The independent Performance Review Commission (PRC) has published a report providing a retrospective on the ANS industry's response to the COVID-19 crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented disruption in global aviation, forcing the ANS industry to adapt quickly to low levels of traffic and revenue. As the report demonstrates, it exposed the challenges for ANSPs and other ANS stakeholders in making decisions amid high uncertainty on traffic recovery. By 2021, the cumulative drop in revenue compared to 2019 amounted to some €11 billion, therefore bridging the revenue gap was a primary concern, with ANSPs relying heavily on cash reserves and access to loan financing. Measures containing cost and capex were also implemented, some of which, while necessary at the time, later proved to constrain recovery and capacity redeployment. In contrast, greater flexibility in workforce management and operations, as well as a good level of interaction amongst local and European stakeholders, was essential in adapting to the crisis.

This is a standalone report based on the analysis developed in the latest ATM Cost-Effectiveness (ACE) Benchmarking Report (2026 edition).

The data used for this report is publicly available on the ACE website, which offers direct access to all ACE reports, individual ANSP factsheets and an interactive dashboard allowing users to customise presentations based on ACE data.

For further information on the ACE benchmarking reports, or if you wish to provide feedback, please contact the Performance Review Unit ([email protected]).

Related links