procedures (being revamped as we speak)... it is not in NATS interest as a company to up the delivery numbers to Gatwick without passing on the cost as it will have a staffing implication in the LTMA.