A flight through the Slovak airspace is the most expensive compared to the neighbouring coutries. (source: TASR)
Compared to neighbouring countries, airlines have to pay the highest overflight fees for flying through Slovak airspace.
According to the inspection of the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ), one of the reasons for the costs are the very high benefits for employees of the state-run air traffic control company LPS.
In comparison, this year airlines are paying more than 50 percent less for a flight through Hungary. In Slovakia the fee is currently €72.23 per track unit, while in its southern neighbour airlines pay €33.68.
"Between 2019 and 2022, staff costs made up around 60 percent of the total costs of the company. This can be attributed to the unusually generous collective agreement, which, for example, also grants the possibility of a two-year severance pay for some positions. Slovak airspace is therefore not used as it could be. The revenues of the company could be higher," says NKÚ head Ľubomír Andrassy.
Although air traffic controllers are in high demand and it is a very difficult occupation, the benefits agreed to in the collective agreement need to be realistically set, points out Andrassy.
The average gross salary of all LPS employees is approximately €5,000. The benefits of controllers are several times higher.
NKÚ recommends that the Transport Ministry should develop a concept and strategy for the development of civil aviation, in which the requirements and scope of services provided by the LPS at individual airports would be defined.
