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Langen, 6 July 2007 A time of change for German air navigation services CEO of DFS committed to further privatisation At today's annual press briefing of DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH, CEO Dieter Kaden announced that capital privatisation of DFS can be achieved within the next two years. The necessary legislation procedure can be completed by the next winter, allowing privatisation to be launched in spring 2008. Even though DFS is merely the subject of this process and cannot actively influence it, Kaden expressly welcomed the initiative of the Federal Government as he believes that it will consolidate the company's position in a liberalised European air navigation services market. Competition is fact, not fiction. This can be seen from the current situation at German regional airports, where competition was introduced on 22 June 2007. Ten regional airports signed contracts with the Austrian air navigation service provider Austrocontrol, nine airports chose the DFS subsidiary the Tower Company and three airports underwent certification to provide air navigation services themselves. With regard to its financial indicators, DFS is fit for the upcoming changes in Europe. Although, with nearly 3 million controlled flights, Germany has the highest air traffic volume in Europe, it ranks number one in terms of safety and punctuality among European air navigation services organisations – two aspects that play a decisive role for the competition with other European air navigation service providers. The independent Aircraft Proximity Evaluation Group (APEG*) recorded only two aircraft proximities attributed to category B**, with DFS being responsible for one of them. Punctuality figures also set a new record last year: 97.3 per cent (2005: 97 per cent) of all flights in German airspace did not have any ATC-related delays. "We are very proud of this result, particularly with regard to current climate issues", says Kaden. Improved punctuality also leads to a reduction in fuel consumption and aircraft engine emissions. Last year, environmentally harmful re-routings or holdings only affected one per cent of all flights – "a fantastic result" for such a complex and dense airspace as the German one, says Kaden. Productivity, another criterion for competition in the Single European Sky (SES), also increased significantly. Since 2002, the unit rate for terminal services was reduced by 26 per cent from €203 to €149 in 2006. With regard to the unit rate for enroute service, we recorded a decrease of 13 per cent from €61 in 2002 to €53 in 2006. Revenues declined from €881.7 million in 2005 to €875 million. The profit for the 2006 financial year rose to €26.9 million (2005: €18.2 million). Air traffic control charges, i.e. the charges airspace users pay DFS for its services, were lowered by 11.5 per cent for enroute services and slightly increased by 2.6 per cent for terminal services. * APEG: APEG is a group of experts which is commissioned by the Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs and comprises representatives of airlines, the German Air Force, general aviation, the German Airline Pilots' Association and air navigation services. ** Categories A and B Category A: Risk of collision; an aircraft proximity in which serious risk of collision has existed. Category B: Safety not assured; an aircraft proximity in which the safety of the aircraft may have been compromised and a pilot or air traffic controller had to intervene. DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH is a State-owned company under private law and has 5,200 employees. DFS ensures the safe and punctual handling of flights. Staff coordinate around 10,000 aircraft movements in German airspace every day, and more than three million movements every year. With this large number of flights, Germany has the highest traffic volume in Europe. DFS operates control centres in Langen, Bremen, Karlsruhe and Munich. In addition, DFS is represented in the Eurocontrol Centre in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and in the control towers of the 16 international German airports. DFS provides training and consultancy services around the world and develops and sells air traffic control, surveillance and navigation systems. The company's portfolio also comprises flight-relevant data, aeronautical publications and aeronautical information services. DFS has the following business units: Control Centre, Tower, Aeronautical Solutions and Aeronautical Information Management.
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