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