December 18, 2023
NAV CANADA today announced it will proceed with its proposal to change customer service charges consistent with the Notice issued September 21, 2023.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant negative impact on global air traffic and on the aviation industry. The significantly lower air traffic volume during the pandemic resulted in the accumulation of a material shortfall in its Rate Stabilization Account (“RSA”) as NAV CANADA’s costs exceeded its revenue. Over the past several months the demand for air travel has remained strong and NAV CANADA's air traffic forecast reflects an assumed return to normal seasonal variation plus incremental growth. The revisions to service charges were made taking a balanced approach between NAV CANADA rebuilding its financial resilience, investing in safety and service delivery while supporting the industry by recovering the RSA shortfall over an extended timeframe.
The revised rates have two components: (i) a base rate adjustment to recover NAV CANADA’s anticipated fiscal 2024 costs, by service; and (ii) an additional temporary rate adjustment to recover a portion of the remaining cumulative RSA shortfall. The overall average net decrease in service charges of 5.57% includes an average base rate decrease of 9.33% and an average temporary rate increase of 3.76%. The rate adjustments vary by service category depending on how far each charge deviates from its breakeven level as well as how much it has contributed to the overall RSA shortfall as the impact of the pandemic on the individual service charge categories has been uneven. These revised charges will become effective on January 1, 2024 except as otherwise noted.
The proposal to revise charges was released on September 21, 2023 and was subject to a mandatory consultation period of at least 60 days.
Details of NAV CANADA's revised service charges are available here:
NAV CANADA is a private, not-for-profit company, established in 1996, providing air traffic control, airport advisory services, weather briefings and aeronautical information services for more than 18 million square kilometres of Canadian domestic and international airspace. The Company is internationally recognized for its safety record, and technology innovation.