FCC signs alliance with Swedish company LFV to bid for air traffic control privatisation contracts

To this end, FCC has signed an alliance with Swedish company LFV to bid jointly for air traffic control contracts at Spanish airports, under tenders currently being organised by AENA.

FCC, which is controlled by Esther Koplowitz, has established subsidiary NAVSA (Navegación y Servicios Aeroportuarios S.A.) to engage in air traffic control and aviation services. FCC will establish a joint venture with LFV in which NAVSA will own 65% and LFV 35%.

FCC has created NAVSA with a view to bidding for privatised air traffic control contracts in Spain. The new company plans to associate its brand with effective, responsible, safe air traffic control. Its primary objective is to improve services to citizens in the area of aviation by adapting to the new situation defined by the Single European Sky regulation in response to growing air traffic.

LFV is a Swedish state-owned company that provides civil and military air traffic control services in that country. It employs over 1,400 air traffic controllers at 41 control towers in Sweden, plus the air traffic control centres in Stockholm and Malmö and a flight planning centre. Its headquarters are located in Norrköping, about 160 km south-west of Stockholm.

Plans to expand in Europe

LFV is one of Europe's leading providers of air traffic control services. In 2010, LFV handled over 654,000 operations, i.e. almost 32 million passengers; that figure is expected to increase in the coming years, particularly in 2011. Its primary objective is to offer safe, effective, environmentally-friendly navigation services in both civil and military aviation.

It now faces the challenge of establishing itself as a profitable supplier in the context of the Single European Sky. With its Danish counterpart, LFV is to provide air traffic control services in the NUAC airspace (Denmark and Sweden) under the Single European Sky initiative.

The FCC-LFV alliance seeks to enhance cost-effectiveness in air traffic control and attain a leading position in the liberalised air traffic control market.

FCC will enhance its position in the aviation sector by entering the air traffic control business in alliance with a solid partner with experience in safety and service quality. FCC already provides handling services at a number of airports in Spain and other European countries under the Flightcare brand. Flightcare is the ground services provider at some of the airports whose control towers are to be privatised in the first phase of liberalisation by AENA.