Skyguide achieves further punctuality record: 96% of all flights handled on time in 2010

skyguide /
Skyguide achieves further punctuality record: 96% of all flights handled on time
in 2010
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Geneva, 27 January 2011. Skyguide saw only a small 0.8% increase in the total
number of flights it handled last year, which rose from the 1.15 million of
2009 to 1.16 million. On the punctuality front, Switzerland's air navigation
service provider further improved its annual performance: 96% of all daily
flight volumes were handled without delays.

Uneven traffic trends
The volumes of flights managed and monitored by skyguide were particularly low
at the beginning of 2010 - the lowest, in fact, for six years. But apart from a
clear dip in April as a result of the volcanic ash cloud, the numbers of flights
handled rose steadily from February onwards, and by July were some 4.4% up on
the same month the previous year. Traffic handled then suffered a further
decline, and volumes for December - prompted in particular by the adverse
weather experienced - were a slight 0.4% below their 2009 levels. The eruption
of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland and the resulting ash cloud eroded
revenue which accounted for some one per cent of total annual growth. Skyguide
managed and monitored an average of 3 170 flights a day in 2010. The peak
traffic day was 2 July, when 3 993 flights were handled.

IFR[1] flights handled in 2010:

+--------------------------------+-----------+-----------+--------------+
|   | 2010 | 2009 | Change 09-10 |
+--------------------------------+-----------+-----------+--------------+
| Total IFR flights | 1 156 960 | 1 147 230 | + 0.8% |
| | | | |
|      of which en-route traffic | 706 165 | 707 823 | - 0.2% |
+--------------------------------+-----------+-----------+--------------+

Still no increase in en-route traffic
While skyguide handled 2.6% more landings and departures at the airports under
its control in 2010 than it had the previous year, a further 0.2% decline was
seen in its en-route traffic volumes. The two international airports of Zurich
and Geneva registered volume increases of 2.7% and 1.7% respectively. A slight
recovery was also seen in the total numbers of flights departing from or
arriving in Switzerland. The same could not be said for skyguide's en-route
traffic. This generally developed in line with broader European trends, owing
largely to various strikes outside Switzerland, adverse weather conditions and
the repercussions of the volcanic ash cloud.


Punctuality at a new record high
Skyguide handled 96% of its daily traffic on time[2] in 2010. The performance
was a further improvement on the previous year's outstanding result of 95%. In
en-route traffic, the punctuality even increased by 6% in comparison with 2009.
The strong punctuality performance is attributable primarily to the
reorganisation of airspace over Eastern Switzerland which skyguide effected in
June 2010, as well as to weak traffic growth. By comparison, the levels of
delayed flights in Europe as a whole were a 54% increase on 2009, a trend that
can be ascribed largely to various strike actions and harsh weather conditions.
A slight increase was seen in the average length of the delays incurred in
skyguide-controlled airspace, from the 15.2 minutes of 2009 to 16.6 minutes per
flight. This is, however, still well below the European average for 2010 of
24.4 minutes per flight (2009: 19.8 minutes).


skyguide
swiss air navigation services ltd.
media relations
CH-1215 Geneva 15

Contact:
phone:              +41 22 417 4008
email:    presse@skyguide.ch
internet:www.skyguide.ch


Skyguide is responsible for providing air navigation services within Swiss
airspace and in the airspace of certain adjoining regions in neighbouring
countries. The company guides the civil and military aircraft entrusted to its
care - around 3 170 flights a day or 1.16 million a year - through some of the
busiest and most complex airspace in Europe. Skyguide is a non-profit limited
company which has its head office in Geneva. The majority of its shares are held
by the Swiss Confederation. The company generated annual operating revenue of
over CHF 362 million for 2009, and employs some 1 400 people at 14 locations in
Switzerland. Skyguide is also a member, together with its sister organisations
in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, of the FABEC
initiative to create a common functional airspace block that will bring greater
efficiency to Central Europe's air traffic management services and activities.


[1] IFR or "instrument flight rules" flights are performed in controlled
airspace and require air traffic management services to ensure their safe and
efficient operation.
[2] The delays caused by air traffic management operations are a key yardstick
for evaluating the performance of air navigation service providers. Such delays
may occur whenever Europe's Central Flow Management Unit (CFMU) projects a
future shortage of capacity in a particular airspace sector on the basis of the
flight plans submitted, and therefore issues specific departure "slots" to
individual flights involved.

--- End of Message ---

skyguide
Postfach 1518 Zürich-Flughafen Switzerland

WKN: 1957462;ISIN: CH0019574620;

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