NATS boss criticises Government sell off plans
05.07.10
Government plans to sell off its 49% stake in the air traffic control company NATS risks weakening the UK’s voice in Europe ahead of a series of important aviation policy decisions, the company's new head has warned. Richard Deakin, who was appointed NATS chief executive in April, told the Financial Times newspaper: ‘If you are trying to push your cause with a Government that has zero financial interest in the company, I suspect that is a harder challenge.'
Chancellor George Osborne announced in his emergency Budget last month that he was considering selling the Government's 49% share in NATS, which was part-privatised in 2001 and is a rarity among the world’s mostly Government controlled air traffic control bodies. A consortium of 7 airlines – BA, BMI, Thomson, easyJet, Monarch, Thomas Cook and Virgin – own a 42% stake, while BAA has 4% and NATS staff the remaining 5%.
The prospect of a sale emerged at a time when policymakers are step up work on a long-standing plan to streamline European air traffic management according to traffic flows rather than national borders, with the project given a fresh push from the recent ash cloud crisis. Mr Deakin said much of the discussion would be ‘at a political level’, suggesting this means the Government needed to keep a strong voice in its main air traffic body.
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