Switzerland's Air Navigation Service Provider

Skyguide continued its favourable results trends of the past few years in 2014, and delivered a further outstanding operational performance. The company’s safety systems show a consistently high degree of maturity, while its safety management is among the best in Europe. Skyguide’s punctuality performance – achieved in the continent’s most complex airspace – was also maintained at its extremely high levels: 96.7% of all the flights that the company handled in 2014 suffered zero delay. Skyguide reports an operating surplus (EBIT) for the year of CHF 28.08 million (compared to CHF 33.59 million for the previous year). Eurocontrol has also reconfirmed in a new study that the Swiss airspace which skyguide manages is the most complex in Europe.

Stagnating economy but slight traffic growth  
Skyguide handled 1.156 million flights in 2014, a slight 1.3% increase on the prior year. Total operating revenue was raised 2.8%, from the CHF 438.49 million of 2013 to CHF 449.72 million. Despite continuing difficult business and operating conditions, skyguide was able to lower the approach charges for its customers at Zurich and Geneva airports by a further 2%. And once again, part of the revenue generated from skyguide’s route charges was used to reduce the accumulated deficit of previous years, from the CHF 65.30 million at the end of 2013 to CHF 47.30 million at the end of 2014. Total operating expense stood at CHF 421.64 million, a 4.1% increase on the CHF 404.89 million of the previous year. The operating result (EBIT) for the year amounted to a surplus of CHF 28.08 million, a 16.4% decline from the CHF 33.59 million operating surplus of 2013.

Outlook for 2015: strong Swiss franc poses a major future challenge
With the recent slight increase in air traffic volumes – the first for many years – skyguide is cautiously optimistic for 2015. The positive trends of last year were also continued in January and Feburary’s traffic results.  

The Skyguide 2015 Ordinary General Meeting will be asked to newly elect three outstanding candidates to the company’s Board of Directors – Walter T. Vogel as its new chairman, and Cristina Feistmann and Dominik Hänggi as new representatives of the Swiss Confederation – when it meets in May. With the election of Ms. Feistmann, the Skyguide Board of Directors will also meet the Swiss Confederation’s 30% quota for female Board members in companies close to the Confederation.

Skyguide CEO Daniel Weder will be putting a particular focus on maintaining consistently high levels of safety, efficiency and customer centricity with Switzerland’s air navigation services in 2015. “We have continued to develop our company and its operations in a demanding and highly dynamic environment,” he says. “And we intend to remain on this course, for the benefit of our partners and our customers. The strength of the Swiss franc will pose a major challenge, though, given that three-quarters of our costs are incurred in Swiss francs while two-thirds of our revenues derive from the euro zone.”             

The 2014 Skyguide Annual Report is available online at:
http://www.skyguide.ch/en/company/publications/publications/