Archive

As part of the European SES performance scheme - member states can submit reports on costs exempt from cost-sharing. Below is the UK's report for RP2, which includes amounts for variances in Eurocontrol, spectrum and agency costs.

• UK NSA costs exempt report for 2015 (November 2016)
  • Annex A - National pension regulations and accounting regulations
  • Annex B - Mitigating actions taken to control cost risk
  • Annex C - Calculations of adjustment mechanism - exchange rates
  • Annex D - Breakdown of 2015 actual costs of Eurocontrol Agency
  • Annex E - Eurocontrol multi-lateral agreement

As part of the European SES performance scheme - member states can submit reports on costs exempt from cost-sharing. Below is the UK's report for RP!, which includes amounts for variances in Eurocontrol, spectrum and agency costs.

• UK NSA costs exempt report for RP1 (September 2015)
  • Attachment 1 - National pension regulations and accounting regulations
  • Attachment 2 - NATS defined benefit scheme
  • Attachment 3 - Mitigating actions taken to manage cost risk

In our Ad Hoc Review of NATS-related risks in 2012/13, we found that the current arrangements for governance and ring-fencing may need to be strengthened to ensure that users are adequately protected from risks which arise outside of the regulated business.

We consulted on initial proposals to modify these arrangements, and have now published our decision to modify NERL's licence.

• CAP 1380 - Decision on modifications to NATS (En Route) plc licence in respect of Governance and Ring-fencing (March 2016)
• CAP 1368 - Final proposals on modifications to NATS (En Route) plc licence in respect of Governance and Ring-fencing (February 2016)
• CAP 1287 - Initial proposals on modifications to NATS (En Route) plc licence in respect of Governance and Ring-fencing (April 2015)

Responses to consultation:

• easyJet
• Heathrow Airport
• NATS
• NATS unions

• CAP 1252 - Decision on the modification of NATS (En Route) plc licence to transpose the UK-Ireland FAB Performance Plan for 2015-2019(January 2015)
• CAP 1254 - Decision on modifications to NATS (En Route) plc licence in respect of the Oceanic price condition for 2015-2019(January 2015)
• CAP 1249 - FAS Deployment Facilitation Fund(January 2015)
• CAP 1253 - Decision on modifications to NATS (En Route) plc licence in respect of reporting and Specified Services(January 2015)
• Flight efficiency metric calculation and annual review protocol(January 2015)

• CAP 1816 - Proposal to modify Condition 6 (regulatory accounting requirements) of NATS (En Route) plc air traffic service licence (June 2019)
• CAP 1639 - Proposal to modify Condition 2 of NATS (En Route) plc licence in respect of resilience planning, policy statement on enforcement and consultation on draft guidance (February 2018).
• CAP 1229 - Proposal to modify the NATS (En Route) plc licence to transpose the UK-Ireland FAB Performance Plan for 2015-2019: Notice under section 11(2) of the Transport Act 2000 (November 2014)
• CAP 1230 - Proposal to modify the NATS (En Route) plc licence in respect of the Oceanic price condition for 2015-2019: Notice under section 11(2) of the Transport Act 2000 (November 2014)
• CAP 1242 - Proposal to modify the NATS (En Route) plc licence in respect of reporting and Specified Services: Notice under section 11(2) of the Transport Act 2000 (November 2014)
• Responses to proposals to modify licence:
  • NERL
  • Heathrow Airport

In May 2015, after consultation, we published Economic Licensing Enforcement Guidance covering our approach to enforcing the NATS Licence and airport economic licences under the Civil Aviation Act 2012. The guidance outlines the legal framework in which our work fits and informs stakeholders of the enforcement powers we have and how we will use them.

• Economic Licensing Enforcement Guidance (May 2015)

After consultation, we also published prioritisation principles that explain our approach in deciding which pieces of work to take forward in the areas of consumer protection, competition law and economic regulation.

• Prioritisation Principles for the CAA's Consumer Protection, Competition Law and Economic Regulation Work (May 2015)

In March 2024, we published a statement of policy on penalties to support our enforcement work under Chapter 1 of the TA00, as modified by section 10 of the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act 2021. This statement followed a consultation in December 2023. Alongside this statement of policy, we also published a consultation response document.

• The work of the CAA, at the request of the Department for Transport, to assess the contestability of the market in provision of ANSP terminal services in the UK

• Oceanic industry seminar 1 September 2014: Meeting note and presentation(September 2014)
• CAP 1205 - NERL Oceanic charge: Proposals for a charge cap 2015-2019 - consultation document(July 2014)
  • NATS response
  • IATA response
  • BATA response
  • British Airways response
  • Virgin response
  • NATS Unions response

Final UK-Ireland FAB Performance Plan submitted to European Commission

• Corrigendum to the UK-Ireland FAB Performance Plan for RP2 (November 2014)
• Final UK-Ireland FAB Performance Plan for RP2 (2015-19) submitted to the European Commission

Post-consultation Performance Plan (NSA initial submission to State)

• FAB Performance Plan: UK-Ireland FAB - Second reference period (2015-2019) (May 2014)
• UK-Ireland RP2 performance plan supporting document (May 2014)
• Responses to consultation on draft UK-Ireland FAB performance plan for RP2 (April 2014)
  • Airline community
  • Airline community position on Opex contingency
  • ATC Branch - Impact
  • CAA Pension Scheme
  • Dublin Airport Authority
  • GATCO
  • IAA PSEU
  • Manchester Airport Group
  • NATS
  • NATS Trade Unions
  • Trustees of NATS Sharetrust
  • Virgin

Transcript and presentation from Stakeholder Consultation meeting

• RP2 Stakeholder Consultation meeting 14 March 2014 - transcript (March 2014)
• UK-Ireland FAB Performance Plan for RP2 - Stakeholder consultation (March 2014)

Draft performance plan published for consultation

• Draft UK-Ireland RP2 Performance Plan - Consultation document (February 2014)
• FAB Performance Plan: UK-Ireland FAB - Second Reference Period (2015-2019)- template

Consultancy reports

• GAD analysis of pension costs for CAA's RP2 price control review of NERL (March 2014)
• NERL non-staff opex review - report by Capita for the CAA
• Assessing the efficiency of NERL's total employment costs in RP2: a research report for the CAA - report by IDS
• Estimating the cost of capital for NERL - report by PwC for the CAA
• What is the cost of capital for NATS (En Route) plc for RP2? - a report for NERL by Oxera
• NERL RP2 capex review - phase 1 report by Arup and Helios(January 2014)
• NATS cost allocation - final report by CEPA and BDO(October 2013)

London Approach

• CAP1158 - Regulatory treatment of London Approach charges in Reference Period 2 (2015-2019) of the Single European Sky Performance Scheme: CAA conclusions (February 2014)
• Regulatory treatment of London Approach charges in Reference Period 2 (2015-19) of the Single European Sky performance scheme (October 2013)
  • Responses:
    • NERL
    • Airlines for America
    • British Airways
    • Heathrow Airport
    • IATA

UK Terminal Air Navigation Services (TANS)

• CAP1157 - The CAA's approach to the regulation of terminal air traffic service in RP2 (February 2014)
• Approach to terminal air navigation services regulation in RP2 - a consultation (December 2013)
  • Responses:
    • NSL
    • British Airways
    • GATCO
    • Heathrow Airport
    • IATA
    • Manchester Airport Group
    • Prospect/PCS
• Terminal Air Navigation Services - draft RP2 Business Plan (December 2013)
• UK TANS charge benchmarking - consultancy report by Capita for CAA (December 2013)

Other

• RP2 airline community - Special interests paper (December 2013)
• In focus - developing the UK-Ireland performance plan for RP2 - December 2013 update
• RP2 Revised Business Plan (2015-2019) (October 2013)
• Appendices to RP2 Revised Business Plan (October 2013)
• Agreed modifications to the requirements following publication of PRB recommendations for EU-wide targets (October 2013)
• RP2 Customer Consultation working group: Report from co-chairs (September 2013)
• Letter to NERL setting out CAA requirements for NERL Revised Business Plan (RBP) (September 2013)
• The CAA process update for the economic regulation of NERL and contribution to the UK-Ireland FAB Performance Plan for Reference Period 2 (2015-2019) of the Single European Sky Performance Scheme: A mandate for Customer Consultation between NERL and airspace users (April 2013)
• A consultation on the CAA's process for developing economic regulation for Reference Period 2 under the Single European Sky (July 2012)
  • Responses:
    • NATS
    • BAA
    • British Airways
    • FABEC
    • Gatwick Airport
    • IATA
    • Prospect/PCS
    • Ryanair
  • Workshop

• Documents from the CP3 review (2011-2014) and CP2 review (2006-2010) are available on the National Archives website.

Review of the 28 August 2023 NATS sub-system failure

• NATS August 2023 failure review

---

Review of space based automatic dependent surveillance (ADS-B)

• NERL working paper on the review of the costs and benefits of space-based ADS-B in the North Atlantic (May 2022)

Reports following Project Palamon’s recommendations

• NERL update on the implementation of the Palamon recommendations (September 2024)
• NERL update on the implementation of the Palamon recommendations (March 2024) 
• NERL ATC Staffing Resilience Plan update (March 2024)
• NERL update on the implementation of the Palamon recommendations (September 2023)
• NERL update on the implementation of the Palamon recommendations (April 2023)
• NERL ATC Staffing Resilience Plan update (April 2023)
• NERL update on the implementation of the Palamon recommendations (September 2022)
• NERL update on the implementation of the Palamon recommendations (March 2022)
• NERL ATC Staffing Resilience Plan update (January 2022)
• NERL update on the implementation of the Palamon recommendations (January 2022)

Investigation under Section 34 of the Transport Act 2000: Project Palamon (February 2021)

We undertook an investigation (Project Palamon) under section 34 of the Transport Act 2000 (TA00) to consider alleged contraventions by NERL of certain statutory duties under sections 8(1)(c) and 8(1)(d) of the TA00 and certain licence conditions. This investigation followed complaints by Ryanair and Stansted Airport Limited about air traffic flow management delays experienced by airlines and passengers of Stansted and Luton airports.

In February 2021, we published our final decision (along with Annex 1) in relation to an investigation (Project Palamon) under section 34 of the Transport Act 2000. This investigation follows an earlier investigation conducted by the CAA addressing similar complaints brought by Ryanair and Stansted in 2016 in relation to NERL's performance (Project Oberon).

In our final decision we found that:

• NERL contravened its statutory and Licence duties and obligations in the period January 2019 to March 2020 in relation to the provision of sufficient staffing resilience in the London Approach Service for users of Stansted and Luton airports; and
• in relation to the other allegations raised as part of the complaints, including on airspace capacity, coding and discrimination, NERL has not contravened its statutory and Licence duties and obligations.

In making these findings, we took into account the very difficult circumstances faced by the aviation sector and the significant reduction in air traffic volumes, following the impact of the covid-19 pandemic. We also note that forecasts for recovery are highly uncertain and it appears likely it will take some time to reach traffic levels seen in 2018 and 2019. Given these circumstances, we consider it is not appropriate for us to take formal enforcement action, as the circumstances leading to the investigation are not currently occurring. Nonetheless, we make a number of recommendations that we expect NERL (and other stakeholders) to adopt in the future as they plan how to provide a resilient service when demand begins to recover, and in the longer term.

With the final decision we also published:

• an annex to the final decision summarising the representations we received on the draft decision and setting out the CAA's way forward in response; and
• non-confidential version of the responses we received to the Draft Decision.

Palamon documents

• Final Decision (25 February 2021)
• Final Decision Annex 1: (25 February 2021)
• Non-Confidential versions of responses received to the Draft Decision (Published 25 February 2021):
  • NERL
  • Ryanair
  • Stansted
  • Prospect
• Draft Decision (17 September 2021)
  • Alongside this Draft Decision, we also published a report on the assessment of NERL delays in the London Approach service by the Performance Review Unit of Eurocontrol. This report was produced at our request in support of the investigation.

Notice to NATS (En Route) plc under section 22(11) of the Transport Act 2000 (September 2020)

Under Conditions 5 and 6 of its licence NERL has to provide regulatory accounts and certain certificates relating to its financial and operational resources and its compliance with certain conditions of its licence by 31 July each year. Because of the uncertainty with traffic forecasts due to the Covid-19 crisis, NERL was unable to provide the accounts or certificates by 31 July 2020. NERL has submitted a plan to us to provide the accounts and certificates by 31 October 2020. On 28 September we served a notice on NERL of the licence breach, but said we do not intend to make a final order in relation of the breach at present.

• Notice to NATS (En Route) plc under section 22(1) of the Transport Act 2000 (September 2020)

---

Investigation under Section 34 of the Transport Act 2000: Project Palamon (October 2018)

We have opened an investigation (project Palamon) under section 34 of the Transport Act 2000 (TA00) to consider alleged contraventions by a licence holder of certain statutory duties under sections 8(1)(c) and 8(1)(d) of the TA00 and certain licence conditions.

At this stage, no assumption should be made about whether there has been any contravention.

Civil Aviation Authority Transport Act 2000 investigation - draft decision (September 2020) 

We have published our draft decision in relation to an investigation (Project Palamon) under section 34 of the Transport Act 2000 (TA00). We have considered alleged contraventions by NATS (En-Route) Plc (“NERL”) of certain statutory duties under the TA00 and certain conditions of its Air Traffic Services Licence. This investigation followed complaints by Ryanair and Stansted Airport Limited (STAL) about air traffic flow management delays experienced by airlines and passengers of Stansted and Luton airports.

This investigation follows an earlier investigation conducted by the CAA addressing similar complaints brought by Ryanair and STAL in 2016 in relation to NERL's performance (Project Oberon).

In our draft decision we provisionally find that:

• In relation to the provision of sufficient staffing resilience in the London Approach Service to users of Stansted and Luton, NERL has contravened its duties in the period January 2019 to March 2020;
• In relation to other parts of the investigation, including on airspace capacity, coding and discrimination, NERL has not contravened its duties and obligations.

This is a draft decision and we welcome the views of all stakeholders on our provisional findings by 19 October 2020 (to economicregulation@caa.co.uk). We will consider all the representations we receive carefully and intend to issue a final decision later this year.

In making these provisional findings, we have taken account of the very difficult circumstances faced by the aviation sector and that air traffic volumes have reduced significantly, following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.  We also note that forecasts for recovery are highly uncertain and it appears likely it will take some time to reach traffic levels seen in 2018 and 2019. These circumstances suggest that it will not be appropriate to take formal enforcement action, as the circumstances leading to the investigation are not currently occurring. Nonetheless, we make a number of recommendations that we expect NERL (and other stakeholders) to take into account in the future as they plan how to provide a resilient service when demand begins to recover, and in the longer term.

Alongside the draft decision we have also published a report on the assessment of NERL delays in the London Approach service by the Performance Review Unit of Eurocontrol. This report was produced at our request in support of the investigation. 

---

Notices to NATS (EN Route) plc under section 22(11) of the Transport Act 2000 (September 2018 and November 2019)

In July 2018, NERL submitted regulatory accounts with an audit report that did not comply with Condition 6 of its licence. Changes to audit guidance issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales have meant that auditors are no longer able to express an opinion that meets the requirement under the Condition. NERL has informed the CAA that it will work with the CAA to modify Condition 6 such that a satisfactory audit report can be obtained. Condition 6 has now been modified. However, before that occurred, NERL submitted regulatory accounts that did not comply with Condition 6 of its licence in June 2019.

• Notice to NATS (En Route) plc under section 22(1) of the Transport Act 2000 (November 2019)
• Notice to NATS (EN Route) plc under section 22(11) of the Transport Act 2000 (September 2018)

---

NATS (En Route) plc Condition 16 Code of practice (December 2016)

• CAA approval letter
• NERL Code of Practice

---

Investigation under Section 34 of the Transport Act 2000: Project Oberon

The CAA investigated an alleged breach of licence conditions by NERL's regarding its operation of the London Approach Service

The CAA found that while flight delays increased in 2016, it did not fail to take all reasonable steps to meet demand or discriminate against any party in delivering the London Approach Service. The CAA has made a number of recommendations to NERL to ensure it improves its contingency planning and the resilience of its operations in the future, and will monitor NERL's implementation and the effectiveness of the recommendations going forward.

• CAP 1578 - Investigation under section 34 of the Transport Act 2000: Project Oberon, Final Report (August 2017)
• CAP 1551 - Investigation under section 34 of the Transport Act 2000: Project Oberon, CAA provisional conclusions (May 2017)
• CAP 1527 - Notice of Oberon investigation (March 2017)
  

Project Oberon recommended that we publish data to provide increased transparency on London Approach service quality. Three Oberon Report Indicators are included: NERL Attributable Delays by London Approach Function; NERL Average Delays per Arrival by London Approach Function; and All NERL Attributable Delays per Arrival into London Airports. We are publishing such data each quarter.

Starting with the indicators to June 2018, the format of the report has changed. As well as graphs and data showing delay attributable to NERL's London Approach service, the report also includes graphs and data showing all delay (including non-NERL attributable delay) for each of the London Approach airports. The report is produced by NERL using data and commentary provided by NERL.

• Oberon Report Indicators to June 2020

Information on the CAA's concurrent powers with the Office of Fair Trading under the Competition Act 1998 and part 4 (market investigations) of the Enterprise Act 2002 is available on the  Competition powers page.

• Decision to modify Condition 6 (regulatory accounting requirements) of NATS (En Route) plc air traffic service licence (November 2019)