PRESS RELEASE: Review of 2012: very good punctuality record at skyguide with a reduced volume of traffic

skyguide / Review of 2012: very good punctuality record at skyguide with a reduced volume of traffic . Processed and transmitted by Thomson Reuters ONE. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Geneva, 6 February 2013. In 2012, skyguide once again produced very good punctuality figures. Overall, the Swiss air navigation service provider handled 96.7% of its flights without delays. The volume of air traffic in the airspace managed by skyguide fell by 1.8% as a result of the ongoing economic crisis in Europe. Air traffic at Geneva airport increased by 2.6%, while at Zurich airport it fell by 2.6%.

Punctuality remains consistently high In 2012, 96.7% of the flights managed by the Swiss air navigation service provider were on schedule. In the case of overflights, the delays caused by air traffic control amounted to only 0.13 minutes on average per flight (a fall of 34%). Skyguide's delay figures for overflights are significantly below the benchmark set by Eurocontrol for achieving the FABEC performance target. This is the result of targeted investment in increasing capacity, including the reorganisation of the airspace, the introduction of special planning systems and more intensive training for air traffic controllers. The fact that the volume of air traffic was lower than forecast also had a positive effect on punctuality.

Weather and airport capacity cause delays By contrast, in the airports the delays were largely due to adverse weather conditions. However, skyguide was easily able to meet its strategic punctuality targets. In Geneva, the average airport delay was 0.68 minutes per take-off or landing and 41% of the delays were caused by bad weather. The average airport delay in Zurich was 1.3 minutes and around one third of the delays were due to poor weather and one third to airport capacity.

Lower volume of traffic: Slight growth only in the low-cost segment The poor economic climate in Europe resulted in a lower volume of traffic. In 2012, skyguide handled 1.17 million instrument flights (down by 1.8% compared with the previous year's figure of 1.19 million). In the case of en route air traffic, in other words, the flights which pass through Swiss airspace without taking off or landing in Switzerland, the fall was particularly noticeable (- 3.2%). Only the low-cost segment saw a slight increase in flights compared with the previous year (+0.6%). The volume of traffic for traditional airlines, business travel and freight fell significantly (-2.2%, -5.7% and -6.2% respectively).

Instrument flights[1] in 2012:

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 2012 2011 Change | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Instrument flights 1,171,556 1,192,940 - 1.8% | | | | of which overflights 690,253 712,830 - 3.2% | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

On average, skyguide handled 3229 flights every day in 2012. The busiest day of the year was 15 June with 3980 flights. The year with the highest average of 3387 flights per day was 2008. The largest number of flights handled on one day was 4153 on 27 June 2008.

Fall in traffic in line with trend The reduction in air traffic of 1.8% recorded by skyguide corresponds with the European trend. Although passenger demand in Switzerland increased slightly, the airlines did not provide additional aircraft. Instead they improved their capacity usage and were able to compensate to a certain extent for the increased price of kerosene. However, the aviation industry remains in a very difficult economic situation. Around 60 airlines filed for bankruptcy around the world, of which 10 are based in Europe and one in Switzerland.

[1] Flights under instrument flight rules (IFR) take place in controlled airspace and make use of air navigation services.

skyguide swiss air navigation services ltd media relations CH-1215 Geneva 15

Contact:

phone: +41 22 417 40 08

e-mail: presse@skyguide.ch

internet: www.skyguide.ch

Skyguide is responsible for providing air navigation services in Switzerland and in parts of neighbouring countries. It has 1400 employees working in 14 different locations and safely and efficiently guides around 3200 civil and military flights a day, or 1.2 million a year, through the busiest and most complex airspace in Europe. Skyguide focuses on continuous improvement, targeted innovation and creative cooperation. Together with its partner organisations in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, the company forms part of the FABEC alliance, which is responsible for managing Central Europe's airspace. Skyguide is a non-profit limited company which has its head office in Geneva. It is majority-owned by the Swiss Confederation.

The media release can be downloaded from the following link:

Media release (PDF): http://hugin.info/134388/R/1675982/546074.pdf

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Source: skyguide via Thomson Reuters ONE [HUG#1675982]

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skyguide Geneva 15 Switzerland

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   February 06, 2013 08:32 ET (13:32 GMT)- - 08 32 AM EST 02-06-13