Cost-efficiency - Netherlands
PRB monitoring
▪ The en route 2020/2021 actual unit cost of the Netherlands was 147.06 €2017, -3.1% lower than the determined unit cost (151.70 €2017). The terminal actual unit cost was 293.15 €2017, -1.8% lower than the determined unit cost (298.57 €2017).
▪ The en route 2021 actual service units (1,565K) were +3.3% higher than determined (1,515K).
▪ In 2021, actual total costs were -6.5 M€2017 (-2.9%) lower compared to determined, with all cost categories being lower. The reduction was mainly driven by -3.6 M€2017 lower staff costs (-2.6%) driven by a freeze in salaries, and other operating costs (-1.8 M€2017, or -2.7%) due to cost containment measures.
▪ LVNL spent 21.3 M€2017 in 2021 related to costs of investments, -3.9% less than determined (22.2 M€2017), due to the postponement and delays of some investment projects due to COVID-19.
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2020/2021 was 151.58€, while the terminal actual unit cost incurred by users was 301.50€.
En route charging zone
Unit cost (KPI#1)
| Actual and determined data |
| Total costs - nominal (M€) |
2020-2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
| Actual costs |
474 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
| Determined costs |
478 |
246 |
253 |
259 |
| Difference costs |
−4 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
| Inflation assumptions |
2020-2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
| Determined inflation rate |
NA |
1.5% |
1.6% |
1.6% |
| Determined inflation index |
NA |
108.6 |
110.3 |
112.1 |
| Actual inflation rate |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
| Actual inflation index |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
| Difference inflation index (p.p.) |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
AUC vs. DUC
In the combined year 2020-2021, the AUC was -3.1% (or -4.64 €2017) lower than the planned DUC. This results from the combination of higher than planned TSUs (+1.7%) and lower than planned en route costs in real terms (-1.4%, or -6.5 M€2017).
En route service units
The difference between actual and planned TSUs (+1.7%) falls within the ±2% dead band. Hence the resulting additional en-route revenue is kept by the ANSPs.
En route costs by entity
Actual real en route costs are -1.4% (-6.5 M€2017) lower than planned. This is driven by the lower costs across all the entities in the charging zone: main ANSP - LVNL
(-1.1%, or -3.6 M€2017), other ANSP - MUAC (-0.6%, or -0.5 M€2017), MET service provider (-2.7%, or -0.5 M€2017) and NSA/EUROCONTROL (-4.6%, or -1.9 M€2017).
En route costs for the main ANSP at charging zone level
The lower than planned en route costs in real terms for LVNL (-1.1%, or -3.6 M€2017) result from:
- lower staff costs (-1.5%) reflecting cost-containment measures relating to staff wages;
- slightly higher other operating costs (+0.7%);
- lower depreciation (-2.5%) reflecting delays in projects implementation due to the impact of Covid-19;
- lower cost of capital (-15.1%) resulting from the lower than planned asset base and lower than planned average interest on debts; and,
- slightly lower than planned deduction for VFR exempted flights (-0.7%).
Actual unit cost incurred by the users (AUCU) (PI#1)
| AUCU components (€/SU) – 2020-2021 |
| Components of the AUCU in 2020-2021 |
€/SU |
| DUC |
159.49 |
| Inflation adjustment |
0.88 |
| Cost exempt from cost-sharing |
−0.87 |
| Traffic risk sharing adjustment |
0.00 |
| Traffic adj. (costs not TRS) |
−0.34 |
| Finantial incentives |
0.00 |
| Modulation of charges |
0.00 |
| Cross-financing |
0.00 |
| Other revenues |
−7.58 |
| Application of lower unit rate |
0.00 |
| Total adjustments |
−7.91 |
| AUCU |
151.58 |
| AUCU vs. DUC |
−5.0% |
| Cost exempt from cost sharing by item - 2020-2021 |
€'000 |
€/SU |
| New and existing investments |
−799.6 |
−0.26 |
| Competent authorities and qualified entities costs |
−253.0 |
−0.08 |
| Eurocontrol costs |
−1,610.0 |
−0.53 |
| Pension costs |
0.0 |
0.00 |
| Interest on loans |
0.0 |
0.00 |
| Changes in law |
0.0 |
0.00 |
| Total cost exempt from cost risk sharing |
−2,662.6 |
−0.87 |
The actual en route unit cost incurred by airspace users (AUCU) in respect of activities performed in the combined year 2020-2021 (151.58€) is -5.0% lower than the nominal DUC (159.49€) which includes DUC initially charged: 73.99€; and to be charged: 85.50€. The difference between these two figures (-7.91€/SU) is due to:
- the positive inflation adjustment resulting from higher than planned inflation (+0.88€/SU);
- the impact of adjustments resulting from the costs exempt from cost-sharing mechanism (-0.87€/SU);
- the deduction of the traffic adjustment (-0.34€/SU) for the costs not subject to traffic risk sharing to be reimbursed in future years; and,
- the deduction of the other revenues (-7.58€/SU).
The share of regulatory result in the AUCU (before the deduction of other revenues) is 2.3%.
LVNL net gain on activity in the Netherlands en route charging zone in the combined year 2020-2021
LVNL generated a net gain of +8.8 M€, resulting from a gain of +3.1 M€ arising from the cost sharing mechanism and a gain of +5.7 M€ arising from the traffic risk sharing mechanism.
LVNL overall regulatory results (RR) for the en route activity
Ex-post, the overall RR is equal to the net gain from the en route activity mentioned above (+8.8 M€) and corresponds to 2.5% of the en route revenues.
The RoE cannot be computed for LVNL, as its assets are entirely financed through debt.