Annual Report 2010 - SkyGuide

Annual Report 2010

Contents
Skyguide in brief 2
The 2010 business year
Message from the Chairman and the CEO 6
Skyguide completes its first decade 7
Highlights of 2010 9
Key performance statistics 10
Management and operations
Swiss air navigation services and their strategic alignment and thrust 18
Air navigation services in practice
Safety management in a High Reliability Organisation 21
Operations: good marks for the core business 23
Snow, volcanic ash, strikes and the euro lead to irregular revenue trends 26
Technology and innovation 28
Employee skills and personnel policy 31
Environmental care 36
Corporate governance
The Board of Directors 38
The Board of Management 39
The management of the company 41
Financial report
Statutory accounts
Income statement for the years ended 31 December 2010 and 2009 48
Balance sheet as at 31 December 2010 and 2009 49
Annex to the statutory accounts as at 31 December 2010 50
Proposal of the Board of Directors 53
Report of the statutory auditors 54
Consolidated financial statements
Consolidated income statement for the years ended 31 December 2010 and 2009 56
Consolidated balance sheet as at 31 December 2010 and 2009 57
Consolidated cash flow statements for the years ended 31 December 2010 and 2009 58
Consolidated statement of changes in shareholders’ equity, for the years ended 31 December 2010 and 2009 60
Annex to the consolidated accounts as at 31 December 2010 62
Report of the group auditors 78
Air navigation services statement for 2010 80
Glossary of abbreviations 83
Contact and publishing details 84
skyguide Annual Report 2010 1

Skyguide in brief
The skyguide vision: a first-class performer in
Switzerland and Europe
Skyguide positions itself as a highly reliable and successful
provider of civil and military air navigation services. This is
how the company is perceived in Switzerland and Europe;
and it makes skyguide an attractive collaboration partner at
the European level.
A clear positioning in Switzerland and Europe
Skyguide is a business-minded and customer-focused
joint-stock company under Swiss private law that is owned by
the Swiss Confederation. The company aims to continue to
develop within the rapidly-changing European air navigation
services environment, and has enshrined this desire in its
overall corporate strategy. This is why skyguide continues to
lobby for greater clarity in the current air navigation services
financing arrangements. At the international level, the
company strengthens its position in the present endeavours
to create a Single European Sky, through its various international
collaborations and its further creative commitment.
Skyguide is convinced that this approach is the only means
of ensuring that Swiss sovereign airspace can continue
to be managed and monitored safely and efficiently by a
Swiss-based organisation.
Mandate and public services
Skyguide performs its services under a legal mandate issued
by the Swiss Confederation and the Federal Office of Civil
Aviation (FOCA), Switzerland’s national aviation authority.
The mandate requires skyguide to ensure the safe, fluid and
cost-effective management of air traffic in Swiss airspace and
in the adjacent airspace of neighbouring countries that has
been delegated to its control. Skyguide’s legally-prescribed
duties and tasks entail providing civil and military air navigation
services, aeronautical information and telecommunications
services and the technical services required to install,
operate and maintain the company’s air navigation systems.
Skyguide is fully committed to its public service mandate.
Civil and military air navigation services
The closest possible collaboration between civil and military
air navigation services is essential if Switzerland’s airspace is
to be safely and efficiently managed. By providing integrated
civil-and-military air navigation services (as it has done
since 2001), skyguide meets both the Swiss Air Force’s need
to maintain the country’s airspace sovereignty and the civil
aviation community’s demand for maximum cost efficiency.
Skyguide’s integrated civil-and-military air navigation
services enhance the flexibility of airspace use, to the benefit
of all its users.
2
A sustainable approach
As a High Reliability Organisation (HRO), skyguide strives
to achieve and maintain a dynamic balance between safety,
capacity, costs and sustainability in the services it provides.
The last of these components – sustainability – extends to
the company’s corporate responsibility in both social and
environmental terms. Skyguide pursues a progressive and
social personnel policy that is based on reciprocal respect
and on an appreciation of the individual and their position
in the company. In a broader sense, the company creates
highly-specialised jobs in a demanding technical field, and
thereby helps develop tomorrow’s skills and expertise within
the Swiss economy. Environmental care has become a major
issue throughout the aviation industry, and skyguide intends
to further intensify its own contribution here.
Ten years in its latest guise
Skyguide traces its origins back to Marconi Radio AG, a telegraphy
company that was founded in 1922. Marconi Radio was
renamed Radio Schweiz AG in 1928. In 1931 the Swiss Federal
Air Office mandated the company to provide air navigation
services in Switzerland. To ensure a clearer focus on what is
now skyguide’s core business, Radio Schweiz’s air navigation
services were spun off in 1988 into Swisscontrol Swiss Air
Navigation Services Ltd. The new company was placed on
an autonomous financial footing in 1996. In 2001 the Swiss
Confederation expanded Swisscontrol’s mandate to providing
military air navigation services – the first time in European
aviation history that such civil and military services had been
entrusted to the same organisation. The company renamed
itself “skyguide” to underline its new strategic thrust and
promote the subsequent integration of its civil and military
operations. 2011 thus marks the tenth anniversary of skyguide’s
establishment as a company providing both civil and
military air navigation services.
Airspace control draws different borders
The airspace skyguide manages and monitors extends beyond
Switzerland’s borders into France, Italy, Austria and Germany.
In fact, over 40 % of the flights handled by the company are
in this adjacent foreign airspace which has been assigned to
skyguide’s control. In return, part of southern Swiss airspace
is controlled by Italy’s air navigation service provider, and
the air traffic of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg is
managed by skyguide’s counterpart in France. As a result
of its particular position within the international airways
network, Swiss airspace is among the most complex and
heavily-used in Europe, and is home to two of the continent’s
busiest airway intersections. The resulting large volumes
of en-route traffic are supplemented by sizeable numbers
of climbing and descending flights that are generated by
the numerous intercontinental airports located close to the
Swiss border in neighbouring countries. Swiss airspace also
includes extensive areas which are reserved for the use of the
Swiss Air Force at certain times.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Genf
Cointrin
Skyguide’s airspace, locations and infrastructures
Payerne
Grenchen
Sion
Bern
Belp
Small country, sizeable complexity
Any flight which is operated under instrument flight rules
(IFR) will pass through various control sectors. The greater
the number of sectors involved, the more complex and
demanding the flight’s management will be. Traffic to and
from airports and their terminal manoeuvring areas (TMAs)
in neighbouring countries poses particularly substantial
demands. Well over a third of all the flights which skyguide
manages are descending to or climbing from airports outside
Switzerland. This substantially raises the complexity of the
services provided and the workloads involved.
Zürich Kloten
Emmen
Alpnach
Meiringen
Air traffic to and from Switzerland’s various airports is
similarly demanding in management terms. All in all, more
than 70 % of the flights handled by skyguide require such
increased coordination. En-route traffic, which flies through
skyguide’s airspace at a predefined flight level and accounts
for 30 % of all skyguide-controlled flights, is less workintensive.
Skyguide is also responsible for managing and
monitoring all visual flight rules (VFR) traffic in the airspace
it controls.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 3
Buochs
Dübendorf
Locarno
Lugano Agno
St.Gallen
Altenrhein
Radar and navigation aids on the ground ensure safety in the air. Skyguide has its head office in Geneva and operations at 14 locations: at Geneva and Zurich
national airports, at Bern Belp, Buochs, Grenchen (SO), Locarno, Lugano Agno, St. Gallen Altenrhein and Sion regional airports and at Alpnach, Dübendorf,
Emmen, Meiringen and Payerne military aerodromes. At Les Eplatures, air navigation services (ANS) are delegated by skyguide to the local airport operator;
skyguide still retains supervisory authority over ANS at this regional aerodrome, and is also empowered to issue directives if required.
Civil locations
Military locations
Airspace managed by skyguide
Delegated airspace
Flight Information Region (FIR) Switzerland
Flight zones used primarily by civil traffic with main airways
Flight zones available for military traffic according to the Air Force’s
needs and reservations
Mixed flight zones used according to the priorities of civil or
military traffic
Cross Border Area (CBA), military flight zone used in common
with France and Italy
Instrument landing systems (ILS)
VOR/DME beacons
Non-directional beacons and marker systems
Direction finder systems
Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (ASMGCS)
Approach/departure radar systems
Long-range radar systems

The 2010 business year

Message from the Chairman and the CEO
Skyguide did its job in 2010. Some 1.16 million flights
controlled, consistently high safety levels and an excellent
punctuality performance all testify that our company has a
firm command of its core business. And for their great professionalism
and their unstinting commitment, we offer our
thanks to all our employees in our civil and military air traffic
management, our technical services, our safety management
and all our various support units. Thanks to the sound
and reliable work they perform day in, day out, our Board
of Directors and Board of Management have been able to
continue to pursue the key strategic projects that will help lead
skyguide to its European future.
The endeavours to this latter end included further progress
in establishing the new jointly-managed Functional Airspace
Block Europe Central (FABEC) together with our project
partners. The project’s founding document was created on 2
December 2010 when the FABEC States Agreement was
formally signed in Brussels by representatives of all the participating
countries. The FABEC partners have already effected
a number of improvements to the airspace concerned (which
accounts for 55 % of all Europe’s air traffic) that have enabled
its users to save 1.5 million flight kilometres and 5 000 tonnes
of fuel. It is skyguide’s firm intention to swiftly offer users
further enhancements to the air navigation services provided.
The participating providers will now need to decide what
form their multinational collaboration should take. Skyguide
favours a cooperation model in which the participating
providers would be the owners and operators of a central
FABEC service entity.
In pursuit of the continuous improvement of safety, we
implemented two innovations. Using what are known as
hazard registers, our safety experts carried out a holistic,
systematic investigation of two organisational units in air
navigation services operations. Skyguide has also developed its
safety monitoring system into a safety performance cockpit.
These two developments place skyguide at the European
forefront of safety management.
Raising our performance is a permanent skyguide duty and
concern. And it was to this end that we continued our studies
in 2010 of six strategic options for our company’s future
locations. These efforts included a study – together with
our counterparts in Germany and France – of a joint centre
located in the Basel border region. It is a solution that offers
sizeable promise and potential; but it would not be financially
viable under present overall conditions. In the shorter term,
a “virtual amalgamation” of our Geneva and Zurich centres
via innovative technologies appears to be the most attractive
option. The fully-digitised control system for the upper
airspace in Western Switzerland – a world first for skyguide
– should now be extended to all the other sectors managed
by our two area control centres. The additional efficiency and
interoperability which the new system can provide should
not only increase our Swiss airspace capacity, but should help
further promote skyguide’s innovative credentials throughout
the European air navigation services sector.
6
Traffic trends in 2010 proved less steady than might have been
expected given the gradual economic recovery. The reasons
for this were the major eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull
volcano, strike actions in several European countries and
repeated airport closures owing to severe falls of snow. Air traffic
grew by only 0.8 %, to regain the level of 2007. Nevertheless,
with a huge effort, skyguide succeeded in reducing costs for the
third year in a row in response to its greatly reduced income and
thus ensured continuity in its long-term financial planning.
Our potentials for cost reductions will soon, however, be
exhausted. As a result, our route charges were raised by 4.9 % at
the beginning of 2011, to recoup around a third of the revenues
lost. This still means, however, that skyguide is bearing twothirds
of the losses currently being suffered as a result of the
economic crisis. The present strength of the Swiss franc is also
posing something of a paradox. Thanks to the cost economies
achieved, skyguide has managed to keep its route and approach
charges broadly unchanged in real terms; but with the euro’s
loss in value, our services have still become increasingly more
expensive in an international comparison – by as much as 9.2 %
in 2010 alone. The Euro exchange rate developed greatly to our
disadvantage and will continue to be an issue in the future.
We were particularly heartened in the course of the year by the
Swiss Confederation and further political support that skyguide
received in its efforts to rectify the present structurally-based
cost underrecovery. Once Switzerland’s partially-revised Federal
Aviation Act enters into effect in 2011, skyguide will be compensated
by the Swiss Confederation for any air navigation services
it provides in adjacent airspace areas of neighbouring countries
which are otherwise unremunerated as they are not covered by
corresponding international agreements. In a further encouraging
development on the same front, the Swiss National Council
unanimously approved a proposed amendment to the present
legislation on mineral oil tax in the course of its winter session.
The new provisions will enable skyguide to receive compensation
– probably from autumn 2011 onwards – for any air navigation
services it provides at the country’s regional aerodromes
whose costs are not covered by the revenues raised. This will
have a positive impact on the approach charges of Geneva and
Zurich airports. The new financing arrangements help provide
a level playing field for skyguide and its European partners, and
this in turn should strengthen our position in the medium term.
We take this opportunity to offer our thanks to the Swiss electorate
and parliament for the confidence they have placed in
us, and to the owner, the supervisory authorities, the Swiss Air
Force, our unions and staff associations, our partners and all our
further stakeholders for the unstinting support they have given
us in what has been a long and arduous process. We all share the
same goal: to maintain skyguide as a safe, efficient and strong
Swiss provider of air navigation services that can continue to
play its part in ensuring the balanced further development of the
international aviation sector.
Guy Emmenegger
Chairman of the Board
Daniel Weder
CEO
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Skyguide completes its first decade
It was on 18 August 1999 that Swiss Federal Councillors Adolf Ogi and Moritz Leuenberger,
ministers of defence and transport respectively, resolved to integrate Switzerland’s civil and
military air navigation services into a single organisation. Skyguide was duly founded on 1
January 2001; and Switzerland became the first country in Europe to entrust all its air traffic
management – including the tactical command of its military jets – to a company organised
under private law. One year later, skyguide welcomed 108 new colleagues from the Swiss Air
Force. And in 2005 skyguide and the Swiss Air Force became the co-habitants of the new Air
Navigation Center in Wangen, near Dübendorf.
Delays cut by 80 %
In the first ten years of its existence, skyguide has significantly
enhanced its punctuality record. In the 1980s and
1990s, air traffic volumes had grown so fast that capacity
was often unable to cope, and delays frequently resulted at
various points in the system. In its first ten years, skyguide
has invested substantially in expanding the existing capacity;
and, as a result, the company has reduced the numbers of
delays attributable to air traffic management by a sizeable
80 %. Skyguide today has an excellent punctuality record in
any international comparison, and its Geneva and Zurich
area control centres are among Europe’s best performers in
punctuality terms.
An optimised airspace structure and additional
controller staff
Skyguide has achieved these substantial performance
improvements by fundamentally restructuring the airspace
under its control, adopting innovative new efficiency-raising
technologies and significantly expanding its operational
workforce: the company now has 15 % more civil air traffic
controllers and provides instruction for 48 % more trainees
than it did ten years ago.
Sizeable fluctuations in traffic volumes
Air traffic volumes have shown strongly fluctuating trends
in skyguide’s first ten years. The air transport sector is
particularly sensitive to the general economic mood, and the
major economic crises of 2001 and 2008 both had a sizeable
and immediate impact on the numbers of flights handled.
All in all, air traffic volumes have grown by only 2.7 % in
skyguide’s first decade. But between 2002 and 2008 – up
until the financial and economic crisis at the end of the latter
year – traffic volumes grew by a far more substantial 15.5 %.
Military air traffic remained stable over the whole period but
was subject to some fluctuations.
A services agreement with the Swiss Air Force
Since 2002, skyguide and the Swiss Air Force have enshrined
their collaboration in a bilateral services agreement which is
revised and adapted each year. The approach has proved its
worth, providing both greater cost transparency and a better
appreciation of the quality of the services provided. The
close collaboration between Switzerland’s civil and military
air navigation services has also proved its worth, enabling
various airspace protection missions to be flown smoothly
and without incident every year (during the Davos World
Economic Forum, for instance) and as and when required
(such as during the 2008 European Soccer Championships,
the G-8 Summit in Evian or the Francophonie Summit in
Montreux). For skyguide, the Swiss Air Force is a particularly
important and reliable partner.
Ready for tomorrow’s challenges
Skyguide today is well prepared to meet and master the many
and varied challenges that are sure to lie ahead. Progress on
the FABEC project is leading to more and ever-closer contacts
among the air navigation services organisations of the six
FABEC countries. And further enhancing air navigation
services and continuing to make steady improvements in
safety, efficiency and environmental terms are the challenges
that are now being tackled together by skyguide and its fellow
FABEC members.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 7

8
Meiringen team
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Highlights of 2010
March
Aviation data exchanged with France: a successful cooperation
Switzerland’s new centralised aeronautical fixed services
platform for exchanging aviation data is put into service in
Geneva in close collaboration with the DSNA, France’s air
navigation service provider. The new platform ensures interoperability
with several other European countries.
Controllers’ collective labour agreement extended
The four staff associations of Aerocontrol, the APTC, the
PVB and Skycontrol and skyguide management sign an
unchanged but newly-extended collective labour agreement
for the company’s air traffic controller personnel, together
with new annexes thereto. The new four-year accord enters
retroactive effect on 1 January 2010.
April
Volcanic ash from Iceland prompts Swiss airspace closure
Following the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano,
the Federal Office of Civil Aviation closes Swiss airspace to
instrument flight rules flights on 16 April. Our collaboration
with our partners in Switzerland was exemplary.
Standardised phone and radio system complete
A new radio communications facility is put into operation at
the Dübendorf Air Navigation Center in the night of 27-28
April. The new facility marks the conclusion of a five-year
programme to standardise skyguide’s communications
systems.
May
Controversial antenna construction announced
The Swiss Army announces plans at the end of May to
construct a radio reception antenna on Mont-Tendre in
Canton Vaud. Skyguide wishes to co-use the new facility,
to provide a back-up for its nearby Le Cunay facility. The
project is strongly opposed by environmental organisations,
and is subsequently stopped in November by the Federal
Council. Skyguide seeks alternative solutions.
Pioneer ground collision warning system adopted
Skyguide adopts a new ground collision warning system at
Zurich Airport at the end of May (having introduced the
same system for Geneva in mid-December 2009). The new
facility helps tower controllers monitor the movements of
aircraft and vehicles in runway, taxiway and apron areas.
Skyguide and the Zurich and Geneva airport authorities are
among the first operators in Europe to adopt a system of
this kind.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 9
June
New airspace sectors for Zurich and Eastern Switzerland
Skyguide introduces a new sectorisation of the upper
airspace of Eastern Switzerland in the night of 2-3 June.
The new sector arrangements enable the Zurich area
control centre to offer 20 % more capacity and improve its
punctuality performance in handling upper-airspace traffic
by 80 %.
New power supply for the Le Cunay radio facility
The Le Cunay radio station in Canton Vaud, which transmits
voice communications between pilots and the controllers at
the Geneva area control centre, has its more than 30-year-old
underground high-voltage power cables replaced in a
two-month operation.
September
Project launched to extend stripless operations throughout Switzerland
The Board of Management resolves to equip all sector
operations at the Geneva and Zurich area control centres
with the fully-digitised “stripless” control system, and gives
the green light for the extensive harmonisation programme
required. The stripless system is one of the landmark developments
of skyguide and its SkySoft-ATM subsidiary in the
past few years.
October
Skyguide CEO appointed to European Commission’s Aviation Platform
The European Commission invites skyguide CEO
Daniel Weder to join its new Aviation Platform headed by
EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas. The new body
advises the Commission on questions pertaining to the
European aviation.
November
FABEC airspace management shortens European night routes
As part of the broader endeavours to harmonise Europe’s
airspace, skyguide and its FABEC partners shorten 115 international
routes during the night hours. The shortened routes
save airlines around 800 000 nautical miles a year (just under
1.5 million kilometres) and almost 5 000 tonnes of fuel.
Management change
Urs Ryf, member of the Board of Management and Chief
Operating Officer, announces that he will step down from
his position on 1 August 2011. After 11 years of service with
skyguide and its predecessor, Ryf has decided to take a sabbatical
of several months. He will remain a skyguide employee.
December
FABEC States Agreement signed
The six FABEC member states – Belgium, France, Germany,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland – formally
sign the project’s framework agreement at the beginning of
December, committing themselves to creating the proposed
Functional Airspace Block Europe Central and establishing a
new FABEC Council to govern the same.

Key performance statistics
Air traffic volumes showed highly uneven developments in the course of 2010. Some operating
areas saw sizeable growth; but strike actions in France, Spain, Belgium and Greece, adverse
weather conditions and the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano combined to thwart
any comprehensive recovery from the crisis of 2008 and 2009. The volume of IFR traffic handled
by skyguide in 2010 was only 0.8 % above its prior-year level, and the levels of en-route traffic
handled even showed a 0.2 % decline. As a result, traffic volumes for the year were at the levels
previously seen in 2007.
IFR flights
The volumes of IFR flights managed and monitored by
skyguide were particularly low at the beginning of 2010 – the
lowest, in fact, for six years. But apart from a 13.2 % dip in
April as a result of the volcanic ash cloud, the numbers of
IFR flights handled rose steadily from February onwards,
and by July were some 4.4 % up on the same month the
previous year. The growth then slowed from August onwards
and (owing partly to adverse weather conditions) IFR flight
volumes for December were even a slight 0.4 % below their
2009 level. The eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in
Iceland and the resulting ash cloud prompted a steep decline
in traffic volumes throughout Europe between 15 and 21
April which eroded around one per cent of total annual
growth. While the low-cost carriers and the business aviation
sector saw substantial expansion throughout the year, the
traditional carriers had to wait until July to see any increase
in their market share.
Change
2010 2009 09/10
Total IFR flights 1 156 960 1 147 230 + 0.8 %
of which en-route traffic 706 165 707 823 – 0.2 %
Movements handled
The following table shows the relative sizes of skyguide’s
various centres and operating locations and the corresponding
development of their IFR traffic. A distinction must
be made here between a “movement” and a “flight”. Generally
speaking, one flight will generate multiple flight movements
registered at the various area control centres along its route,
and will also generate two, one or no airport movements for
skyguide, depending on whether its airport of departure and/
or arrival is in the airspace controlled.
2010 2009
Change
09/10
Area control centres
Geneva 629 040 622 781 + 1.0 %
Zurich 762 279 755 102 + 1.0 %
Total area control centres 1 391 319 1 377 883 + 1.0 %
10
2010 2009
Change
09/10
IFR landings/departures
Bern 13 747 12 894 + 6.6 %
Buochs 1 421 1 510 – 5.9 %
Donaueschingen 1 497 1 506 – 0.6 %
Friedrichshafen 19 013 17 498 + 8.7 %
Geneva 164 470 161 767 + 1.7 %
Grenchen 5 381 5 207 + 3.3 %
Les Eplatures 1 434 1 577 – 9.1 %
Lugano 10 454 10 213 + 2.4 %
Sion 4 815 4 676 + 3.0 %
St. Gallen Altenrhein 9 693 9 548 + 1.5 %
Zurich 256 720 250 033 + 2.7 %
Total landings/departures 488 645 476 429 + 2.6 %
As the trends in IFR movements at skyguide’s various centres
reveal, air traffic volumes did show some slight signs of
recovery in 2010. Zurich Airport saw a 2.7 % increase in its
IFR movements, while IFR traffic at Geneva was up 1.7 %.
The area control centres, which largely manage and monitor
en-route traffic, each saw a 1.0 % increase in the movement
volumes handled. The recent economic crisis thus seems to
have had slightly less impact on the volumes of air traffic
to and from Switzerland than on traffic overflying the
country, which generally tends to develop in line with overall
European trends.
Military aircraft movements
After sustaining declines for the previous few years, the
volume of military air traffic handled by skyguide in 2010
was a 6.3 % increase on its prior-year level:
Change
2010 2009 09/10
Military aircraft movements 79 092 74 395 + 6.3 %
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Tactical missions
Skyguide managed 297 live/hot missions and 2 432 tactical
missions for the Swiss Air Force in the course of the year.
Total missions were up around 2 % on prior-year levels, while
the number of major exercises handled increased by 16 %.
VFR flights
Change
2010 2009 09/10
Bern 40 890 47 072 – 13.1 %
Buochs 8 458 6 778 + 24.8 %
Geneva 14 222 12 460 + 14.1 %
Grenchen 61 896 64 004 – 3.3 %
Les Eplatures 8 668 10 016 – 13.5 %
Lugano 11 180 15 364 – 27.2 %
Sion 37 192 39 124 – 4.9 %
St. Gallen Altenrhein 18 072 20 980 – 13.9 %
Zurich 11 762 12 146 – 3.2 %
Total landings/departures 212 340 227 944 – 6.8 %
The numbers of visual flight rules (VFR) flights – which
consist largely of general aviation and helicopter traffic – saw
a steep decline. Total VFR movements handled for the year
were 6.8 % down on 2009.
Civil IFR traffic trends
The graph below shows the seasonal fluctuations in
the volumes of IFR flights handled daily by skyguide
between 1998 and 2010. Each point represents the number
of IFR flights handled on a particular day. The seasonal fluctuations
in air traffic levels can be seen in the very low volumes
during the end-of-year period and the strong increases
between June and September (though August tends to show
slight volume declines). Traffic levels can also be influenced by
further factors, such as the entry into service of new technical
systems (with corresponding temporary capacity reductions)
or strike action.
IFR flights all skyguide centres Source CFMU
IFR flights/day
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
01.01.1998
01.01.1999
01.01.2000
01.01.2001
01.01.2002
01.01.2003
01.01.2004
IFR flights handled by all skyguide centres
January 1998 to December 2010
01.01.2005
01.01.2006
01.01.2007
01.01.2008
01.01.2009
01.01.2010
The graph reveals a steady increase in air traffic volumes from
1998 to the first half of 2001, followed by a tangible decline
in 2002 whose origins can be traced back to October 2001.
Following this, there is clear volume growth again until the
beginning of 2008, and a visible decline at the end of that
year which became even more pronounced in the course
of 2009. 2010 saw a modest recovery in traffic volumes, with
a few steep setbacks as a result of the volcanic eruption in
Iceland and its ramifications.
Skyguide handled an average of 3170 flights a day in 2010.
The peak traffic day during the year was 2 July, with 3993
flights. By comparison, the record number of average flights
handled per day is 3 380, achieved for 2008; and the all-time
record for flights handled in a single day stands at 4153, on 27
June of that year.
Punctuality statistics (air traffic flow management)
The air traffic flow management (ATFM) departure delays
caused by air traffic control are a key criterion for assessing
the performance of any air navigation service provider.
ATFM departure delays can occur whenever Europe’s
Central Flow Management Unit (CFMU) predicts that the
number of flights scheduled to use a particular sector of
airspace according to the flight plans submitted will exceed
the sector’s capacity (i.e. the number of aircraft that can be
handled within it during a certain period of time). In such an
event, the CFMU will intervene to assign specific takeoff slots
to the individual flights concerned.
Average ATFM delay per flight – airport/en-route (skyguide airspace)
Source CFMU
skyguide Annual Report 2010 11
Delay (in minutes)
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
• Total
• En-route
• Airport
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
3.93
3.50
0.43
2.91
2.59
0.32
1.37
1.12
0.25
1.40
0.89
0.51
1.35
0.70
0.65
1.35
0.84
0.51
1.42
1.13
0.29
1.64
1.12
0.52
2008
1.10
0.76
0.34
2009
0.74
0.51
0.23
2010
0.80
0.48
0.32

Dynamic capacity management
As it had the previous year, skyguide delivered an outstanding
operating performance in 2010. Thanks in no small part to
the adoption of a new structure for the upper airspace of
Eastern Switzerland, the company even improved on 2009’s
excellent punctuality record by a further 6.0 %: the average
delay for an en-route flight amounted to just 0.48 minutes.
Overall average delays per flight did increase by 7 %, however,
as a result of the adverse weather conditions experienced at
the beginning and end of the year and the consequent rise
in airport delays.
Average delayed flights per day (skyguide airspace) Source CFMU
Number of flights
12
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Change
(in %)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
2009
−17.2 −20.9 −45.6 −7.7 −4.8 +4.5 +2.5 +18.3 −31.9 −32.5
2010
Skyguide handled 96 % of its daily flight volumes without delays in 2010.
The average number of flights affected by delays stood at 139 per day, a 5 %
improvement on 2009.
−4.9
Air traffic management capacity was the prime cause of the
delays incurred, accounting for 69 % of them. Eight per cent
of delays were caused by personnel shortages, 13 % resulted
from the planned capacity reductions when the new airspace
structure was adopted, and around 9 % of delays could be
ascribed to adverse weather conditions. The new airspace
organisation did help substantially enhance punctuality from
as early as July onwards.
Average delayed flights per day (Europe) Source CFMU
Number of flights
Average ATFM delay per delayed flights (Europe & skyguide airspace)
Source CFMU
Delay (in minutes)
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
Change
(in %)
25
20
15
10
5
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
2008
2009
2010
−9.3 −11.0 −33.2 −13.3 +2.4 +11.9 +2.8 +17.4 +8.3 −38.2 +54.5
In Europe as a whole, 12 % of daily air traffic movements suffered ATFM delays.
The average number of flights suffering delays Europewide stood at 3162
a day, a 54 % increase on the previous year. The deterioration in Europe’s
punctuality performance is attributable mainly to the weather conditions
experienced and to the strike actions taken in France, Spain, Belgium and
Greece in the course of the year.
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Change (in %)
• Europe −19.1 −2.3 −2.4 −5.1 −1.6 +5.4 +0.1 +0.2 +2.6 +3.3 +22.9
• skyguide −18.2 −7.9 −16.3 +10.5 +6.2 −5.3 +0.8 +7.1 –5.4 –2.4 +9.4
When delays become inevitable through the need to manage air traffic
flows, it is important to minimise their impact on the flights concerned.
The average length of the delays experienced in skyguide’s airspace in 2010
amounted to 16.6 minutes per delayed flight (compared to 15.2 minutes for
2009). The result is well below the 24.4 minutes recorded for Europe as a
whole (which compares to 19.8 minutes in 2009). Strikes, adverse weather,
the adoption of new control systems at Karlsruhe and personnel shortages
at the continent’s area control centres are the main reasons for the increase
in the length of these delays at the European level.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

ATM operations
Skyguide has set itself clear and ambitious punctuality
goals for both its en-route and its airport traffic handling.
The delay statistics presented here make no distinction as
to the cause of the delay, but are only categorised by the
place where the delay occurs. To gain a clear and accurate
picture of an air navigation service provider’s performance,
however, the individual causes of the delays incurred must
also be considered. ATFM departure delays can have any of
a number of causes, only some of which an air navigation
service provider can be held responsible for. The list of
possible causes has been standardised throughout Europe
and comprises:
Causes attributable to ANS providers Exogenous factors
– Accident/Incident – De-icing
– ATC capacity – Equipment (non-ATC)
– Industrial action (ATC) – Aerodrome capacity
– ATC routing – Military activity
– ATC staffing – Industrial action (non ATC)
– Equipment (ATC) – Special event
– Environmental issues
– Weather
The restructuring of the airspace around Zurich Airport
helped engineer a further 7,3 % year-on-year improvement in
en-route punctuality to an average delay of just 0.38 minutes
per flight. On the airport traffic front, the sometimes extreme
operating peaks led to more delays. The average delay here
attributable to skyguide amounted to 0.37 minutes per
landing/takeoff, a 54 % increase on the average 0.24 minutes
of 2009.
Zurich Airport: Having recorded an exceptionally good
performance in 2009, skyguide saw the substantial growth in
the volumes of traffic using Zurich Airport (which for several
weeks amounted to more than 5 %) result in an exponential
increase in airport delays. The average delay per landing/
takeoff rose from 0.57 to 0.64 minutes, of which 0.26 minutes
was attributable to skyguide.
Geneva Airport: ATFM delays per landing/takeoff increased in
Geneva, too. The average for the year was 1.23 minutes, with
0.6 minutes thereof attributable to skyguide (compared to
0.46 minutes in 2009). Here, too, the increase can be ascribed
to personnel shortage, the extreme weather conditions
encountered and to general traffic growth, which was as much
as 7.5 % above prior-year levels in the summer months.
Zurich Airport
Total ATFM
delay Attributable to Attributable to Skyguide
in minutes exogenous factors skyguide share
2009 143 702 112 807 30 895 21 %
2010 164 445 97 460 66 985 41 %
Geneva Airport
Total ATFM
delay Attributable to Attributable to Skyguide
in minutes exogenous factors skyguide share
2009 123 699 48 499 75 200 61 %
2010 202 505 103 926 98 579 49 %
En-route ATFM delay per flight – skyguide airspace Source CFMU
Minutes
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
• Total
• Skyguide responsible
• Exogenous factors
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
0.92
0.81
0.11
0.72
0.68
0.04
0.84
0.74
0.10
1.12
0.96
0.16
1.12
0.94
0.18
0.76
0.64
0.12
0.51
0.41
0.10
0.48
0.38
0.10
Airport ATFM delay per flight – all Dep/Arr in Switzerland Source CFMU
skyguide Annual Report 2010 13
Minutes
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
• Total
• Skyguide responsible
• Exogenous factors
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
1.27
0.35
0.92
1.67
0.57
1.10
1.35
0.48
0.87
0.78
0.33
0.45
1.42
0.58
0.84
0.90
0.46
0.44
0.61
0.24
0.37
0.82
0.37
0.45

Aeronautical Information Management (AIM)
Skyguide’s Aeronautical Information Management consists
of two units: Information & Briefing Service and Data
Management & Aeronautical Publications. Each provides its
own performance data.
Information & Briefing Service
The central Information & Briefing Service for Switzerland
offers flight advisory and preparation services via its selfbriefing
and homebriefing facilities, together with the Expert
Service Center. These services and facilities are used primarily
by the flight crews and operations units of general aviation
companies. The main service provided by Information &
Briefing here is procuring, evaluating and preparing the
data required for flight briefings and operational planning
(airspace restrictions, meteorological reports, NOTAMs,
arrival and departure charts etc.) from all over the world.
Small and medium-sized operators are increasingly seeking
opportunities to outsource or buy-in functions such as
their flight planning and dispatch, to enable them to focus
more squarely on their core flight operations. Skyguide’s
Information & Briefing Service has expanded its range of
services accordingly in response to this development.
Information & Briefing is also home to the ATS/AIS
Reporting Office (ARO), which receives, processes and
distributes flight plans, and to the International NOTAM
Office (NOF), which is in contact with some 150 similar units
around the world. The NOF ensures the publication and
distribution of Swiss NOTAMs; and it evaluates the NOTAMs
from its fellow NOFs and passes these on to customers in
Switzerland, either via the briefing system or by using an
electronic NOTAM data feed which places them directly in
the customers’ operating systems.
Change
2010 2009 09/10
NOTAMs processed 680 884 662 935 + 2.7 %
of which SNOWTAMs 61 132 53 585 + 14.1 %
Flight plans processed
by ARO Switzerland 103 627 113 904 – 9.0 %
Messages for
air navigation services 110 952 110 536 + 0.4 %
Telephone briefings
by Dübendorf AIM
Service Center 52 749 58 262 – 9.5 %
The decline in the volumes of general aviation traffic was
reflected in the 9 % fall in the numbers of flight plans
processed.
14
Data Management & Aeronautical Publications
Skyguide’s Data Management & Aeronautical Publications
unit publishes aeronautical information for Switzerland
on behalf of the Swiss Confederation and in compliance
with international provisions. In addition to “TAM” reports
(NOTAMs, SNOWTAMs etc.), these include static data
published in printed form such as AIPs, VFR manuals and
aeronautical charts. These static data are now increasingly
also provided in digital form.
2010 2009
Change
09/10
NOTAMs published
by the NOTAM Office
Switzerland
SNOWTAMs published
3 147 2 904 + 8.4 %
by Swiss aerodromes 920 614 + 49.8 %
KOSIF zones 1 236 1 181 + 4.7 %
Firing exercises coordinated
between the army and ATM 195 168 + 16.1 %
The unit’s AIM Publications & Cartography section
published 38 amendments and 13 supplements to AIP
and VFR manuals in 2010 (5,5 % fewer than the previous
year) and distributed these to some 620 AIP manual and
9700 VFR manual subscribers (4,5 % fewer than in 2009).
Nineteen AICs were also issued. ICAO and gliding charts
were further revised in 2010, with print runs of 13 200
and 700 respectively.
AFTN/CIDIN Communications
Skyguide’s AFTN/CIDIN Communications service operates
a centre for the exchange of aeronautical messages between
air navigation service centres and Swiss aerodromes and
airfields on behalf of the Swiss Confederation. The unit is
also responsible for message traffic to and from Europe’s
central service provider (Eurocontrol) and service providers
in Switzerland (MeteoSwiss).
Message traffic via fixed aeronautical Change
telecommunications networks 2010 2009 09/10
Messages via AFTN
(Switzerland) 99 215 944 87 668 974 + 13,2 %
Messages via CIDIN
(international) 28 054 652 30 058 323 – 6.7 %
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Availability of air navigation and instrument
landing systems
A further criterion by which skyguide’s performance is
measured is the availability of its technical air traffic management,
air navigation and instrument landing systems (ILS).
Skyguide’s objective here is to ensure that the aggregate length
of all system malfunctions impacting on operations does not
exceed 48 hours per year. In 2010, problems with the direction
finder receiver at the Le Cunay radio station in Canton Vaud
forced a 10 % reduction in the capacity of part of Geneva’s
airspace for a total of 17 hours. In Zurich, approach restrictions
were imposed for 30 minutes because scheduled maintenance
work at the Holberg radar facility took longer than
expected. Further technical problems occurred, but could be
rectified with no impact on flight operations. The instrument
landing systems remained fully functional during planned
operating hours throughout the year.
Above-average ATCO-hour productivity
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
1.86
1.15 1.141.14
1.04
1.021.00
0.96
0.950.95
0.930.890.88
0.83 0.820.810.81
0.760.76
0.70
0.690.690.68
0.650.630.62
(Source: Eurocontrol –
Performance Review Unit: 2008)
0.57 0.570.550.54
0.49 0.46
0.43
0.35
0.27
0.17
MUAC
EANS
Skyguide
NATS
Austro Control
DFS
IAA
NAV Portugal (FIR Lisboa)
ANS CR
NAVIAIR
PANSA
DCAC Cyprus
LVNL
LGS
HungaroControl
ENAV
DSNA
Avinor
SMATSA
LFV/ANS Sweden
Belgocontrol
HCAA
Croatia Control
DHMI
ATSA Bulgaria
Finavia
LPS
Oro Navigacija
NATA Albania
Aena
MATS
Slovenia Control
ROMATSA
UkSATSE
MK CAA
MoldATSA
The productivity of an air navigation service provider is a key determiner to
measure its cost efficiency. Productivity is defined in terms of the volume
of traffic handled per hour: the more traffic an air traffic controller (ATCO)
handles in an hour, the higher their productivity. Skyguide is one of the
top companies with regard to the productivity of its air traffic controllers.
Among air traffic control companies that control approach flights and
overflights, skyguide has the second highest productivity, just behind
EANS in Estonia which controls around one-tenth of the traffic volume of
skyguide. MUAC is active in the upper area control only.
Financial performance indicators
Skyguide’s financial performance is judged by three key
indicators:
1. financial cost-efficiency
2. total cost of en-route air navigation services per flight
3. a Europewide comparison of the route and approach
charges levied.
1. Financial cost-efficiency
Eurocontrol determines the financial cost-efficiency of all
of Europe’s air navigation service providers in its annual
ATM Cost-Effectiveness (ACE) Benchmarking Report.
Under the broad performance target set by its owner,
skyguide is expected to closely match the European
average in financial cost-efficiency terms. With a difference
of 7 %, skyguide fell narrowly short of this objective,
owing largely to the collapse in traffic volumes as a result
of the financial crisis. Skyguide’s cost-efficiency was
EUR 488, compared to a European average of EUR 4561. 1
2. Total cost of en-route air navigation services per flight
The total cost of skyguide’s en-route air navigation
services consists of the costs incurred through handling
the civil air traffic concerned plus the cost of the ATFM
delays attributable to the company. The latter are
calculated by the International Air Transport Association
(IATA). Skyguide’s goal here is to be below its own
average of the previous five years. Despite its outstanding
punctuality performance, skyguide did not achieve
this objective: the total cost of skyguide’s en-route air
navigation services in 2010 amounted to EUR 310 per
flight, above the previous-five-year average of EUR 284.
3. Europewide comparison of the route and approach
charges levied
Skyguide’s third key yardstick for determining its financial
performance is the route and approach charges it levies
for its services. These should (after adjustments to take
account of the services provided in adjacent areas of
non-Swiss airspace delegated to its control) be largely in
line with the European average. The current absence of
any binding method for comparing approach charges
within Eurocontrol means that skyguide’s achievement
of this part of its objective can only be determined to
a limited extent. In a European comparison of route
charges, skyguide’s EUR 65.3 for 2010 was above the
European average of EUR 60.5. The fall in the Euro
exchange rate played a large role in this, as it was
responsible for an increase of 9.2 % in route charges.
Skyguide incurs its costs in Swiss francs. Route charges are
paid in Euros. Although domestic aviation does not suffer
from this effect, it is extremely painful for foreign airlines.
Skyguide would have been below the European average if
the exchange rate effect had been neutralised.
1. Source: Eurocontrol ATM Cost-Effectiveness Benchmarking 2009, 1st draft.
This report is usually published 18 months after the end of the calendar year
to which it refers. The steep decline in the exchange rate of the euro against
the Swiss franc worked to skyguide’s disadvantage in the corresponding
calculations.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 15

Management and operations

Swiss air navigation services and their strategic alignment and thrust
Skyguide’s basic strategic alignment and thrust are clearly derived from its government mandate.
The quality of the company’s services should be continuously improved, because it is the services
skyguide provides that will largely determine the position it holds in Europe’s ATM landscape.
Political mandate and strategy
The Swiss Federal Council prescribes a clear strategic
direction for skyguide every four years. This is based on
government aviation policy, and is submitted for comment
to all the stakeholders involved. Skyguide’s strategy translates
these government specifications into actions and approaches
which also pay due and full regard to additional operational
and market considerations. The resulting strategy is thus an
expression of Swiss political will that also fully accommodates
technical and business perspectives and concerns. Skyguide’s
new government guidelines for the 2012-2015 period will be
defined with the Federal Department of the Environment,
Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) in the
course of 2011.
Corporate performance and European role
Skyguide’s strategy has two primary focuses:
1. Skyguide strives to maintain its high level of
performance, and to continuously and sustainably
further improve the quality of its services.
2. Skyguide aims to consolidate its activities within Europe,
and to secure and maintain a firm position within the
European air navigation services market.
1. Performance
Skyguide views performance as achieving an optimum
balance between safety, capacity, cost-efficiency and
sustainability within the overall requirements of a
High Reliability Organisation. Skyguide also sees its
performance as a vital yardstick of its ability to play
a prominent and effective part in Europe’s future air
navigation services sector. Since 2009, the company has
been pursuing an implementation plan to this end with a
focus on four key areas:
– Consolidating a companywide safety culture
Implementing its safety strategy and maintaining a
companywide safety culture are both essential if skyguide
is to meet its demands and expectations of itself as a
High Reliability Organisation.
– Raising Swiss airspace capacity
Skyguide makes exceptional endeavours to align its
staffing levels and structures to capacity demand,
particu larly at its operating units. The company
intensifies both its recruitment and its training activities,
and restructures the airspace above the whole of
Switzerland.
18
– Swiftly eliminating the present revenue shortfalls
Skyguide has been putting a firm focus on enhancing
its financing structure. To this end, the company has
conducted an efficiency-enhancement programme
and balanced its operating and investment budgets. At
the same time, skyguide continues to lobby for a legal
framework that will eliminate the present structural
shortcoming in the company’s financing arrangements.
– Enhancing flexibility and alignment to the customer
Skyguide must adopt and maintain a modular
framework for some of its business areas if the company
is to have the flexibility it needs to meet the challenge of
Europe’s Single European Sky. To this end, skyguide has
given some areas of its activity a structure that is based
on an appropriate organisational model and simultaneously
pays due regard to these areas’ particular features
and needs. Skyguide has been laying the foundations
since 2009 for establishing a subsidiary specialising in
providing air navigation services for the Swiss military,
the country’s regional aerodromes and lower airspace
areas. This work has now advanced to a point where,
after an evaluation phase, a basic decision on whether to
proceed should be taken in 2011. The company has also
been conducting similar studies in the initial and further
operational training (Skyguide Training Center) and
aeronautical information management (AIM) sectors
and has created corresponding profit centres in the
meanwhile.
2. Developing within Europe
Skyguide continues to develop its core business in a
European context. Its activities here are based on:
– implementing the programme to harmonise national air
traffic management systems, under the overall aegis of
Eurocontrol;
– the European Commission’s plans to consolidate the
continent’s airspace into a Single European Sky;
– SESAR, the associated technological development
programme.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

The Single European Sky and SESAR
The Single European Sky (SES) initiative, led by the European
Commission, is intended to raise the overall performance
of Europe’s air navigation services, primarily by reorganising
the continent’s currently-fragmented airspace into
functional airspace blocks (FABs) that are defined not
along political lines but with maximum regard to operating
requirements and technical criteria. The Commission is also
keen to see close collaboration between civil and military
air navigation services, to maintain airspace sovereignty for
the countries involved. Since 2006, Europe’s air navigation
service providers have been required to secure certification
confirming their technical and operational expertise,
the efficiency of their safety and quality management, their
financial soundness, the appropriateness of their organisation
and personnel planning, the adequacy of their insurance
cover and more. The FOCA awarded this SES certification
to skyguide in December 2006, formally appointing the
company as the provider of air navigation services for Swiss
airspace. A second raft of SES requirements came into effect
in October 2009. With these, the European Commission laid
the foundations of the system within which air navigation
services are to be offered by the providers concerned. The
2009 package also established the structures needed to
conduct the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR)
programme, whose aim is to ensure the coordinated adoption
by the continent’s air navigation service providers of the
future technical and operating system required. Skyguide has
concluded a partnership agreement with its counterparts in
France (the DSNA) and Germany (DFS), to ensure that it can
play a full and active part in these developments.
Functional Airspace Block Europe Central (FABEC)
The European Commission has let the states themselves
take the initiative in creating the Single European Sky’s new
functional airspace blocks or FABs. Since 2006, Switzerland
has been involved in the Functional Airspace Block Europe
Central or FABEC project, to which six countries – Belgium,
France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and
Switzerland – are affiliated along with their air navigation
service providers and Eurocontrol in Maastricht. The aim of
the FABEC project is to create a functional airspace block that
extends over the six participants’ airspace, in line with Single
European Sky requirements. The task will include optimising
the air navigation services provided therein, by creating infrastructures
and procedures that allow the FAB to be managed
and monitored as if it were the airspace of a single country.
The FABEC participants submitted a feasibility study in July
2008 in response to a set of performance objectives that had
previously been defined in terms of safety, capacity, operating
efficiency, environmental care, economic efficiency and civilmilitary
collaboration. The study clearly showed that the
goals specified could be achieved by means of the FABEC
project, and concluded that FABEC was not only feasible
but also necessary. The six participating FABEC nations and
the seven air navigation service providers involved signed a
corresponding declaration of intent on 18 November 2008
which moved the programme into its implementation phase.
The FABEC project marked a further milestone in 2010
with the 2 December signing of a formal States Agreement,
officially establishing the venture at the state level. This
accord will now provide the foundation for the participating
service providers to pursue their further collaboration and
turn FABEC into operating reality.
Skyguide: “Member of FABEC”
The collaborations within FABEC have already delivered
their first tangible results: “Night Network” and “City Pairs”,
two achievements in which skyguide was actively involved,
and which provide concrete benefits to airspace users in
the form of shorter flight routes. Skyguide provided the
requisite specialist resources here from within its existing
structures, with no additional expert expense. Skyguide is
well represented in FABEC’s leadership, too: CEO Daniel
Weder serves as chairman (on a first-among-equals basis)
of the ANSP Strategic Board, the project’s highest body on
the air navigation service provider side, which consists of the
chief executives of all the participating providers.
Involvement in European flight data processing
Skyguide resolved back in 2006 to sign up to the Franco-
Italian “Coflight” initiative, which is intended to develop a
new system for processing flight plan data using standardised
Europewide formats and norms.
Skyguide future location study expanded with
collaboration partners
Back in 2009, skyguide analysed six possible scenarios for its
future operating locations, to determine what positive effect
the number and the geographical location of its operating
centres might have on its overall business success. Each
scenario was compared to the present operating situation,
with due and full regard to economic, operational (in
both civil and military terms), social and environmental
standpoints and considerations. The Board of Directors took
due note of the analysis at the end of 2009 and suggested
that one of the scenarios presented be further explored and
expanded in collaboration with the company’s German and
French FABEC partners. The aviation authorities of the three
nations involved thus commissioned their air navigation
service providers to conduct a feasibility study on an air
traffic management centre that would be jointly operated
by all three countries and would be located in the Swiss/
French/German border region. This “Border Triangle” study
concluded that a centre of this kind would be feasible in
operating terms. The study also concluded that if it were to
result in only the amalgamation of the present Geneva and
Zurich area control centres, a development of this kind would
offer no tangible benefit in financial terms. The aviation
authorities will make a decision on the study in 2011.
Only then can skyguide conclude its comparison of the six
site scenarios and make a strategic decision. If the Border
Triangle variant proves not to be feasible, the most interesting
option for skyguide at present is the virtual integration of its
Geneva and Zurich centres.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 19

20
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Air navigation services in practice
Safety management in a High Reliability Organisation
Safety is skyguide’s paramount objective and concern. And the company’s safety culture, together
with a safety management system that is certified to comply with all European norms, are the
foundations on which skyguide bases all the services it provides.
A High Reliability Organisation
At the core of all the activities of a High Reliability Organisation
(HRO) is the constant improvement of reliability. An
HRO constantly improves the balance between safety requirements,
capacity, cost-efficiency and sustainability in all the
process and structures throughout the company. The centred
maintenance of the organisation values thus enjoys a high
priority. An HRO recognises that problems and malfunctions
can arise in complex organisations and their sub-systems.
An HRO will develop the skills and capabilities required to
anticipate or identify unexpected situations, and will respond
to these in such a way that their undesired ramifications can
be eliminated or kept to a minimum. An HRO achieves these
skills and capabilities by:
– Focusing on problems and malfunctions
An HRO regards problems and malfunctions as
unavoidable. It promotes and protects the systematic
identification and reporting of observations, problems
and malfunctions, endeavours to learn from these
systematically and effectively, and communicates the
lessons learned throughout its organisation.
– Rejecting simplistic interpretations
An HRO will strive to find out what it does not know.
It will endeavour to promote as complete and complex
an understanding as possible of the system and its
problems, and will avoid simplistic interpretations.
– Constantly improving
An HRO will focus on constantly and sustainably
improving its processes, and on using its understanding
and appreciation of all the complexities involved in its
operations to create and maintain processes that are
as simple as possible. It will also prepare itself to cope
with malfunctions; and it will take the steps required to
ensure that routine never leads to complacency and the
negligence this can bring.
– Striving to be flexible and incorporating reserves
An HRO will ensure that its personnel notice and
respond to any signs of an operational malfunction
as early as possible. It will not suppress or conceal
problems, but will identify them and address them
promptly, to minimise their negative effects. An HRO
will also empower its employees to respond appropriately
to any malfunctions that occur. And it will
incorporate the reserves required to protect the system
as a whole.
– Respecting specialist expertise
In unexpected situations, an HRO will be unafraid to
delegate decision-making authority to persons with
the requisite specialist expertise, and will promote high
degrees of self-confidence among its employees by
giving them autonomy and decision-making authority,
by ensuring that they understand and appreciate its
decisions and by providing them with adequate and
effective feedback. An HRO will also create and maintain
an organisation that is as transparent as possible and
permits direct communications between frontline
personnel and top-management staff.
A staff survey on the skyguide safety culture
Skyguide conducted its second extensive staff survey on
the company’s safety culture at the end of 2009, following
a similar poll back in 2006. The results showed that
improvements had been achieved in almost all areas in the
intervening period, and confirmed the correctness of the
adopted approach. Skyguide has also devised an action plan
to tackle the problems identified in the poll, and fully intends
to further enhance its corporate safety culture. A compulsory
two-day training course for all personnel is also to further
strengthen and promote collaboration and reciprocal respect.
55 % of the 2009-2013 Safety Strategy implemented
Work on implementing the 2009-2013 Safety Strategy
continued largely as planned. By year-end, 55 % of all the
company’s strategic goals for improving and expanding its
Safety Management System (SMS) had been achieved.
A new Safety Management Manual
With its existing Safety Management Manual dating from
2003 (with several subsequent revisions and updates),
skyguide has now devised a new Safety Management Manual
that pays due and full regard to the numerous new safety
procedures and the corresponding tools, and better presents
existing processes and procedures. The new manual will also
serve as a foundation for skyguide’s Single European Sky
recertification by the FOCA. It was published in early 2011.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 21

Board of Management members receive safety
training, too
The Safety Steering Group (SSG), skyguide’s paramount
authority for safety-related matters, meets regularly and
concerns itself solely with safety issues. All members of
the company’s Board of Management are represented in
the SSG. In 2010, skyguide’s in-house safety specialists
conducted safety training at every monthly SSG meeting,
as well as presenting the latest safety methods and models.
Furthermore, each meeting of the Board of Management
begins with the subject of safety.
Safety improvements now centrally monitored
Skyguide has created a new working panel to oversee
any safety improvements that are prompted by internal
or external analyses or reports. The panel collates all
safety improvement proposals and passes these on to the
appropriate line managements. The improvements made
are then reported back by the line units and entered into a
central database, enabling the panel to monitor their implementation
and effect.
Making safety trends visible
Skyguide has further developed the safety monitoring system
which was adopted in 2009 into a “Safety Performance
Cockpit”. The new facility regularly measures and tracks
various safety indicators. This in turn permits the company
to identify any trends or shifts in good time, and adopt any
countermeasures required.
New Unit Safety Survey tool developed and trialled
While Eurocontrol’s international regulations require any
new system and procedure, or any modification to existing
systems and procedures, to be thoroughly tested in advance
in terms of its safety credentials, the same requirements do
not apply to existing and unchanged systems and procedures.
In view of this, and to enable it to identify, record and analyse
the specific and systemic risks within an entire air navigation
services unit, skyguide has developed a new methodological
tool: the Unit Safety Survey. The new tool has already been
trialled in two regional operating units; and the resulting
reports now enable the unit heads concerned to better
monitor their risks and promptly initiate any actions needed
in response.
22
Safety in project work
A comprehensive safety impact study – the biggest safety
project of the year – was conducted in advance of the new
sectorisation of the airspace in the Zurich region. The study
enabled the company’s safety specialists to identify the
potential risks and take appropriate steps to minimise these
in advance of the action planned. In addition, skyguide
has also established in parallel a continuous improvement
management system.
Incident investigations
In accordance with the regulations of Switzerland’s Federal
Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (the BFU), every case
in which two flights fail to maintain the separation minima
required must be reported. The reports are submitted by the
parties involved: skyguide, the pilots, the airline(s) and/or
the Swiss Air Force. If the incident is considered serious 1 , the
BFU will then collate the facts, investigate how the incident
occurred and publish a final report. Parallel to this, skyguide’s
own Safety Management unit will conduct its own analysis of
all such incidents and initiate any improvements that seem to
be required. The aim of these investigations is to identify any
weaknesses in the air or on the ground, learn from mistakes
and further enhance flight safety. In 2010 the BFU analysed
four incidents in which, in skyguide’s view, air navigation
services might have been involved. The statistical trends for
such operational incidents show sizeable swings, because the
absolute numbers of such Category A (serious) and Category
B (major) incidents are very small. Since the corresponding
investigations take several months (or even years in some
cases) to complete, no findings were available by the time of
going to press on air navigation services’ involvement in the
incidents concerned or the risks such incidents posed. The
BFU publishes all its final reports on its website.
1. In accordance with ICAO and Eurocontrol regulations, the severity of an
incident is defined using a system of points awarded on the basis of various
assessment criteria. Several factors are considered here, such as angle of
approach and non-observance of separation minima. Eurocontrol’s ESARR 2
Guidance to ATM Safety Regulators distinguishes five categories of incident:
A (serious), B (major), C (significant), D (not determined) and E (no
safety effect).
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Operations: good marks for the core business
As is evidenced by the high customer satisfaction, its record punctuality levels and the additional
capacity provided, skyguide offers top-quality services to all the users of Swiss airspace and the
adjacent foreign airspace entrusted to its control.
2010 customer satisfaction: good grades for skyguide
Pilots give skyguide high marks for the services it provides.
In the company’s 2010 customer survey, 88 % of respondents
from the three key customer segments of airlines, the Swiss
Air Force and general aviation were either “satisfied” or “very
satisfied” with skyguide and its services. The highest grades
of all were awarded in the safety field. The overall results
of the survey – the third of its kind since 2003 – show an
increase in satisfaction with the company’s services in every
segment polled.
European bottleneck removed
Having re-sectorised Western Swiss airspace the previous
year, skyguide restructured the airspace of Eastern
Switzerland in spring 2010. The revised sector structure
permits more efficient air traffic management that will be
better able to cope with the increased capacity demand of the
coming years. These actions, along with the steady expansion
of the company’s controller corps, have enabled skyguide
to eliminate one of Europe’s biggest air traffic management
bottlenecks, and have given it one of the best punctuality
records of any European air navigation service provider.
Icelandic volcano grounds air traffic
The April eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano and
its resulting ash cloud severely disrupted air traffic operations
through much of Europe, Switzerland included. Skyguide
activated its Emergency Committee, and coordinated
its response closely and constantly with the FOCA, the
airports, Swiss International Air Lines and its neighbouring
FABEC partners.
Strategic coordination group for Geneva Airport
Skyguide founded the Geneva Airport Aeronautical
Procedures Coordinating Group in the course of the year,
in collaboration with AIG (the Geneva Airport authority),
the FOCA, easyJet Switzerland, Swiss International Air Lines
and the Swiss Air Force. The Group aims to take and permit
prompt and coordinated action in all matters affecting the
safety, security, capacity, punctuality and sustainability of
flight operations, and thereby help ensure the safety, security
and competitiveness of Geneva Airport.
New CHIPS navigation technology
CHIPS (CH Implementation Program for SESAR related
Objectives) has been developing overall intercompany and
interprocess structures and workflows to permit the adoption
of new satellite-based navigation procedures for three years
now. Over 24 projects have now been identified, and two of
these have already been launched. The Swiss Air Force is a key
partner in this undertaking.
Air traffic complexity: a European comparison
(Souce: Eurocontrol –
Performance Review Unit: 2008)
6 8 10 12
Traffic density
The structural complexity index refers to the numerous combinations
of horizontal, vertical and speed interactions which the controllers have
to handle.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 23
Structural complexity
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
Belgocontrol
Avinor
ENAV
DFS NATS
skyguide
Finavia LFV/ANS
NAVIAIR
ANS CR
Sweden
LVNL
Austro
MUAC
LPS
PANSA
Control
Slovenia
Control
NAV Portugal
Aena
DSNA
MoldATSA (FIR Lisboa) DCAC Cyprus Croatia
LGS HCAA
Control
HungaroControl
MATS
Oro Navigacija DHMI
UkSATSE M-NAV ROMATSA SMATSA
EANS
NATA Albania
IAA
ATSA Bulgaria
12
10
8
6
4
2

ATM Solutions: skyguide’s consulting service
With its new ATM Solutions project, skyguide is now able to
offer its expertise in the operational, technological, training
and corporate development fields specifically to external
customers in the air traffic management sector. The unit was
able to establish several promising contacts here in the course
of 2010. Skyguide wants to analyse its findings during 2011
before it can decide on further steps.
Skyguide and the Swiss Air Force: partnership in action
The strong and close partnership between skyguide and
the Swiss Air Force is being constantly further developed
and intensified. One key air force mission in 2010 occurred
as early as January, in connection with the annual World
Economic Forum in Davos. As always, the corresponding
preparations were comprehensive, and subjected the
controllers involved to an intensive period of work. The
airspace protection measures required for the Francophonie
Summit in Montreux later in the year were provided jointly
by the Swiss and French air forces, offering a valuable
opportunity to demonstrate skyguide’s capability in international
safety/security deployments. The “Patrouille des
Glaciers” and the celebrations during the year to mark
the centenary of Swiss aviation also required the active
involvement of Switzerland’s air traffic management. Beyond
these activities, skyguide’s tactical controllers also took part
in international airspace policing training exercises and in
the Swiss Air Force’s manoeuvres abroad. All these domestic
and international activities were performed effectively and
without incident.
24
Digitising the data chain
Digitising the aviation data chain is a key element in
the planned adoption of new satellite-based navigation
procedures, and will also help enhance safety and efficiency
and raise current airspace capacity. Skyguide aims to
gradually digitise these aspects of its operations between now
and 2017. The company took a first step here in 2010 towards
replacing its present infrastructure.
Collaboration with France’s aeronautical
information service
Skyguide and France’s Service de l’Information Aéronautique
(SIA) teamed up in 2010 to survey Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg,
Geneva and Zurich airports under a pilot project to record
data on hazards and obstructions in accordance with new
globally-valid requirements. The results were submitted to
Eurocontrol, and should serve as a model and foundation for
applying the new regulations to all member states.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

skyguide Annual Report 2010 25

Snow, volcanic ash, strikes and the euro lead to irregular revenue trends
Skyguide’s business results for 2010 felt the adverse effects of weak traffic growth, the Icelandic
volcanic eruption and repeated strike actions in Switzerland’s neighbouring countries. Despite
these adversities, the company remained on course under the long-term finance plan established
in 2008.
Traffic trends
Total traffic volumes for 2010 stood at 1.16 million controlled
flights, a slight 0.8 % increase on the 1.15 million of the
previous year. The various actions taken to increase airspace
capacity resulted in a new punctuality record for the year,
with 96 % of flights handled without delays.
Actions to cut costs and stabilise corporate finances
Skyguide continued to pursue the cost economies initiated
at the end of 2008. Certain personnel groups within the
organisation again voted to trade money for time and, in
doing so, helped keep costs almost within the ambitious
budget parameters. Some suppliers also assisted the company
in its cost reduction endeavours. As a result, and thanks to
its personnel’s decisive contribution, skyguide was able to
further pursue its long-term financial strategy. According to
the corresponding long-term plan, skyguide should be able
to reduce its cost-underrecovery cumulated over several years
from 2011 onwards. However, this will depend on continued
consistent cost management and on receiving the compensation
now envisaged from the Swiss Confederation to
eliminate the present structural funding shortfall. It will also
depend on the latter being received in the amounts and the
timeframe envisioned.
Cumulative cost-underrecovery
The expected cumulative unrecovered costs amounted to
KCHF 122 112 on 31 December 2010 (compared to KCHF
110 212 at the end of 2009). The funding shortfall should
be eliminated over the next few years thanks to the actions
described above.
26
Operating results depressed by exceptional events
Four events and developments had an adverse impact on
2010 business trends:
– Weather conditions restricted air traffic operations
in Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe from January
onwards. The repeated resulting airport closures lowered
skyguide’s revenues. But costs could not be reduced over
the period concerned, as the company’s controllers still
had to remain on duty to ensure that operations could be
resumed as swiftly as possible.
– The eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano
paralysed Europe’s air traffic for several days, prompting
a further CHF 3 million decline in skyguide’s operating
revenues. The lost revenue was only marginally offset by
payments from the Canton Geneva and Canton Zurich
“Ausgleichskasse” compensation funds.
– Several strike actions in various neighbouring countries
had a direct impact on air traffic management operations
and thus on skyguide’s revenues. These losses, too, could
not be offset by skyguide.
– Skyguide also suffered from the weakness of the euro,
whose value declined 15.7 % against that of the Swiss
franc in the course of the year. This had two negative
effects on the company and its business:
– En-route unit charges rose substantially in euro
terms, compromising skyguide’s competitiveness
in a European context, without the company
benefiting from any real-terms additional revenue in
Swiss francs.
– Despite taking appropriate hedging actions,
skyguide suffered sizeable losses of CHF 6.4 million
as a result of currency movements.
Exchange rate EUR/CHF in 2010 © Swissquote
EUR/CHF
1.50
1.45
1.40
1.35
1.30
1.25
1.20
01.01.2010
01.02.2010
01.03.2010
01.04.2010
01.05.2010
The euro fell 15.7 % in value against the Swiss franc in the course of 2010
(with courtesy of Swissquote Bank SA).
01.06.2010
01.07.2010
01.08.2010
01.09.2010
01.10.2010
01.11.2010
01.12.2010
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Efficiency enhancement programme
The “Challenge 07” efficiency enhancement programme,
which skyguide launched in 2006, was concluded one year
ahead of schedule, having more than met its objectives.
The cost economies achieved will be retained in the coming
years, too.
Financial result
Skyguide substantially improved its financial result
in 2010 mainly due to the settlement of the CDO, for
which an amount of CHF 26.1 million was credited to
the income statement.
Cash flow
The company’s liquidity levels remained well above the
minima prescribed by the Board of Directors. The extraordinary
expenditure required to terminate the collaterised
debt obligation (CDO) affected cash flow from operations,
which, without this, would have been broadly at prior-year
levels. One short-term CHF 6.0 million loan was repaid in
February 2011. Investments in tangible fixed assets remained
largely at their 2009 levels.
Elimination of the structural funding shortfall
The legislation required to provide special funding for air
transport, which was approved by a popular referendum in
November 2009, was supposed to have been enacted in the
course of 2010. Owing to delays in the process, however,
the legislation concerned is now unlikely to enter into
effect before autumn 2011. As a result of these developments,
skyguide’s cumulative cost-underrecovery increased
again, because the services the company provides at Switzerland’s
regional aerodromes are still inappropriately
remunerated. The first part-revision of the Federal Aviation
Act, meanwhile, was passed by both chambers of the Swiss
Parliament in October 2010. The revised legislation will
enter into effect in the first quarter of 2011. Since skyguide
had expected the new legislation to become effective in
2010, the company will now achieve its financial breakeven
later than expected. On a more fundamental note, however,
the two changes to existing law will improve the legal
framework within which skyguide provides its services,
and will strengthen the company’s position in a broader
European context.
Outlook for 2011
With its improved legal parameters, skyguide expects to post
a broadly breakeven result for 2011 – one year later than
originally projected. All the signs suggest that the recent
downward trend bottomed out in 2010. However, 2011 looks
set to be another tough year. The sizeable factors which
are currently putting a brake on development within the
European Union’s member countries are sure to adversely
affect air traffic volumes in our region. And the imposition
of further requirements connected with the SES programme
and the European Performance Plan will pose additional
challenges for the continent’s air navigation service providers.
Skyguide expects to post modest traffic growth of 2.5 %
to 3 % for 2011 – below the growth levels projected before
the 2008 economic crisis. The business situation could
also be exacerbated for skyguide if the euro remains at
its current weak levels: the company incurs 95 % of its
operating expenses in Swiss francs, but earns two-thirds of its
revenues in euros. On a positive note, skyguide will begin to
receive remuneration from the Swiss Confederation for the
services remained so far unremunerated which it provides
in adjacent foreign airspace and from the special funding for
air transport from 2011 onwards; these amounts will have a
correspondingly beneficial effect on the year’s results.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 27

Technology and innovation
Air traffic can only be managed and monitored safely and efficiently using high-performance
technical facilities. So an advanced and reliable technical infrastructure is the backbone of any
air navigation service provider.
Investments and strategic thrust
Skyguide invested some CHF 37 million in 2010 in
over 50 different projects designed to renew or further
develop and refine its technical systems and infrastructure.
The company did not restrict itself to upgrading existing
systems, either: it also attached sizeable importance to strategically
realigning its Engineering & Technical Services
department. The emphasis in these endeavours lay on establishing
the department as a full-service provider. A comprehensive
account management system was also adopted, to
further cement and promote the customer/supplier mentality
and approach.
Communications
Telephone and radio communications systems renewed
Skyguide put a new radio communications system for its
Dübendorf Air Navigation Center into operation in April
2010. The new facility concluded the recent programme to
renew all the company’s telephone and radio communications
systems.
New transmitter station for Zurich Airport
The new TX-16 North transmitter at Zurich Airport was put
into service in August, in close collaboration with airport
operator Flughafen Zürich AG. The new transmitter provides
communications on the ground, apron and approach control
frequencies. Its provision had become essential owing to the
planned construction of a new security control centre on the
airport’s premises. From planning to installation, the new
transmitter was completed in just six months.
Belpberg radio facility updated
Skyguide replaced the infrastructure of its Belpberg (Bern)
radio facility in the course of the year, in collaboration with
the Bern Cantonal Police. The updated facility meets all
current requirements.
28
Redundancy for La Dôle and Le Cunay
The company embarked on a programme to physically
separate the back-up transmission facilities at its La Dôle
(Vaud) station. The new arrangement will offer substantiallyenhanced
operating safety in the event of a serious infrastructural
problem (such as fire or flooding). The similar
planned separation of the back-up systems at the Le Cunay
radio receiver had to be abandoned after the Department
of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports (DDPS) cancelled
its own Mont-Tendre building project. An alternative is
currently being sought.
New platform for an international exchange of
aviation data
Skyguide put the new central Swiss platform of its aeronautical
fixed service (AFS) network into operation in March
2010. The new platform, which has been established in close
collaboration with the DSNA, skyguide’s French counterpart,
adds a further dimension to the various collaborative
ventures among Europe’s air navigation service providers.
Navigation
New instrument landing system for Payerne
Skyguide also plans and installs instrument landing systems
(ILS) for certain military airfields on behalf of the DDPS. The
new ILS for Payerne Air Base’s Runway 05 is now technically
in operation; the facility was still in its certification phase at
year-end. Skyguide will also be planning and installing the
further facilities here in close collaboration with the DDPS.
Direction finders for regional aerodromes
The Swiss regional aerodromes of Grenchen and St. Gallen
Altenrhein have had new direction finders installed. The new
facilities enable controllers to determine the direction from
which a radio signal is being received.
ILS Checker now commercially available
With instrument landing systems having to be checked
regularly (even daily in some cases) for tolerances and
deviations, skyguide has been working for some time now
on optimising its ILS calibration procedures. In the course
of this, the company has developed a software application
for conducting this work with maximum efficiency and
precision; and, in collaboration with a specialist industry
partner, the company made the first commercial licences
available for its “ILS Checker” software during 2010.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Surveillance
Advisory services for the DDPS
Skyguide ensured that all radar facilities remained fully
functional in 2010, as well as making continued further
improvements to the facilities concerned. The company
also provided the DDPS with assistance and advice in its
procurement of military air navigation systems.
Air traffic management systems
Ground collision warning system installed at
Zurich Airport
A new system alerting controllers to possible collisions on
the ground, which had been installed at Geneva Airport
at the end of 2009, was also put into operation at Zurich
Airport in May 2010. In adopting the new system, skyguide
and the Zurich and Geneva airport authorities are playing a
pioneering role in developing ground conflict alert systems,
and are among Europe’s first users of such facilities.
“Stripless operation” successfully trialled
Skyguide has resolved to extend the fully-digitised control
system which has been used to manage and monitor upper
airspace at its Geneva area control centre since the end
of 2005 to all the sectors controlled by its Geneva and
Zurich ACCs. The “stripless” digitised system is one of
the landmark worktools that have been developed for air
traffic controllers and their activities by skyguide and its
SkySoft-ATM subsidiary.
An implementation study for extending the present stripless
system has already been completed as planned. At the
operational level, the stripless projects should introduce new
surveillance and conflict detection tools, and thereby increase
both operating safety and airspace capacity. By harmonising
equipment, procedures and working methods, the planned
stripless operation will also support further projects (such as
Mode S and Data Link) that are based on the provision of an
electronic working environment. The implementation study
involved developing a prototype for providing electronic
coordination between the ACCs of Geneva and Zurich in
Wangen near Dübendorf. This prototype will now serve
as a basis for further developments, and as a development
platform for future functions. Eurocontrol is a further
partner in the study, having selected skyguide as the lead air
navigation service provider for its First ATC Support Tools
Implementation (FASTI) programme.
Operational training systems
Simulation facilities expanded
The simulation facilities at Geneva and Dübendorf were
expanded in the course of 2010. In Geneva, the company put
a new tower simulator into operation featuring a 180° visual
display. The new simulator is used to train both skyguide’s
own controllers and external customers. At Dübendorf, a
new generic radar simulator with six workstations is now in
training operation. The new facility provides cost-effective
training for the operating staff at Switzerland’s regional
aerodromes and (again) for external customers.
Networks
Skyguide continued to steadily and coherently develop and
refine its local and wide area data networks (LANs and
WANs). In Switzerland and France, the international WANs
of SETInet and the national SCnet provide an alternative to
the present rented communication lines, which are now being
abandoned. In parallel to the constant improvements to its
main communications links, skyguide also renewed its local
emergency lines in Geneva and Dübendorf in the course of
the year.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 29

30
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Employee skills and personnel policy
Skyguide’s management, employees and staff associations must cultivate a close and constructive
collaboration if the company is to fulfil its public mandate. This is why skyguide attaches so
much value to pursuing a progressive and socially-responsible personnel policy.
Equality of opportunity
Skyguide adheres to the principle that sex, origin, sexual
orientation, religion, nationality and age must never be
used as assessment criteria in its employee recruitment or
its career development policies. Some 27 nationalities are
represented in the present skyguide workforce. The company
considers solely the skills and the knowledge that a position
demands. Skyguide also views diversity as an opportunity to
stimulate an exchange of ideas and instil a dynamic attitude
and approach. The company is thus wholly committed to the
principle of equal opportunities, as well as to respecting the
dignity of every individual.
Industrial peace
A company which provides a public service is particularly in
the spotlight in economic and socio-political terms. A wellfunctioning
social partnership that is practised every working
day is thus all-important to Switzerland’s air navigation
service provider. The objectives laid down by the Swiss
Federal Council explicitly state that skyguide should pursue a
progressive social policy.
A culture of dialogue
Any service company must be able to draw on an innovative,
productive and above all motivated workforce if it is to
survive in the longer term. In view of this, skyguide aims in
its social partnership to create a positive working atmosphere
that provides each employee with opportunities for
individual development and offers the workforce as a whole
the chance to thrive in an increasingly open market arena.
To achieve and maintain these parameters, skyguide seeks
and cultivates dialogue with its various social partners, and
strives constantly to further enhance its terms and conditions
of employment. Confidence, trust and transparency are the
prime focuses in all these endeavours.
Social partners
Skyguide’s social partners comprise six professional associations
and trade unions:
– four air traffic controllers’ associations and
– two national unions representing the company’s administrative,
operational and technical personnel.
Company doctors
The physical and mental well-being of its employees is a
prime skyguide concern. The company therefore offers all its
personnel the services of its own company doctors, whose
duties include advising employees on medical, psychological
and social problems and concerns, with the assistance of
external psychologists, counsellors and advisers if required.
The introduction of Eurocontrol’s ESARR 5 norm has
enlarged the role and increased the importance of these
company doctors, who now have an expanded brief to keep
employees informed on various matters, such as the possible
effects of certain medications.
Healthcare Commission
Skyguide’s Healthcare Commission takes up and discusses
health issues within the company and acts as an advisory
body to the Board of Management in this field, proposing
actions to maintain and promote the health of employees
and developing these to the decision-making stage. The
Commission can also be mandated to implement any actions
resolved, and is assigned the resources and authorities to
do so. The Healthcare Commission is composed of equal
numbers of employer and employee representatives, together
with the company doctors.
Workplace health and safety
The company’s efforts and endeavours in the workplace
health and safety field are intended to protect employees
from occupational accident or illness. Skyguide strives to
maintain high levels of health and safety here, and pursues
a strictly-defined policy to this end. The company has
also produced a manual specifying various actions to be
taken to help prevent occupational accidents, based on the
“ten components of a safe and healthy workplace” issued
by the SUVA and by Switzerland’s Federal Coordination
Commission for Occupational Safety (FCOS). Skyguide has
also established clear processes and procedures to be followed
for resolving conflicts or dealing with “mobbing” situations.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 31

Maternity provisions
Skyguide offers mothers-to-be the option of taking voluntary
pregnancy leave on a full salary from two months before
the birth of their child. Taking such pregnancy leave has no
impact on the length of the four-month maternity leave to
which the employee is entitled after the child’s birth. Half of
this maternity leave can be taken by the father instead if he
is also a skyguide employee, subject to due observance of the
relevant provisions of Swiss employment law. All mothers at
skyguide are also basically entitled to take unpaid leave of up
to one year after the birth of their child, or to return to work
on a part-time basis.
The skyguide workforce
Personnel numbers as of 31December 2010 (in full-time equivalents)
Personnel numbers 2005-2009 (in full-time equivalents)
Women Men Total
2008 279.3 1 017.4 1 296.7
2009 287.6 1 022.1 1 309.7
2010 300.5 1 015.4 1 315.9
The skyguide workforce grew by 0.5 % in 2010. While the
air traffic controller corps was expanded by some 3.5 %, the
numbers of employees in other areas declined, substantially
in some cases.
32
Integration of employees with disabilities
Following the fifth revision of the Swiss federal disability
insurance provisions (IV), skyguide has intensified its collaborations
with its social-security partners and has actively
applied the legally-enshrined principle of “Eingliederung vor
Rente” – striving to reintegrate disabled employees before
resorting to the disability pension option. The company
has analysed the workplaces of its disabled employees and
modified these where necessary to accommodate their
disabilities. An analysis of the integration into the company
of its disabled employees is currently being prepared by the
Healthcare Commission.
Regional
By department Geneva Dübendorf airports Total
Directorate * 5.2 6.5 11.7
Operations 311.3 434.5 121.6 867.4
Engineering & Technical Services 127.2 142.0 1.0 270.2
Corporate Development 14.5 1.0 15.5
Finance, Human Resources & Services 82.8 36.8 119.6
Safety, Security, Quality 14.6 16.9 31.5
Total 555.6 637.7 122.6 1 315.9
Temporary staff 3.3 14.4 1.0 18.7
* Includes Corporate Communication.
Part-time employees
Skyguide is well aware that part-time employment can offer
a greater balance between professional and private life,
and has been supporting individual requests for reduced
working hours for several years now. In the case of air traffic
controllers, special provisions apply: since any employment
of fewer than 90 working days a year (60 %) would result
in the loss of their licence under FOCA regulations, no
controller is permitted to work less than this minimum
amount. The company also introduced a new option in 2009
under which employees could elect to temporarily reduce
their working hours by 10-20 % with no corresponding
reduction in their social-security benefits or their annual
vacation entitlement. The offer was extended into 2010, too,
and was taken up by a total of 52 employees.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Group health insurance
In view of the unremitting rise in health insurance premiums,
skyguide has concluded more cost-effective group coverage
with three health insurance schemes. The basic and complementary
coverage provided under these agreements is to the
individual benefit of all the company’s employees.
Degrees of employment/part-time working (by headcount)
Salary system
Skyguide pursues an attractive, coherent and fair salary
policy to ensure that the company can recruit the best-skilled
and best-qualified individuals on the employment market
and secure high levels of subsequent employee loyalty.
This policy is based on conducting analytical assessments
of the functions concerned, determining salary levels
through national and international market comparisons,
adding an individual, unit and corporate performancebased
component, assuming that experience and individual
responsibility will permit development within the career
path chosen, recognising overall company performance and
offering attractive, contemporary and competitive social
benefits along with the autonomously-managed Skycare
company pension scheme.
Early retirement
As part of its cost reduction programme, skyguide offered
its AOT and management personnel aged between 58 and
61 the option of taking early retirement with certain specific
benefits. A total of 17 employees took advantage of the offer
in 2009 and 2010 and, in doing so, made their contribution to
providing the company with greater financial stability.
2010 2010 2009 2009 2008 2008 2007 2007
Degree of employment W M W M W M W M
> 90 % 220 1048 192 992 171 973 226 1 037
50-90 % 137 47 130 38 124 29 108 23
< 50 % 10 3 7 5 5 3 7 1
Skyguide’s total personnel cost (including social-security
contributions) for 2010 amounted to CHF 252.7 million.
– Employees subject to the company’s collective labour
agreement for administrative, operational and technical
(AOT) personnel received an average annual salary of
CHF 125 008. This amount includes a performancebased
variable and individual salary component, which
is derived from the degree of achievement of the goals
set at the beginning of the year and accounts for a
maximum of 6 % of the basic salary. For 2010, the
amounts paid under this performance-based component
were reduced by 2.75 % following a contractuallyagreed
exchange of money amounts for additional
vacation entitlement. The average performance-based
salary component awarded for the year amounted to
CHF 2257. Further compensation may also be paid for
irregular working hours, night and Sunday work and
other specific activities.
– Employees subject to the collective labour agreement
for air traffic controllers (i.e. the company’s air traffic
controller corps) received an average annual salary of
CHF 167 570 in 2010. This amount includes an annual
allowance averaging CHF 24 364 for the special responsibilities
they bear. Further compensation is also paid
for irregular working hours, night and Sunday work and
other specific activities.
– The average annual salary paid to employees with
management contracts of employment (excluding
the Board of Management) in 2010 amounted to
CHF 205 099. This amount includes a performancebased
salary component derived from the degree to
which corporate, division and individual goals are
achieved. This variable salary component can make
up 12 %, 18 % or 24 % of the employee’s basic salary,
depending on their function and responsibilities.
The average variable salary component paid in 2010
amounted to CHF 29 750. Skyguide’s management
salaries fully comply with the corresponding guidelines
laid down by the Swiss Confederation.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 33

Close collaboration within the CLA commissions
The further development of skyguide’s collective labour
agreements (CLAs) with its AOT and controller staff is
assured through the regular meetings of the corresponding
CLA commissions, on which Board of Management, Human
Resources and staff association/union representatives
regularly meet for a full and frank exchange of views. This
dialogue is also maintained between commission meetings.
2010 saw skyguide conduct negotiations with the AOT
unions on renewing the existing AOT CLA, which was due
to expire at the end of the year. A new umbrella collective
labour agreement (together with new annexes thereto) was
also concluded with the company’s controllers’ associations.
The new four-year accord came into retroactive effect from
the start of the year.
New bonus scheme for management staff
Skyguide has further devised a new bonus system for its
management personnel. The new system, which is based
on a two-year performance evaluation and also meets the
corresponding requirements of the Swiss Confederation for
state-owned organisations, came into effect at the beginning
of 2011.
The Skyguide Training Center
More trainee controllers than ever before
A total of 31 air traffic controllers earned their first licences
in 2010 after their ab-initio training, and 29 of these were
awarded the federally-recognised diploma. The switch to four
ab-initio courses a year has proved a prudent move. Trainee
numbers reached record levels in 2010, and the intensified
training activities have played their part in eliminating the
previous chronic shortage of operational personnel. In
addition to offering basic training, skyguide is also very active
in the in-service training field. Here the activities of the
Skyguide Training Center (STC) in 2010 included providing
various courses for the company’s 505 existing controllers
that were intended to maintain, refresh and further develop
their skills and expertise.
An autonomous business unit
The STC fulfilled its mission in 2010 as an autonomous
business unit within the skyguide organisation. The Center
provided training for an average of 110 trainee controllers
and air navigation services specialists during the year. In
addition to basic and further training for the company’s own
operating personnel, the STC also offered training services
for external air navigation service providers and airports both
in and outside Switzerland. The STC business unit generated
revenue of CHF 32 million for the year, and 5 % of this
derived from services provided for external customers.
34
Intensive trainee recruitment
More than 500 candidates applied for the 26 places of the
two basic operational training courses offered by the STC
in 2010. The Center also recruited 14 individuals to train as
air navigation services employees, and six more for Geneva
Communications Center training.
New basic course for ATSEP staff
2010 also saw the STC offer its first-ever course for air
traffic safety electronics personnel (ATSEPs). The course is
based on the new requirements specified by Eurocontrol for
ATSEP training, and is being attended by skyguide’s own
air traffic safety technicians and those of outside customers.
Further such courses are also being prepared. The new course
programme here will be closely coordinated with skyguide’s
FABEC partners in both content and timetable terms.
Training hours in 2010
in hours
Personnel development 21 514
Basic and further Engineering
& Technical Services training 14 340
Total companywide
(excluding further operational training) 35 854
Average training hours
per employee 55.8
Trainees and apprentices
Regional
by headcount Geneva Dübendorf aerodromes Total
Commercial
apprentices 9.0 4.0 13.0
ATC assistants 4.0 23.0 27.0
Air traffic
controllers 30.0 45.0 5.0 80.0
Total 43.0 72.0 5.0 120.0
Average years of service (at the end of 2010)
Company-
in years W M wide
12.3 10.9 11.3
by personnel category AOT Management Controllers
11.4 12.8 13.2
skyguide Annual Report 2010

skyguide Annual Report 2010 35

Environmental care
Ensuring efficient (and thus resource-saving) air traffic management is a cornerstone of skyguide’s
basic operating mandate. The company works actively both locally and in international bodies
to help minimise the environmental impact of the air traffic it controls.
Efficient air traffic management reduces harmful
greenhouse-gas emissions
Any new flight paths and procedures which are submitted
to skyguide for evaluation should ideally reduce both the
length and the noise emissions of the flights which will use
them. Skyguide strives constantly to guide each flight to
its destination as fast and cost-effectively as possible while
paying full and consistent regard to all safety considerations.
The more efficiently a flight can be handled, the less fuel it
will consume; and the less fuel it burns, the lower will be its
emissions of harmful greenhouse gases.
Environmental guidelines now in effect
The aviation industry is devoting itself more and more to
environmental issues and concerns. The European Union’s
action in including air transport in its legal mechanism to
reduce greenhouse-gas emissions has been a key development
here. In addition to this economic measure, Europe’s
air navigation service providers will be required to meet
specific ecological objectives under the Single European Sky
programme from 2011 onwards. Skyguide introduced its
own Environmental Policy back in 2008 which ensures that
sustainability remains a constant consideration and concern
within its overall management system. The company followed
this in 2009 and 2010 by laying the foundations of its own
Environmental Management System.
36
Significant contributions to international bodies
The ecological impact of air traffic is an international
problem that demands a global response. The environmental
objectives set for air traffic by the regulatory authorities
affect all the parties involved in the aviation sector. The air
navigation service providers plan to play their part by further
enhancing their efficiency. Skyguide is actively involved
in endeavours to devise concrete solutions here, and plays
significant roles in international projects (like FABEC and the
SES) and organisations (such as CANSO and Eurocontrol).
Collaborating with all aviation partners
Efficiency gains at skyguide are primarily achieved by
working even more closely with all the other parties involved
in the aviation sector. Having pioneered civil-military air
navigation services collaboration, the company also works
actively with airports and devises tools and procedures to
further improve overall system performance. Skyguide is also
constantly involved in various joint projects with organisations
beyond Switzerland’s borders to identify new means of
optimising the economic efficiency of flight operations and
minimising their environmental impact.
Concrete operational measures
Pilots at airports in Switzerland do not receive permission to
start their engines until shortly before pushback, preventing
unnecessary additional fuel consumption. 2010 also saw the
creation by the SESAR Joint Undertaking (Europe’s umbrella
ATM research organisation) of a consortium consisting of
skyguide, Swiss International Air Lines and Flughafen Zürich
AG (the Zurich airport authority) which has been tasked,
under the Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce
Emissions (AIRE), with developing more fluid approach and
taxiing procedures for the airport’s first morning long-haul
arrivals. Elsewhere, FABEC collaborations such as the “Night
Network”, “City Pairs” and “Hot Spots” initiatives, in which
skyguide is also involved, are also aimed at shortening routes
and enhancing the environmental credentials of the system
as a whole.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

FABEC will lead to increased flight effiency and thus to an improved
FABEC will lead to increased flight effiency and thus to an improved
ecological footprint of air traffic. More information under www.fabec.eu
ecological footprint of air traffic.
More information www.fabec.eu
Reduced energy consumption at the control centres
Providing air navigation services is not in itself an energyintensive
activity, and skyguide’s own emissions are correspondingly
small. Despite this, however, the company makes
consistent efforts to minimise its energy use – as can be
seen by the actions taken at its Geneva operations and in
the forward-looking energy concept adopted for the new
Air Navigation Center in Wangen near Dübendorf. Energy
consumption at Geneva has been reduced by 20 % over the
past few years, and skyguide constantly monitors its energy
consumption throughout Switzerland to keep it as low as
possible. The experience gained in Geneva was channelled
into the energy concept for the new Air Navigation Center in
Wangen: with waste-heat recovery, free cooling and state-ofthe-art
refrigeration systems, the energy consumption for the
new facility is well below Switzerland’s “Minergie” low-energy
standards. Unlike conventional alternatives, the new concept
does not produce any pollutant emissions, either. Skyguide
further promotes energy savings by encouraging its staff
to use public transport to and from work and, in doing so,
makes a concrete contribution to improving air quality.
All electromagnetic radiation maxima strictly observed
The Swiss Federal Council introduced a new Ordinance
on Non-Ionising Radiation (NISV) on 23 December 1999
to protect people from harmful electromagnetic radiation.
The ordinance defines threshold emission levels below
which current knowledge suggests that no harm can be
caused, and is also applicable to various skyguide facilities.
Skyguide operates a wide range of electronic installations
such as radar, radio and navigation facilities to provide its air
navigation services, and many of these function by sending
and receiving electromagnetic signals. The radiation emitted
by every one of these facilities is calculated, measured and
periodically re-checked, to provide optimum protection for
both skyguide’s own employees and the broader population
and ensure that all the thresholds specified remain fully and
consistently observed.
Open fuel-dumping communications
When a flight is obliged to land earlier than expected after
developing a technical problem, the aircraft concerned
will often need to reduce its weight before doing so by
jettisoning or “dumping” fuel. All fuel dumping operations
are conducted at a prescribed minimum altitude. Skyguide
communicates all cases of fuel dumping on behalf of the
FOCA, which is responsible for ensuring the due observance
of the corresponding regulations and for assessing the environmental
impact of such activities.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 37

Corporate governance
The Board of Directors
Guy Emmenegger
Member since 2004
Born in 1945. Guy Emmenegger is an attorney and a partner
in a legal practice. He was elected Chairman of the Board
in 2004. He also chairs the Board’s Compensation and Public
Affairs Committees.
Bernhard Müller
Member since 2009
Born in 1957. Major General Bernhard Müller is Deputy
Commander of the Swiss Air Force. He was elected to the
Board of Directors as its Deputy Chairman in 2009. He is also
a member of the Board’s Projects Committee.
Urs Althaus
Member since 2003
Born in 1946. Urs Althaus holds a doctorate in electrical
engineering from the Zurich Federal Institute of Technology
and the RWTH in Aachen, Germany. The owner of
AMS Management Services GmbH, he was elected to the
skyguide Board of Directors in 2003. He chairs the Board’s
Projects Committee.
Reto Hunger
Member since 2003
Born in 1952. Reto Hunger joined the then Radio Schweiz AG
in 1973, and was a Zurich Tower/Approach watch supervisor
on his retirement in 2007. He was elected to serve as the
employees’ representative on the Board of Directors in 2003,
and is a member of the Board’s Projects Committee.
38
Pierre Moreillon
Member since 2000
Born in 1955. Pierre Moreillon holds a doctorate in
law and is a partner in a legal practice. He was elected
to the Board of Directors in 2000, and is a member of
the Board’s Finance & Audit, Compensation and Public
Affairs Committees.
Urs M. Sieber
Member since 2003
Born in 1948. Urs M. Sieber, previously Head of Ground
Handling Worldwide at Swissport International Ltd., is
now member of the latter’s Board of Directors. Elected to
the skyguide Board of Directors in 2003, he is a member
of the Board’s Finance & Audit, Compensation and Public
Affairs Committees.
Hans-Peter Strodel
Member since 2007
Born in 1943. Hans-Peter Strodel holds a doctorate in
business administration and was Head of Finance and a
member of the Executive Management of Swiss Post until
mid-2008. He was elected to the skyguide Board of Directors
in 2007, and chairs the Finance & Audit Committee.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

The Board of Management
Daniel Weder
CEO
Born in 1957. The holder of an MBA from IMD Lausanne,
Daniel Weder spent many years at Swissair and Swiss International
Air Lines, ultimately as the latter’s Managing Director
Airport Services & Operations Steering. With his extensive
knowledge of the aviation business, he was a key integration
figure in Swiss’s difficult early years. He joined skyguide as
CEO in 2007.
Francis Schubert
Corporate Development and Deputy CEO
Born in 1961. Francis Schubert is a qualified air traffic controller
and holds a doctorate in law. He joined the company
in 1982 and has been a member of the Board of Management
since 2001. He also teaches aviation law at the Institute for Air
& Space Law at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and at
the law faculty of Lausanne University.
Marc R. Bohren
Finance, Human Resources & Services
Born in 1956. Marc R. Bohren holds a master’s degree
from the CPCG together with various US commercial and
stock-exchange qualifications. After working in the banking
sector in Switzerland and the USA for several years, he was
appointed CFO of an international food corporation. He
joined skyguide in 1999, and has been a member of the
Board of Management since 2000.
Simon Maurer
Safety, Security, Quality
Born in 1968. Simon Maurer holds a degree in physics from
the University of Basel and a post-graduate diploma in business
administration from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
After several years with Swissair and Swiss International Air
Lines both as a short- and long-haul pilot and as a project
leader within Flight Operations, he was appointed Deputy
Aviation Safety Officer at the Federal Department of the Environment,
Transport, Energy & Communications. He joined
skyguide as Head of Safety, Security, Quality and a member
of the Board of Management at the beginning of 2009.
Urs Ryf
Operations
Born in 1965. Urs Ryf graduated in business administration
from the University of Bern and holds an Executive
MBA from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. He
began his professional career as a full-time pilot with the
Swiss Air Force. He joined skyguide in 2000, and oversaw the
integration of the company’s civil and military air navigation
services. He was appointed Head of Operations and a
member of the Board of Management in 2006.
Robert Stadler
Engineering & Technical Services
Marc R. Bohren
Urs Ryf
Jeannette Haus (Head of Staff CEO)
Roger Gaberell (Communication)
Daniel Weder
Francis Schubert
Robert Stadler
Simon Maurer
Born in 1962. Robert Stadler was educated at the Kollegium
Disentis and in Zurich and St. Gallen. After more than 20 years
working in information technology and IT management for
various major providers of financial services in Switzerland, he
joined skyguide as Head of Engineering & Technical Services
and a member of the Board of Management on 1 August 2008.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 39

40
skyguide Annual Report 2010

The management of the company
Legal form
Skyguide is a joint-stock company under Swiss law, and
performs a legal mandate bestowed upon it by the Swiss
Confederation. Skyguide’s mandate requires the company
to ensure the safe, efficient and cost-effective management
of Switzerland’s air traffic. The mandate, which is specified
in Article 40 of the Federal Aviation Act and Article 2 of the
Ordinance on Air Navigation Services, extends to providing
civil and military air navigation services, an aeronautical
information service, telecommunications services and the
technical services required to install, operate and maintain
the company’s air traffic management and air navigation
systems. Being a non-profit-oriented company, skyguide does
not distribute dividends, but passes on any profits it makes to
its customers through reductions in the charges levied for the
services it provides.
Group structure and shareholders
The skyguide group includes skyguide subsidiaries
SkySoft-ATM SA, Meyrin (founded on 25 January 2001
and 76 %-owned), swisscontrol SA, Meyrin (founded on
20 April 2001 and 100 %-owned) and skynav SA, Awans,
Belgium (founded on 3 January 2001 and 100 %-owned).
All skyguide’s subsidiaries are unlisted companies subject to
private law.
By law and under the company’s Articles of Incorporation,
at least 51 % of skyguide’s share capital must be held by the
Swiss Confederation.
Capital structure
The Swiss Confederation currently holds 99.94 % of the
company’s share capital.
The share capital of CHF 140 million consists of 14 000 000
fully-paid-up registered shares with a nominal value of
CHF 10 each.
The company’s capital structure remained unchanged
in 2010. No preference shares were issued.
The General Meeting
The General Meeting is the highest body of the company and
has the following non-transferable powers and authorities:
to adopt and amend the Articles of Incorporation; to elect
and dismiss the Board of Directors, its Chairman and the
statutory auditors; to approve the annual report and financial
statements; to discharge the Board of Directors and the Board
of Management from their responsibility for the conduct of
business; to pass resolutions on any other issues which are
assigned to its sole authority by law or under the company’s
Articles of Incorporation or are presented to it by the Board
of Directors; and to wind up the company. The General
Meeting is quorate if a minimum of two-thirds of the
company’s shares are represented.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 41

The Board of Directors
The Board of Directors comprises a maximum of seven
members, each elected by the General Meeting for a
three-year term of office. They may be re-elected. Board
members retire from the Board after serving for a maximum
of twelve years. The majority of Board members must be
Swiss nationals resident in Switzerland.
The Board of Directors is empowered to pass resolutions on
any business which is not the sole preserve of the General
Meeting or another corporate body. The Board of Directors is
responsible for the ultimate management of the company.
Under the company’s bylaws, the Board of Directors may
delegate business to committees within its ranks. The Board
currently has four such committees:
– the Projects Committee, which is commissioned, inter
alia, to advise and support the company’s Engineering
& Technical Services and Operations project teams and
draw up corresponding recommendations for the full
Board’s consideration and decision;
– the Finance & Audit Committee, which is tasked with
preparing Board business in these fields (relating to the
budget, the annual financial statements, financing issues,
the external auditors and analyses of internal controlling
systems);
– the Compensation Committee, which devises the
compensations to be paid to the CEO and the further
members of the Board of Management and submits
these to the full Board of Directors for decision; and
– the Public Affairs Committee, which monitors developments
in the regulatory and political environment and
proposes actions to be taken in information and public
relations terms.
42
The Board of Management
Skyguide’s Board of Management consists of the CEO and
the heads of the “Operations”, “Engineering & Technical
Services”, “Finance, Human Resources & Services”,
“Safety, Security, Quality” and “Corporate Development”
departments. The CEO is also empowered to appoint
further management members to form an Enlarged Board
of Management. The Board of Management is responsible,
under the leadership of the CEO, for the management of the
company within the parameters of its statutory duties and
authorities.
The CEO
The CEO is responsible for leading the company and thus for
developing and achieving the corporate objectives specified
by the company’s owners and its Board of Directors. The
CEO also represents the company towards the authorities, the
public, its customers, its shareholders, its suppliers, its unions
and staff associations and others.
Compensation policy
The Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors
devises the compensations to be paid to the CEO and the
further members of the Board of Management and submits
these to the full Board of Directors for decision. The compensation
paid to the Chairman of the Board and the further
members of the Board of Directors is fixed by the company’s
owners (following a federal resolution of 21 December 2007),
and the compensation paid to the CEO is also approved
by the owners. The compensation paid to the Chairman of
the Board for 2010 amounted to CHF 135 000, while the
compensation paid to the further members of the Board of
Directors for 2010 amounted to CHF 50 000 each.
The total compensation paid to all members of the Board
of Management including the CEO for 2010 amounted to
CHF 1 688 550, plus short- and long-term performancebased
compensation and other compensation amounts
totalling CHF 536 742. The highest fixed compensation paid
to an individual Board of Management member amounted to
CHF 357 000, plus short- and long-term performance-based
compensation and other compensation amounts totalling
CHF 103 688.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Cost control
Cost control is a permanent process for all skyguide
employees with budgeting responsibility. To assist them
in their work, all such employees have direct access to the
company’s Management Information System, which features
various reports with full real-time accounting and budgeting
information. These reports are compiled and updated by the
company’s Controlling unit.
Financial control, strategic control and reporting
Financial control is the responsibility of the company’s
Controlling unit, which monitors observance of the Five-Year
Financial Plan, the annual budget and the Executive
Information System (a quarterly budget reassessment) in
collaboration with its partners within the various divisions.
The annual budget is the prime foundation on which route
and approach charge levels are determined. A balanced
scorecard (BSC) approach is adopted to monitor observance
of the strategic guidelines set at all corporate levels. Skyguide
also conducts Corporate Management Reviews to monitor
processes and results, and takes any corrective action required
in the light of the findings thereof.
Companywide risk management
Skyguide has adopted an integrated systematic risk
management system to help ensure its sustainable business
success. The Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) corporate
governance tool, which has been in use since the end of 2006,
makes a key contribution to maintaining risk transparency
and enables the company’s management to make appropriate
business decisions in risk terms. In its design, methodology
and procedure, ERM adopts a pragmatic approach. The ERM
process consists of four main steps. Step 1 (risk identification)
and Step 2 (risk evaluation) are also known as “risk
assessment”, while Step 3 (risk treatment) and Step 4 (risk
monitoring and review) are regarded as “risk response”.
Risk assessment is intended to identify what might happen,
with what probability and with what possible effects. Risk
response defines how these risks are to be handled, and
reports regularly thereon. All the steps in the ERM process
are clearly defined and described, and form an integral part
of the skyguide process landscape. The ERM process is also
closely coordinated with the corporate planning process, and
with strategic planning in particular.
Process enhancement and the Skyguide
Management System
To perform its mandated mission, skyguide requires a
management system which pays full regard to all the needs
and demands of its customers, the requirements of the
supervisory authorities and the needs of further stakeholder
groups. The Skyguide Management System is an integrated
system that is based on the Skyguide Process Model, which
describes all the company’s business processes. All these
processes are aligned to ensure that skyguide can fully meet
its responsibility to ensure safe, smooth and cost-effective
air traffic flows. These activities extend throughout the
company and its operating environment. Constant further
improvement is a cornerstone of skyguide’s endeavours to
achieve its corporate objectives. To this end, the company
also conducts an annual Management Review to assess the
management system’s usefulness, appropriateness and overall
effect. Corrective action is subsequently initiated if required.
The 2009-2013 Quality Strategy for improving the Skyguide
Management System was further pursued according to
plan in 2010. The key emphases here included adopting a
new process model that is clearly and specifically aligned to
overall corporate strategy, and simplifying and improving
the existing management system and thereby enhancing its
acceptance.
The Skyguide Management System has been ISO: 9001-certificated
companywide since autumn 2005. The company’s
Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) has been
certificated for some time now, and will retain such certification
until further notice.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 43

Independent audit management helps continuously
improve the management system
As in previous years, skyguide subjected itself to several
internal and external audits in the course of 2010. In its
internal audits, the company placed the emphasis less on
determining whether all formal requirements were met
than on identifying system weaknesses and highlighting
improvement potential. For its management processes, the
company largely enlisted the services of external auditing
bodies, to ensure maximum independence and derive
optimum benefit from their specific specialist expertise.
When it comes to auditing its operational and technical
processes, the company can now take advantage of the International
Audit Cooperation Team (IntACT), a close collaboration
between skyguide and its counterparts in Germany
and France, Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) and the Direction
des Services de la Navigation Aérienne (DSNA) in which the
partners engage in a fruitful exchange of their expertise and
experience.
The FOCA also conducted various audits and inspections
at skyguide in the course of the year as part of its safety
oversight brief. The results of these supplemented skyguide’s
own internal analyses, and helped ensure the further
continuous improvement of the Skyguide Management
System.
44
Corporate Security Management
Skyguide takes targeted action to protect its premises and
IT systems against wilful damage or force majeure. The link
between the company’s corporate security management
and its line functions is provided by the Physical Security
Committee and the Information & Communication
Technology Security Committee.
Corporate security management is founded on three pillars:
– physical security, which regulates physical access to air
traffic management centres and field stations and sites
and defines protective measures against threats such as
vandalism, sabotage and force majeure;
– information and communication technology (ICT)
security, which protects the company’s IT infrastructure
and all software applications and networks against
attacks by hackers or viruses;
– security clearance, which ensures the provision of
security checks for employees and external auxiliary
personnel.
As well as various activities in all three areas, the focus of
skyguide’s corporate security management in 2010 was on
devising a methodology for obtaining a comprehensive
picture and assessment of all security risks.
External auditors
PricewaterhouseCoopers AG have been skyguide’s statutory
auditors since 1996 and its group auditors since 2001. The
lead auditor is Ms. Corinne Pointet Chambettaz, who has
held this position since 2005.
Audit and additional fees
PricewaterhouseCoopers AG charged skyguide around
CHF 148 000 for the services associated with its statutory and
group auditing mandate in 2010, and a total of CHF 215 140
for the year.
PricewaterhouseCoopers AG met with the Board’s Finance
& Audit Committee on 9 March and 5 October 2010 and
on 4 March 2011.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

skyguide Annual Report 2010 45

Financial report

Statutory accounts
Income statement for the years ended 31 December 2010 and 2009
in KCHF 2010 2009
Air navigation services revenue 352 558 352 880
Other operating revenue 12 228 9 588
Net revenue from disposal of assets 74 78
Total operating revenue 364 860 362 546
Total personnel expenses 246 994 235 949
Meteorological services contribution 19 202 19 623
Other external air navigation services 2 926 3 107
Leased communication lines 2 027 2 410
Material and supplies, maintenance 14 570 12 717
Property-related expenses 8 538 12 697
Energy 2 696 2 719
Administrative expenses 12 411 10 903
Allowance for bad debt 831 737
Unplanned depreciation 853 3 133
Depreciation 65 497 67 690
Total other operating expenses 129 551 135 736
Total operating expenses 376 545 371 685
Operating result – 11 685 – 9 139
Financial income 29 774 25 640
Financial expenses 11 992 13 914
Financial result 17 782 11 726
Before tax result 6 097 2 587
RC under-recovery brought forward n – 2 – 47 200 – 29 078
AC under-recovery brought forward n – 1 – 15 473 – 19 268
Balance brought forward – 62 673 – 48 346
RC under-recovery carried forward n + 2 72 392 47 539
AC under-recovery carried forward n + 1 2 181 15 473
Balance carried forward 74 573 63 012
Net Result 17 997 17 253
48
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Balance sheet as at 31 December 2010 and 2009
in KCHF 31.12.2010 31.12.2009
Assets
Current assets
Cash and short-term cash deposits 24 749 51 099
Intercompany receivables 0 17
Receivables and advances 37 975 40 434
Derivative assets 11 684 5 848
Prepaid expenses 67 747 80 531
Total current assets 142 155 177 929
Non-current assets
Long-term advances and other long-term assets 72 435 47 559
Property, plant and equipment 310 184 330 521
Investments in affiliates 1 597 1 599
Securities 404 354
Intangible assets 87 295 97 791
Total non-current assets 471 915 477 824
Total assets 614 070 655 753
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 2 509 4 205
Short-term debt 205 757 0
Derivative liabilities 5 172 67 104
Intercompany payables 62 63
Advances and other short-term liabilities 9 088 12 301
Accrued liabilities 57 202 60 255
Short-term provisions 6 856 6 098
Total current liabilities 286 646 150 026
Non-current liabilities
Long-term debt 0 199 454
Other long-term liabilities 10 548 7 394
Total non-current liabilities 10 548 206 848
Total liabilities 297 194 356 874
Shareholders’ equity
Share capital 140 000 140 000
Legal reserve 16 165 15 300
Other reserves 142 225 135 225
Retained earnings brought forward 489 – 8 899
Result for the year 17 997 17 253
Total shareholders’ equity 316 876 298 879
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity 614 070 655 753
skyguide Annual Report 2010 49

Annex to the statutory accounts as at 31 December 2010
Skyguide, swiss civil and military air navigation services ltd
(hereinafter “skyguide”), operates under a mandate given
by the Swiss Confederation. This mandate is governed by
the Federal Aviation Act and the associated Ordinances. The
company is domiciled at 15-17 route de Pre-Bois, in Meyrin
(Switzerland).
Basis for the establishment of the accounts
The annual accounts are prepared in accordance with the
Swiss Code of Obligations. The accounting principles applied
are in line with those described in the 2010 consolidated
financial statements, except for the derivative financial
instruments and investment in associate.
Receivables and advances
in KCHF 2010 2009
RReceivables from
collecting organisations 30 316 30 137
Other receivable 8 503 10 147
Personnel related receivable 3 103 4 344
VAT receivable 1 241 1 185
Allowance for bad debt – 5 188 – 5 379
Total receivable and advances 37 975 40 434
50
Contingent liabilities
a) Guarantee deposits
in KCHF 2010 2009
Swiss customs and excise authority:
provisional customs duties
Zurich and Geneva
Chamber of Commerce and Industry:
160 160
ATA booklets 63 63
Flughafen Zürich AG 10 10
Geneva cantonal employment office 50 50
Total 283 283
The deposits have been made at the Cantonal Bank of Berne.
b) Other guarantee deposits
in KCHF 2010 2009
Rent guarantees in favor of employees
Guarantees deposited on
52 60
installments received 3 207 2 922
Pledged collateral 200 200
Total 3 459 3 182
The deposits have been made at the Cantonal Banks of Berne,
Geneva and Zurich, at the Crédit Suisse in Geneva and the
UBS in Geneva.
Bond
Date of issue 19 October 2004
Date of reimbursement 19 October 2011
Amount in CHF 200 000 000
Interest rate 2.625 %
SWX listing – No. value 1 957 462
SWX listing – No. ISIN CH0019574620
Covenants linked to the loan agreements
Certain financial commitments are linked to covenants
which, if they were not met, might lead to the immediate
termination of certain loans in progress.
These conditions are the following:
– direct participation by the Confederation in the
borrower’s capital of a minimum of 51 %;
– minimum ratio of shareholders’ equity (share capital,
reserves, retained earnings) representing 30 % of the total
skyguide SA statutory balance sheet;
– cover of liability insurance of a minimum of five
hundred million Swiss francs.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Other commitments not included in the balance sheet
Operating leases
The future maturities of the
operating leases are as follows:
in KCHF 2010 2009
Within one year 309 476
In the second to the fifth year inclusive 284 584
After the fifth year 0 0
Total 593 1 060
The above table summarizes the company’s commitments
concerning operating leases.
These operating leasing arrangements relate only to the rental
of photocopiers, office software and servers. Commitments
are calculated based on current contracts, for the agreed
contractual term.
Skyguide subsidiaries
Fire insurance value of property, plant and equipment
in KCHF 31.12.2010 31.12.2009
Fire insurance coverage –
property, plant and equipment 649 727 649 713
Total 649 727 649 713
Contributions due to the pension plan
There are no contributions due to the pension plan.
2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009
Paid Paid
in capital in capital
by by
% % skyguide % % skyguide
Name of subsidiary Activity Country held controlled (KCHF) held controlled (KCHF)
skysoft-atm SA Software development Switzerland 76 80 324 76 80 324
skynav SA Holding Belgium 100 100 96 100 100 96
swisscontrol SA Dormant Switzerland 100 100 50 100 100 50
The total of KCHF 1597 in the balance sheet includes
KCHF 50 of capital not paid up in favour of Swisscontrol SA.
Skyguide signed an agreement to purchase 1 500 shares,
representing 15 % of the share capital of skysoft-atm SA at
the net equity value at the time of the transaction, on a three
month advance notice from the buyer, during the period
from 1st January 2011 to 31 December 2014.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 51

Share capital
The Swiss Confederation holds 99.94 % of the company.
The share capital is CHF 140 000 000 and is divided
into 14 000 000 registered fully paid-up shares, with a par
value of CHF 10 each. On July 4, 2007, the share capital
was increased by CHF 40 000 000 by converting an advance
received from the Confederation. The structure of the capital
remained unchanged in 2010 and 2009 and no preferred
share are issued.
The Federal Aviation Act specifies that the majority of the
capital belongs to the Swiss Confederation. The bylaws of the
company stipulate that this holding is a minimum of 51 %.
No dividend was paid in 2010 and 2009.
Risk assessment
To achieve the goals set by the company, skyguide introduced
a systematic and complete risk management framework.
The enterprise risk management (ERM) that started end
of 2006 as a corporate governance tool enhances the transparency
and provide an adequate risk assessment when
taking a decision. All the strategic, financial, operational and
compliance risks are identified and quantified based on their
probability of likelihood and impact. These risks are then
categorized and classified in a risk matrix.
The key risks are regularly reviewed and actions are taken if
needed.The board of directors formally reviews the key risks
twice a year.
52
Over- and under-recovery
Amounts carried forward and brought forward from over-
and under-recoveries are specific for our industry and
governed by the “Principles for establishing the cost-base
for route facility charges and the calculation of the unit
rates” of Eurocontrol, as well as the Ordinance on air
navigation services.
An under-recovery corresponds to a negative annual result
on the air navigation services account. The amount of the
under-recovery is reintegrated into the calculation of the
rates for the following year (year n + 1) for the approach
activity and over a maximum period of six years (years n + 1
to n + 6) for the route activity. These elements are added
to the income statement and under the heading “Prepaid
expenses” for the part to be recovered the next year, and
under the heading “Long-term advances and other long-term
assets” for the following years.
An over-recovery corresponds to a positive annual result on
the air navigation services account. The amount of the overrecovery
is reintegrated into the calculation of the rates for
the following year (year n + 1) for the approach activity and
over a maximum period of six years (years n + 1 to n + 6) for
the route activity. The over-recovery in respect of military
activities is retroceded the following year (year n + 1). These
elements are deducted from the income statement and
under the heading “Accrued liabilities” for the part due the
following year and under the heading “Other long-term
liabilities” for the following years.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Proposal of the Board of Directors
Proposal of the Board of Directors for appropriation of cumulated result
in KCHF 2010 2009
Retained earnings brought forward 489 – 8 899
Result for the year 17 997 17 253
Retained earnings/(cumulated losses) in Balance Sheet 18 486 8 354
in KCHF 2010 2009
Appropriations to general legal reserve 925 865
Appropriations to other reserves 16 500 7 000
Retained earnings/(cumulated losses) to be carried forward 1 061 489
Retained earnings/(cumulated losses) in Balance Sheet 18 486 8 354
skyguide Annual Report 2010 53

Report of the statutory auditors
54
skyguide Annual Report 2010

skyguide Annual Report 2010 55

Consolidated financial statements
Consolidated income statement for the years ended 31 December 2010 and 2009
in KCHF Note 2010 2009
Air navigation services revenue 352 558 352 880
Other operating revenue 14 278 11 734
Net revenue from disposal of assets 74 78
Total operating revenue 1 366 910 364 692
Total personnel expenses 2 249 036 238 035
Meteorological services contribution 19 202 19 622
Other external air navigation services 2 926 3 107
Leased communication lines 2 027 2 410
Material and supplies, maintenance 14 211 12 212
Property-related expenses 8 538 12 697
Energy 2 696 2 719
Administrative expenses 3 12 994 12 781
Allowance for bad debt 4 208 740
Unplanned depreciation 5 846 2 954
Depreciation 15/16 64 734 67 036
Total other operating expenses 128 382 136 278
Total operating expenses 377 418 374 313
Operating result – 10 508 – 9 621
Financial income 6 29 783 25 775
Financial expenses 7 12 500 13 932
Financial result 17 283 11 843
Result of an associated organisation 273 584
Before tax result 7 048 2 806
Taxes 8 12 8
After tax result 7 036 2 798
Minority interests – 109 127
Result after minority interests 6 927 2 925
RC under-recovery brought forward n – 2 – 47 200 – 29 078
AC under-recovery brought forward n – 1 – 15 473 – 19 268
Balance brought forward 9 – 62 673 – 48 346
AC under-recovery carried forward n + 1 2 181 15 473
RC under-recovery carried forward n + 2 72 392 47 539
Balance carried forward 10 74 573 63 012
Net Result 18 827 17 591
56
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Consolidated balance sheet as at 31 December 2010 and 2009
in KCHF Note 31.12.2010 31.12.2009
Assets
Current assets
Cash and short-term cash deposits 11 27 747 52 662
Receivables and advances 12 38 245 41 717
Derivative assets 18 11 684 5 848
Prepaid expenses 13 67 950 80 670
Total current assets 145 626 180 897
Non-current assets
Long-term advances and other long-term assets 14 72 435 47 559
Property, plant and equipment 15 309 925 330 411
Securities and investment in associate 1 273 1 091
Intangible assets 16 83 964 94 130
Total non-current assets 467 597 473 191
Total assets 613 223 654 088
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 2 533 4 394
Short-term debt 17 205 757 0
Derivative liabilities 18 44 67 104
Advances and other short-term liabilities 19 9 124 12 428
Accrued liabilities 20 58 476 61 368
Short-term provisions 21 6 856 6 098
Total current liabilities 282 790 151 392
Non-current liabilities
Long-term debt 17 0 199 454
Other long-term liabilities 10 906 7 672
Total non-current liabilities 10 906 207 126
Total liabilities 293 696 358 518
Shareholders’ equity
Share capital 22 140'000 140'000
Legal reserve 16'182 15'317
Other reserves 139'304 132'304
Fair value reserve 4'723 – 405
Translation reserve – 137 – 30
Retained earnings brought forward 140 – 9 586
Result for the year 18 827 17 591
Total shareholders’ equity excl. minority interest 319 039 295 191
Minority interest 488 379
Total shareholders’ equity 319 527 295 570
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity 613 223 654 088
skyguide Annual Report 2010 57

Consolidated cash flow statements for the years ended 31 December 2010 and 2009
in KCHF 2010 2009
Operating activities
Result of the year 18 827 17 591
Depreciation 65 580 69 990
Financial income 4 958 7 603
Financial expenses – 25 879 – 15 967
Taxes 12 8
Minority interest 109 – 127
Gains and other changes on property, pland and equipment and intangible assets – 74 – 1 770
Fair value change on available for sale securities and associate – 181 – 611
Change in long-term deferred revenues and advances received 3 235 – 751
Change in long-term debt 303 304
Change in advances and other short-term receivables 3 285 7 256
Change in prepaid expenses – 12 157 – 13 673
Change in trade and other payables – 1 862 – 6 937
Change in advances and other short-term liabilities – 3 304 869
Change in accrued liabilities – 3 350 – 12 702
Change in provisions 967 117
Settlement of the CDO – 41 000 0
Cash flow from operating activites 9 469 51 200
Taxes paid – 32 – 26
Interest paid – 5 562 – 5 848
Interest received 170 312
Net cash flow from operational activities 4 045 45 638
› › ›
58
skyguide Annual Report 2010

› › ›
in KCHF 2010 2009
Investing activities
Investment in property, plant and equipment – 26 678 – 24 459
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 74 78
Investment in intangible assets – 8 249 – 13 227
Net cash flow from investing activities – 34 853 – 37 608
Financing activities
(Decrease)/increase in short-term debt 6 000 – 15 000
Net cash used in financing activities 6 000 – 15 000
Difference on foreign currency conversion – 107 – 16
Change in cash and cash equivalents – 24 915 – 6 986
Cash and cash equivalents at January 1 52 662 59 648
Cash and cash equivalents at December 31 27 747 52 662
Change in cash and cash equivalents – 24 915 – 6 986
skyguide Annual Report 2010 59

Consolidated statement of changes in shareholders’ equity,
for the years ended 31 December 2010 and 2009
Share Legal Other Fair value
in KCHF capital reserve reserves reserve
Shareholders’ equity at January 1, 2009 140 000 15 317 132 059 – 395
Currency translation difference
Allocation to reserves 245
Fair value adjustement of interest rate instruments
– unrealized gains and (losses) – 10
Net result for the year
Shareholders’ equity at December 31, 2009 140 000 15 317 132 304 – 405
Shareholders’ equity at January 1, 2010 140 000 15 317 132 304 – 405
Currency translation difference
Allocation to reserves 865 7 000
Fair value adjustement of interest rate instruments
– unrealized gains and (losses) 5 128
Net result for the year
Shareholders’ equity at December 31, 2010 140 000 16 182 139 304 4 723
60
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Retained Total
earnings excluding
Translation brought Net result minority Minority
reserve forward for the year interest interest Total
– 14 678 – 10 019 277 626 506 278 132
– 16 – 16 – 16
– 10 264 10 019 0 0
– 10 – 10
17 591 17 591 – 127 17 464
– 30 – 9 586 17 591 295 191 379 295 570
– 30 – 9 586 17 591 295 191 379 295 570
– 107 – 107 – 107
9 726 – 17 591 0 0
5 128 5 128
18 827 18 827 109 18 936
– 137 140 18 827 319 039 488 319 527
skyguide Annual Report 2010 61

Annex to the consolidated accounts as at 31 December 2010
General information
Skyguide, swiss civil and military air navigation services ltd
(hereafter “skyguide”), operates under a mandate given by
the Swiss Confederation. This mandate is governed by the
Federal Aviation Act and the associated Ordinances. The
company is domiciled at 15-17 route de Pre-Bois, in Meyrin
(Switzerland).
Relations with the Confederation
The Swiss Confederation is the majority shareholder
in skyguide. The Federal Aviation Act provides that the
majority of the capital belongs to the Swiss Confederation.
The bylaws of the company state that this holding must
be at least 51 %. A reduction in the holding of the Swiss
Confederation would necessitate a modification of the law
by the Federal Chambers, and such a decision might, under
certain circumstances, be subject to a referendum. As the
majority shareholder, the Swiss Confederation has the power
to control all the decisions taken at the company’s general
meetings, including the election of the members of the
Board of Directors.
Transactions with the Confederation
Skyguide maintains various business relationships with the
Swiss Confederation or other companies in which it is the
majority shareholder. These transactions include the payment
by the Confederation of exempted flights. These transactions
are conducted under the usual market conditions.
62
Basis for the establishment of the consolidated accounts
The consolidated financial statements for the years ended
December 31, 2010 and 2009 are prepared in accordance
with the Swiss Accounting and Reporting Recommendations
(Swiss GAAP-ARR) as a whole relating to the presentation of
accounts and in accordance with the specific rules in force in
our industry.
In accordance with the specific rules in force in this industry,
skyguide applies the “Principles for establishing the cost base
for route facility charges and the calculation of the unit rates”
of Eurocontrol, as well as the Ordinance on air navigation
services. These texts govern the handling of over- and
under-recoveries.
The consolidated financial statements have been prepared
under the historical cost convention, with the exception
of the items “Derivative financial investments” held at the
fair value. The consolidated financial statements have been
prepared on an accrual basis. All the companies included in
the consolidation close their books at December 31.
For comparison purposes, certain 2009 elements have been
reclassified (changed headings) to remain comparable with
the 2010 presentation.
Method of consolidation
The consolidated annual accounts include the accounts
of skyguide and of its subsidiaries listed in the scope of
consolidation.
Modification to the scope of consolidation
During the 2010 financial period, there was no modification
to the scope of consolidation.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Skyguide subsidiaries included in the scope of consolidation
2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009
Paid Paid
in capital in capital
by by
% % skyguide % % skyguide
Name of subsidiary Activity Country held controlled (KCHF) held controlled (KCHF)
skysoft-atm SA Software development Switzerland 76 80 324 76 80 324
skynav SA Holding Belgium 100 100 96 100 100 96
swisscontrol SA Dormant Switzerland 100 100 50 100 100 50
Skyguide fully consolidates subsidiaries in which it has a
holding of more than 50 % or exercises exclusive control,
either directly or indirectly.
The assets and liabilities of its subsidiaries, together with
the expenses and income, are included in full in the annual
consolidated accounts. The book values of the affiliates’
investments, plus the shareholders’ equity, are eliminated.
Any minority shareholdings in the net equity and the result
appear separately in the balance sheet and the consolidated
Conversion into Swiss francs
The consolidated accounts are prepared in Swiss francs
(CHF) and presented in thousands of Swiss francs (KCHF).
The subsidiaries of the Group express their financial
statements in local currency. The conversion of the income
statement of the foreign subsidiary (skynav SA) is carried out
at the average exchange rate for the year, while the balance
sheet is converted at the year-end rate, at the rates published
by the federal tax administration.
The translation difference resulting from the conversion
of the balance sheet items is allocated to the shareholders’
equity along with the translation differences on the income
statement arising from the difference of the average and the
year-end exchange rate.
income statement. Under the unity principle, the minority
interest are included in the shareholders’ equity.
Inter-company balances, expenses, income and profits are
eliminated upon consolidation.
Skyguide signed an agreement to purchase 1500 shares,
representing 15 % of the share capital of skysoft-atm SA at
the net equity value at the time of the transaction, on a three
month advance notice from the buyer, during the period
from 1st January 2011 to 31 December 2014.
Consolidation of the capital
The book value of the investments is eliminated with the
share of the net assets at the time of the acquisition or
foundation using the purchase method.
Authorization of the annual accounts
The annual accounts were authorized for publication by the
Board of Directors in its meeting of March 24, 2011 and
must still be approved by the general shareholders’ meeting
of May 5, 2011.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 63

Accounting rules
The accounting rules of skysoft-atm SA and swisscontrol SA
follow the rules described for skyguide. Skynav SA follows
the Belgian accounting rules. The accounts of skynav SA are
adjusted to the skyguide accounting principles.
The main accounting rules used in the preparation of
skyguide’s consolidated financial statements are described
below.
Foreign currencies
Functional currency
The elements included in the financial statements of skyguide
are measured in the currency that best reflects the economic
reality of the transaction. The accounts are presented in Swiss
francs (CHF), which is the functional currency of skyguide.
Transactions in foreign currencies
Transactions in foreign currencies are converted to the
functional currency at the closing rate of the prior month.
The exchange losses and gains arising from the settlement of
these transactions and from the re-evaluation of the balance
sheet items expressed in foreign currencies as at the balance
sheet date are posted to the statement of income, unless the
transactions qualify as “cash flow hedge” – in which case the
exchange difference is posted to shareholders’ equity.
64
Cash and short-term cash deposits
This item represents assets in current accounts as well as
short-term deposits. These transactions are recorded at the
exchange rate prevailing at the time of the transaction. These
items are revalued at year-end at closing rate.
Receivables
Receivables are recorded at the amount originally billed. A
provision for bad debts is established on the basis of a review
of the open items at the end of the period, when there is high
probability that the amounts will not be recovered by the
company. Amounts which are definitely unrecoverable are
written off.
Prepaid expenses
This caption includes the prepaid expenses relating to the
following accounting period, as well as accrued income,
including under-recoveries (see note 13).
Securities and associate
The securities are considered “available for sale” and, as
such, are presented as non-current assets. They are valued at
market rate at the closing date. Re-evaluations and losses and
gains on the sales of such securities are accounted for under
financial income or expense.
An associated organisation is an investment in which a
decisive influence can be realised. A significant influence
can be assumed if the share of the voting rights is at least
20 percent but less than 50 percent and control cannot be
exercised. An associated organisation is recognised using the
equity method. The result of the associated organisation is
disclosed separately in the consolidated income statement.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment are recorded at historical
cost, less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation method
is straight-line and based on the following useful lives, by
category of assets:
Depreciation term
Nature of the assets (years)
Buildings: shell 40
Buildings: internal and external layout 10 to 15
Land No depreciation
Fixed assets under construction No depreciation
Building infrastructure Based on the residual lifetime
of the underlying equipment
Vehicles 5 to 8
Air navigation facilities (ANF): buildings 40
Air navigation facilities (ANF): technical installations 15
Furniture and Equipment 5 to 10
Computer equipment (without ANF) 3 to 8
Measuring devices 8 to 15
Instruction and simulation equipment:
Software and Hardware 4 to 8
Instruction and simulation equipment:
Technical equipments for the simulation 15
Instruction and simulation equipment:
Simulation facilities 20
Write-offs of fixed assets are posted to the statement of
income, under “Unplanned depreciation.”
When applicable, the interest on loans used to finance the
acquisition of tangible assets is posted to the statement of
income under “Financial expenses.”
Expenses for repairs and maintenance are posted to
the statement of income under “Material, repairs and
maintenance.” Expenses for major renovation are capitalised
and amortised over the life of the element replaced, but never
beyond the remaining useful life of the underlying asset.
Exchange losses and gains on transactions specifically
attributable to a tangible asset are added to the value of the
respective asset.
Costs of research for ongoing projects are not capitalised,
but expensed as incurred.
Intangible Assets
Intangible assets are included at their historical value,
reduced by depreciation. Depreciation method is straightline
and based on a standard useful life of generally
between 3 and 8 years.
Intangible assets created by the company (mainly software
linked to air navigation) are capitalised under “Software”,
when launched into production. The intangible assets under
construction are integrated in the column “Fixed assets under
construction” of the property, plant and equipment table.
Intangible assets acquired by the company are included under
this heading at their historical value, reduced by depreciation.
Goodwill
The goodwill depreciation period is established on
acquisition. The current term is 5 years.
Financial debts
All debts are recorded at their net proceeds received, on the
date the funds are received.
The bond is initially recorded at the net proceeds received
and then recognised in accordance with the amortised cost
method.
Accrued liabilities
This item includes expenses payable relating to the current
period, which will only be paid in the following period, as
well as short- and long-term deferred income.
Provisions
A provision is constituted when the company has a probable
obligation that is based on a past event and its amount and
/ or its due date is uncertain but can be estimated. This
obligation gives rise to a liability.
Revenue
Revenue is recognised when the service is delivered. The
amounts are posted to the statement of income, net of taxes.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 65

Over- and under-recovery
Amounts carried forward and brought forward from over-
and under-recoveries are specific for the air navigation
services industry and governed by the “Principles for
establishing the cost-base for route facility charges and the
calculation of the unit rates” of Eurocontrol, as well as the
Ordinance on air navigation services.
An under-recovery corresponds to a negative annual result
on the air navigation services account. The amount of the
under-recovery is reintegrated into the calculation of the
rates for the following year (year n + 1) for the approach
activity and over a maximum period of six years (years n + 1
to n + 6) for the route activity. These elements are added to
the income statement under the heading “Prepaid expenses”
for the part to be recovered the next year, and under the
heading “Long-term advances and other long-term assets” for
the following years.
An over-recovery corresponds to a positive annual result on
the air navigation services account. The amount of the overrecovery
is reintegrated into the calculation of the rates for
the following year (year n + 1) for the approach activity and
over a maximum period of six years (years n + 1 to n + 6) for
the route activity. The over-recovery in respect of military
activities is retroceded the following year (year n + 1). These
elements are deducted from the income statement and
under the heading “Accrued liabilities” for the part due the
following year and under the heading “Other long-term
liabilities” for the following years.
66
Financial and derivative instruments
Skyguide uses derivatives to hedge its exchange risks, interest
rate risks and credit risks, which are related to the normal
course of its activities. These instruments are recorded on the
basis of the “trade date.”
Derivative financial instruments consist of future exchange
contracts, currency options, cross monetary swaps, interest
rates swaps and swaptions, CDS (credit default swap) and
CDO (collaterised debt obligation).
Fair value hedging includes derivatives used to hedge the
exchange risk and/or the interest rate risk as well as credit
risk. The profit or loss resulting from the re-evaluation of
these fair value hedging instruments is booked to either the
income statement or the shareholders’ equity.
Cash flow hedging includes derivatives used to hedge the risk
related to the cash flows resulting from future transactions
(exchange and/or interest rate) and the risk related to the
purchase of equipment in foreign currencies. The unrealised
profit or loss arising from re-evaluation at the fair value of
cash flow hedging instruments is posted to provisions, if the
hedging of the risks is effective. This verification is performed
regularly and at least quarterly. If the instrument is recognised
as ineffective, the loss or gain arising from fair value reevaluation
is immediately posted to the statement of income.
When the element covered by a hedging instrument is a fixed
asset, the accrued gains and losses of such hedging instrument
previously posted to provisions are charged to the cost of the
fixed asset. When the element covered is a financing instrument,
the accrued gains and losses of the hedging instrument
relating to it are included in the amount of the loan.
Pension plan
The Group covers the costs relating to the professional
pension of all its workers, as well as their assignees, under the
legal prescriptions. All the pension plans are covered by Swiss
law in accordance with skyguide’s bylaws. The pension obligations
and the plan assets are managed by a legally independent
pension fund. The organisation, the management and the
financing of the pension plans are governed by the law (LPP),
together with the deed of foundation and the regulations
applicable to pensions in force.
Transactions with related parties
According to Swiss GAAP-ARR 15, transactions with the
Swiss Confederation, including the departments and other
companies in which it is the majority shareholder, are not
considered as related parties.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Risk management policy
Risk assessment
To achieve the goals set up by the company, skyguide
introduced a systematic and complete risk management
framwork. The enterprise risk management (ERM)
that started end of 2006 as a corporate governance tool
enhances the transparency and provide an adequate
risk assessment when taking a decision. All the strategic,
financial, operational and compliance risks are identified
and quantified based on their probability of likelihood and
impact. These risks are then categorized and classified in a
risk matrix.
The key risks are regularly reviewed and actions are taken
if needed. The board of directors formally reviews the key
risks twice a year.
Management of exchange risk exposure
The Swiss franc is the functional currency of the Group.
Skyguide receives a significant part of its revenue in Euros.
Most expenses are in Swiss francs and Euros. Exchange rate
fluctuations versus the Swiss franc may have a significant
impact on the company’s result. To reduce this risk, the
company enters into certain instruments (options, forward
exchange, swaps, etc.) on the currency market, within the
limits of the rules set out by the Board of Directors.
The main objective of this risk management is:
a) to avoid significant exchange losses on exposure to the
functional currency; and
b) to limit revenue volatility related to fluctuations in the
exchange rate of foreign currencies.
Management of interest rate risk exposure
Skyguide mainly intends to protect itself against significant
increases in net interest expenditure due to market fluctuations
in interest rates. Given its position of net borrower, the
interest rate risk is mainly addressed by managing the ratio
of the fixed rate to the floating rate of the net debt. To limit
the negative effects on the result of net interest expenditure
linked to the potential rise in market interest rates, skyguide
keeps at least 50 % of the net debt at fixed interest rates.
Management of liquidity risk
Skyguide is exposed to this risk in the event of default of
certain counterparts or a refinancing problem. The liquidity
of the group is proactively supervised to ensure that the
company can cover its obligations at all times.
Market risk
The company is exposed to market risk, primarily vis-à-vis
the airlines, its major clients.
Dependence on the national carrier: Swiss and Lufthansa
represent 31 % of the total fees collected by skyguide
(2009: 31 %).
The 15 largest customers represent approximately 65 % of the
route facility income (2009: approximately 65 %).
A reduction in the activity of one of those clients would have
negative consequences on the company’s revenue. However,
in light of the principle of full cost recovery (carry forward
of over- and under-recoveries), skyguide is only temporarily
exposed to this risk.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 67

Notes to the consolidated financial
statements as at 31 December 2010
1. Operating revenue – segment analysis
in KCHF 2010 2009
Route charges (RC) 217 052 218 207
Approach charges (AC) 97 922 95 706
Air Force compensation 30 046 31 381
Other air navigation services revenue 7 538 7 586
Total air navigation services revenue 352 558 352 880
Other operating revenue 14 278 11 734
Net revenue from disposal of assets 74 78
Total other operating revenue 14 352 11 812
Total operating revenue 366 910 364 692
The segment analysis of the air traffic is composed as follow:
– overflight traffic (route charges, RC);
– traffic from and to Swiss airports (approach charges, AC);
– for the Swiss Air Force skyguide provides services that
are essential to maintaining the sovereignty of Swiss
airspace.
The geographical airspace region managed by skyguide
overlaps the national borders and expends to France, Italy,
Austria and Germany.
The item “Other air navigation revenue” includes revenue
from maintenance and repair contracts, instruction, training
and technical consulting.
The item “Other operating revenue” includes mainly revenue
from property rentals and other services not related to
air safety.
68
2. Personnel expenses
in KCHF 2010 2009
Salaries and social benefits 196 899 193 268
Duty and shift allowances 7 787 900
Social charges 50 104 49 185
Other personnel expenses 11 745 11 569
Internal hours capitalized — 17 499 – 16 887
Total personnel expenses 249 036 238 035
The social charges include the employer’s contributions in
respect of pension benefits as indicated in the table below:
in KCHF 2010 2009
Employer’s contribution 31 375 30 350
The average number of personnel, including personnel under
training, was 1439 in 2010, versus 1425 in 2009.
3. Administrative expenses
The administrative expenses include subcontracting costs
as well as purchase costs for material sold. The amount is
KCHF 396 (2009: KCHF 1556).
4. Net allowance for bad debt
in KCHF 2010 2009
Allowance for bad debt (RC) 158 42
Allowance for bad debt (AC) 608 649
Allowance for bad debt (other) – 558 49
Total allowance for bad debt 208 740
5. Unplanned depreciations
Unplanned depreciations amounting to KCHF 846 were
recorded in 2010 (2009: KCHF 2954).
In 2010 and 2009 unplanned depreciations result from assets
under construction for which a revaluation of the situation
indicate that these assets no longer meet the criteria for capitalisation
under the Swiss GAAP-ARR standards, as well as
the anticipated scrapping of material.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

6. Financial income
in KCHF 2010 2009
Interest income 170 312
Foreign exchange transaction
gains/losses – net gain 20 918
Revenue on foreign exchange instruments 1 232 668
QTE lease revenue (see note 20) 2 025 2 025
Revenue CDO (see note 20) 26 066 21 682
Revenue CDS (see note 20) 221 0
Decrease of the fair value
of the written put 0 127
Other financial revenue 49 43
Total financial income 29 783 25 775
7. Financial expenses
in KCHF 2010 2009
Interest expenses 5 559 5 847
Foreign exchange transaction
gains/losses – net loss 6 403 38
Expenses on foreign exchange instruments 0 524
Expenses on interest instruments 451 105
Expense CDS (see note 20) 0 7 413
Increase of the fair value
of the written put 80 0
Other financial expenses 7 5
Total financial expenses 12 500 13 932
8. Taxes
Skyguide is exempt from any federal, cantonal and municipal
taxes according to Article 40, indent 3 of the Federal Aviation
Act dated December 21, 1948.
The other companies are subject to taxes in their respective
countries.
9. Balance brought forward
This item represents the amount brought forward in the
current year (year n) of under- or over-recovery of charges
reported in the previous year (n – 1) for approach activities
and two years earlier (year n – 2) for route activities.
10. Balance carried forward
This item represents the carrying forward to subsequent
years of over- and/or under-recoveries on route and approach
charges recorded for year n. The cumulative surplus of
charges for the current year (year n) for the approach activity
is carried forward to the airspace users over the following
period (year n + 1). The surplus of charges for the current
period (year n) for the route activity is carried forward
to airspace users over the 1st to the 6th following year
(years n + 1 to n + 6). The income surplus for the military
activity is retroceded the following year (n + 1).
11. Cash and short-term cash deposits
in KCHF 2010 2009
Cash and cash equivalents 27 747 52 662
Total cash and cash equivalents 27 747 52 662
Average interest rate
on short-term deposits 0.00 % 0.51 %
Average duration
of short-term deposits (days) 0 18
12. Receivables and advances
in KCHF 2010 2009
Receivables from collecting organisations 30 316 30 137
Other receivable 8 770 12 111
Personnel related receivable 3 103 4 344
VAT receivable 1 245 1 211
Allowance for bad debt – 5 189 – 6 086
Total receivable and advances 38 245 41 717
13. Prepaid expenses
in KCHF 2010 2009
Accrued income: under-recovery AC 2 181 15 473
Accrued income: under-recovery RC 47 539 47 200
Accrued income: other 14 859 14 935
Prepaid expenses 3 371 3 062
Total prepaid expenses 67 950 80 670
14. Long-term advances and other long-term assets
in KCHF 2010 2009
Accrued income:
under-recovery RR n + 2 72 392 47 539
Other 43 20
Other long-term advances
and other long-term assets 72 435 47 559
skyguide Annual Report 2010 69

15. Property, plant and equipment
Total land
and
in KCHF Buildings Land buildings
Acquisition value
Status as at January 1, 2009 235 778 2 227 238 005
Additions 1 288 0 1 288
Reclassifications 5 558 0 5 558
Disposals – 118 0 – 118
Status as at December 31, 2009 242 506 2 227 244 733
Depreciation
Accumulated depreciation as at January 1, 2009 – 73 382 0 – 73 382
Depreciation – 8 600 0 – 8 600
Unplanned depreciation – 17 0 – 17
Accumulated depreciation of reclassifications 27 0 27
Accumulated depreciation of disposals 100 0 100
Accumulated depreciation as at December 31, 2009 – 81 872 0 – 81 872
Net book value as at December 31, 2009 160 634 2 227 162 861
Acquisition value
Status as at January 1, 2010 242 506 2 227 244 733
Additions 544 0 544
Reclassifications 3 143 0 3 143
Disposals – 2 0 – 2
Status as at December 31, 2010 246 191 2 227 248 418
Depreciation
Accumulated depreciation as at January 1, 2010 – 81 872 0 – 81 872
Depreciation – 8 735 0 – 8 735
Unplanned depreciation 0 0 0
Accumulated depreciation of reclassifications 0 0 0
Accumulated depreciation of disposals 0 0 0
Accumulated depreciation as at December 31, 2010 – 90 607 0 – 90 607
Net book value as at December 31, 2010 155 584 2 227 157 811
70
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Total
property,
Instrument plant and
Fixed assets Air navigation Furniture and equipment
under Building facilities and IT facilities Measuring simulation excl. land
construction infrastructure Vehicles (ANF) equipment (excl. ANF) devices facilities and buildings Total
77 196 24 409 2 368 209 158 17 855 8 718 9 296 9 145 358 145 596 150
14 674 2 157 70 6 454 379 1 076 133 213 25 156 26 444
– 66 526 862 0 42 619 1 682 – 13 0 194 – 21 182 – 15 624
– 1 720 – 7 477 – 105 – 12 771 – 610 – 289 – 209 – 45 – 23 226 – 23 344
23 624 19 951 2 333 245 460 19 306 9 492 9 220 9 507 338 893 583 626
0 – 18 805 – 1 603 – 108 072 – 12 871 – 6 255 – 7 834 – 3 091 – 158 531 – 231 913
0 – 1 567 – 256 – 26 296 – 2 005 – 1 239 – 326 – 1 775 – 33 464 – 42 064
– 1 692 – 183 0 – 652 – 1 0 – 7 0 – 2 535 – 2 552
1 692 193 0 622 6 4 7 0 2 524 2 551
0 7 294 105 12 119 609 289 202 45 20 663 20 763
0 – 13 068 – 1 754 – 122 279 – 14 262 – 7 201 – 7 958 – 4 821 – 171 343 – 253 215
23 624 6 883 579 123 181 5 044 2 291 1 262 4 686 167 550 330 411
23 624 19 951 2 333 245 460 19 306 9 492 9 220 9 507 338 893 583 626
11 615 1 349 149 10 718 223 806 45 1 228 26 133 26 677
– 14 696 0 – 2 6 783 22 0 0 15 – 7 878 – 4 735
– 366 – 19 – 98 – 10 551 – 664 – 34 – 57 – 69 – 11 858 – 11 860
20 177 21 281 2 382 252 410 18 887 10 264 9 208 10 681 345 290 593 708
0 – 13 068 – 1 754 – 122 279 – 14 262 – 7 201 – 7 958 – 4 821 – 171 343 – 253 215
0 – 1 255 – 229 – 26 104 – 1 822 – 1 304 – 290 – 1 741 – 32 745 – 41 480
– 272 0 – 13 – 567 0 0 0 0 – 852 – 852
272 0 13 567 0 0 0 0 852 852
0 19 85 9 985 664 32 57 70 10 912 10 912
0 – 14 304 – 1 898 – 138 398 – 15 420 – 8 473 – 8 191 – 6 492 – 193 176 – 283 783
20 177 6 977 484 114 012 3 467 1 791 1 017 4 189 152 114 309 925
skyguide Annual Report 2010 71

16. Intangible assets
in KCHF
Acquisition value
Software Goodwill Other
Total
intangible
assets
Status as at January 1, 2009 145 380 1 106 14 146 500
Additions 13 227 0 0 13 227
Reclassifications 15 624 0 0 15 624
Disposals – 2 006 0 0 – 2 006
Status as at December 31, 2009 172 225 1 106 14 173 345
Depreciation
Accumulated depreciation as at January 1, 2009 – 54 753 – 814 – 14 – 55 581
Depreciation – 24 751 – 221 0 – 24 972
Unplanned depreciation – 402 0 0 – 402
Accumulated depreciation of reclassifications 583 0 0 583
Accumulated depreciation of disposals 1 157 0 0 1 157
Accumulated depreciation as at December 31, 2009 – 78 166 – 1 035 – 14 – 79 215
Net book value as at December 31, 2009 94 059 71 0 94 130
Acquisition value
Status as at January 1, 2010 172 225 1 106 14 173 345
Additions 8 249 0 0 8 249
Reclassifications 4 735 0 0 4 735
Disposals – 845 0 0 – 845
Status as at December 31, 2010 184 364 1 106 14 185 484
Depreciation
Accumulated depreciation as at January 1, 2010 – 78 166 – 1 035 – 14 – 79 215
Depreciation – 23 191 – 63 0 – 23 254
Unplanned depreciation 6 0 0 6
Accumulated depreciation of disposals 944 – 1 0 943
Accumulated depreciation as at December 31, 2010 – 100 407 – 1 099 – 14 – 101 520
Net book value as at December 31, 2010 83 957 7 0 83 964
The amount of commitments as at December 31, 2010 with
suppliers for the acquisition of tangible and intangible assets
is KCHF 3700 (December 31, 2009: KCHF 3234).
72
skyguide Annual Report 2010

17. Short- and long-term debt
in KCHF 2010 2009
Short-term debt
Bond 199 757 0
Borrowing from financial institutions 6 000 0
Total short-term debt 205 757 0
Long-term debt
Bond 0 199 454
Total long-term debt 0 199 454
Maturity of debt 2010 2009
Within one year 205 757 0
In the second year 0 199 454
In the third to the fifth year inclusive 0 0
After the fifth year 0 0
205 757 199 454
in % 2010 2009
Weighted average interest rate (%) 2.6147 2.6250
in KCHF 2010 2009
Interest rate structure of borrowings
Fixed interest rate debt 205 757 199 454
205 757 199 454
The fair value of the financial debts is not significantly
different from their book value.
No guarantee or pledging of assets has been issued in relation
to the financial debts.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 73
Bond
Date of issue 19 October 2004
Date of reimbursement 19 October 2011
Amount in CHF 200 000 000
Interest rate 2.625 %
SWX listing – No. value 1 957 462
SWX listing – No. ISIN CH0019574620
The issue price was 100.75 %.
An interest rate swap had been entered into before the issue
of the bond, in order to fix a maximum rate on the loan. This
instrument had a cost of KCHF 1451. With the instrument
not ultimately having been exercised, the total cost of
KCHF 1451 is amortised over the duration of the loan.
Covenants linked to the loan agreements
Certain financial commitments are linked to covenants
which, if they were not realised, might lead to the immediate
termination of certain loans in progress.
These conditions are the following:
– direct participation by the Confederation in the
borrower’s capital of a minimum of 51 %;
– minimum ratio of shareholders’ equity (share capital,
reserves, retained earnings) representing 30 % of the total
skyguide SA statutory balance sheet;
– cover of liability insurance of a minimum of five
hundred million Swiss francs.

18. Derivative financial instruments
Contractual values – net Positive fair value Negative fair value
in KCHF 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009
Exchange rate instruments
Forward foreign exchange contracts 5 282 9 068 284 146 0 0
Options 30 067 21 220 710 154 44 38
Swaps 2 500 0 0 0 0 0
Total of exchange rate instruments 994 300 44 38
Interest rate instruments
Interest rate swaps 200 000 0 5 128 0 0 0
Interest rate swaptions 0 10 000 0 207 0 0
Total of interest rate instruments 5 128 207 0 0
Credit instruments
CDS (credit default swap – see note 20) 117 620 117 620 5 562 5 341 0 0
CDO Synthetic CDO (synthetic collaterised
debt obligation – see note 20) 0 117 620 0 0 0 67 066
Total of credit instruments 5 562 5 341 0 67 066
Total derivative financial instruments
included in assets and liabilities 11 684 5 848 44 67 104
Derivative instruments have the following maturities:
in KCHF 2010 2009
Within one year 237 849 40 288
Within the second year 0 0
Between the third to the fifth year inclusive 0 0
After the fifth year 117 620 235 240
74
skyguide Annual Report 2010

19. Advances and other short-term liabilities
in KCHF 2010 2009
Other personnel related liabilites 3 206 2 431
VAT Payable 4 351 4 517
Other liabilities 1 567 5 480
Total advances and
other short-term liabilities 9 124 12 428
20. Accrued liabilities
in KCHF 2010 2009
Deferred revenue: over-recovery MIL 2 172 1 218
Deferred revenue: QTE lease fees 12 150 14 175
Deferred revenue: other 24 227 26 584
Charges to pay 19 927 19 391
Total accrued liabilities 58 476 61 368
In 2001 and 2002, skyguide concluded two “cross-border
financial tax lease” agreements with a foreign investor
and received net fees of CHF 30.9 million in this respect.
Skyguide offset the underlying liability by irrevocably
placing an equivalent quantity of financial assets with
two high-quality financial institutions. Consequently, the
liability and the corresponding financial assets were offset
in the balance sheet. Skyguide is not required to provide
any particular service under this agreement, except for the
normal performance of current business. Skyguide covers all
the risks, retains all the profits related to ownership of the
underlying assets and benefits substantially from the same
rights of use as before the conclusion of the agreement.
All the fees from these two agreements are recognised as
revenue over the fifteen-year life of the agreements (expiring
in 2016). Accordingly, skyguide has recognised revenue of
CHF 2 million for the current financial year.
Certain amounts are payable only if skyguide violates
contractual clauses.
In 2006, skyguide decided to reduce the exposure to the risk
of credit related to the irrevocable placement made by the
two above-mentioned financial institutions.
For this reason skyguide entered in 2006 into a credit
derivative contract, specifically a CDS (“credit default swap”),
running until 2016. By purchasing this instrument, skyguide
is protected from the possible default of one or the two
financial institutions.
Skyguide also entered into a second derivative credit
instrument contract, a synthetic portfolio of CDO (“collaterised
debt obligation”) running also until 2016. Skyguide
settled this derivative on 4 November 2010.
In 2009, both CDS and CDO were revalued at fair value at
the closing date and the movements were recorded in the
income statement. In 2010, the same accounting treatment
has been applied to the existing CDS.
An amount of CHF 26.1 millions was credited to the income
statement in 2010 after the settlement of the CDO (2009:
CHF 21.7 million as an income). The revaluation of the CDS
at fair value has resulted in an income of CHF 0.2 millions in
2010 (2009: CHF 7.4 million as an expense) .
skyguide Annual Report 2010 75

21. Short-term provisions
Personnel Site
Total
short-term
in KCHF Litigation related restoration Other provisions
At January 1, 2009 207 4 361 515 1 638 6 721
Additional provisions 36 584 0 394 1 014
Utilised during the year – 88 – 669 – 515 – 138 – 1 410
Unused provisions reversed – 81 – 146 0 0 – 227
At December 31, 2009 74 4 130 0 1 894 6 098
At January 1, 2010 74 4 130 0 1 894 6 098
Additional provisions 10 973 0 424 1 407
Utilised during the year – 25 – 339 0 – 49 – 413
Unused provisions reversed – 22 – 214 0 0 – 236
At December 31, 2010 37 4 550 0 2 269 6 856
22. Share capital
The Swiss Confederation holds 99.94 % of the company.
The share capital is CHF 140 000 000 and is divided
into 14 000 000 registered fully paid-up shares, with a par
value of CHF 10 each. On July 4, 2007, the share capital
was increased by CHF 40 000 000 by converting an advance
received from the Confederation. The structure of the capital
remained unchanged in 2010 and 2009 and no preferred
share are issued.
No dividend was paid in 2010 and 2009.
76
23. Contingent liabilities
a) Guarantee deposits
in KCHF 2010 2009
Swiss customs and excise authority:
provisional customs duties
Zurich and Geneva
Chamber of Commerce and Industry:
160 160
ATA booklets 63 63
Flughafen Zürich AG 10 10
Geneva cantonal employment office 50 50
Total 283 283
The deposits have been made at the Cantonal Bank of Berne.
b) Other guarantee deposits
in KCHF 2010 2009
Rent guarantees in favor of employees
Guarantees deposited
52 60
on installments received 3 233 3 113
Pledged collateral 200 200
Total 3 485 3 373
The deposits have been made at the Cantonal Banks of Berne,
Geneva and Zurich, at the Crédit Suisse in Geneva and the
UBS in Geneva.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

24. Fire insurance value of property, plant
and equipment
in KCHF 2010 2009
Fire insurance coverage – property,
plant and equipment 649 762 649 713
Total 649 762 649 713
25. Other commitments not included in the balance sheet
Operating leases
The future maturities of the
operating leases are as follows:
in KCHF 2010 2009
Within one year 309 476
In the second to the fifth year inclusive 284 584
After the fifth year 0 0
Total 593 1 060
The above table summarises skyguide’s commitments
concerning operating leases. These operating leasing arrangements
relate only to the rental of photocopiers, office
software and servers. Commitments are calculated based on
current contracts, for the agreed contractual term.
26. Pension funds
The patrimonial and financial position of skycare, the
skyguide pension fund, according to the annual accounts
(2010 – estimates), is as follows:
2010 2009
in KCHF (estimates)
Assets at market value 981 808 954 189
Pension obligations (liabilities) 1 003 201 986 504
Deficit/Excess cover – 21 393 – 32 315
% degree of cover: 97,9 96,7
Reorganisation measures have been adopted by the board
of trustees in January 2009 and are maintained in 2010.
Those measures have been communicated to the employees
and should allow the pension fund to have an excess cover
within 5 to 10 years, without any additional contributions
from the employer.
Professional pension care applies in principle to all staff
subject to compulsory insurance as per the LPP (Law on
occupational pension scheme) benefiting from an unlimitedterm
employment contract or a contract of over 3 months or
a training or apprenticeship contract.
The aim of the Foundation is to provide professional pension
care in the framework of the LPP and its implementing
ordinances. The skycare pension care scheme set up within
the framework of the Foundation aims to protect the staff of
skyguide and, as appropriate, enterprises linked to it economically
or financially, as well as in favour of their families and
their survivors, against the economic consequences of ageing,
decease, invalidity and an early retirement linked to the
profession.
The calculation of the pension obligations is made annually,
based on the financial statements of skycare which are
prepared in accordance with Swiss GAAP-ARR 26.
There are no free reserves. No economical benefits or
commitments exist at year-end.
Contributions due to the pension plan
There are no contributions due to the pension plan.
skyguide Annual Report 2010 77

Report of the group auditors
78
skyguide Annual Report 2010

skyguide Annual Report 2010 79

Air navigation services statement for 2010
Principles
Skyguide provides its civil customers with two types of air
navigation services:
– approach control at Swiss airports and airfields
(except Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg), where flights can be
managed with instruments (IFR);
– en-route services for the overflight of Swiss airspace.
Air navigation charges are billed to the users for these
services provided by skyguide.
80
Calculation of the route and approach charges
The calculation of air navigation charges is based on the
volume of traffic expected to use each type of service,
as well as estimated costs. The 2010 cost breakdown is
as follows: personnel (64 %), operational costs (16 %),
depreciation (17 %) and interest (3 %). Operating charges
include in particular the contribution to the operating costs
of MétéoSuisse.
The charges shall cover all the costs. Should a year’s
operations result in an under-recovery or over-recovery,
these results are passed on to users by raising or lowering the
charges, as appropriate. For approach charges the carry-over
occurs in the following year; with route charges it takes place
over a maximum period of 6 years.
Two different methods are used to calculate approach and
route air navigation charges:
– approach charges are based on maximum take-off
weight and a unit approach rate fixed for the year.
Nowadays approach charges are collected by the airports
for skyguide;
– route charges are calculated on the basis of the
kilometres covered and maximum take-off weight. These
two parameters are used to calculate the service units
(SU), to which is applied the en-route unit rate fixed for
the year. Route charges are collected by a special recovery
unit at Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the
Safety of Air Navigation, and passed on to skyguide.
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Cumulated cost coverage ratio
Route charges
In the case of the route charges, the entire cost coverage is
not achieved in 2010 which resulted in an under-recovery of
CHF 72 391 549. This result is explained by revenues that are
below the operating costs as well as the reintegration of the
large 2008 deficit.
The under-recovery of the costs is limited by the settlement
of a financial instrument that results in an exceptional
income in 2010.
The degree of cost coverage including the carry-overs from
previous years is 63.6 %.
The precise under-recovery for 2010 will be carried over into
the statement for air navigation services for 2012.
Approach charges
Regarding the approaches, an under-recovery is also
recorded, amounting to CHF 2 180 562 for 2010.
The revenues exceed the operating costs for the year and
the settlement of a financial instrument that results in an
exceptional income in 2010 improves the approach revenue.
Nevertheless, the surplus in revenue is not sufficient to cover
the reintegration of the large 2009 deficit.
The degree of cost coverage including the carry-overs from
previous years is 97.7 %.
The precise under-recovery for 2010 will be carried over
into the statement for air navigation services for 2011.
Military result
In contrast to the route and approach results, which are
financed via charges, the costs of military air navigation
services are covered by a flat-rate payment made quarterly by
the Air Force to skyguide and established within the frame of
a services agreement.
This agreement specifies the range of services, their unit
price, the agreed quantities resulting in a global compensation.
At the end of 2010, a final statement was made, which
resulted in an excess of revenue of CHF 953 875 in favour of
the Air Force; this amount was accrued in 2010 and will be
settled in 2011.
As a consequence, the revenue made on the MIL Product
covers exactly the costs generated to render these services.
En-route and approach unit rate development 1995-2010 Source skyguide
120 %
110 %
100 %
90 %
80 %
70 %
60 %
50 %
40 %
100 %
100 %
1995
100 %
101 %
1996
93 %
97 %
1997
87 %
93 %
1998
85 %
93 %
1999
• En-route unit rate (in CHF)
• Average approach charge (in CHF) = Charges/Number of approaches
85 %
94 %
2000
86 %
94 %
2001
93 %
90 %
2002
skyguide Annual Report 2010 81
105 %
108 %
2003
105 %
112 %
2004
87 %
106 %
2005
80 %
105 %
2006
84 %
108 %
2007
84 %
111 %
2008
84 %
110 %
2009
84 %
112 %
2010

Statement for air navigation services 2010
Partial statement Partial statement
Route charges Approach charges Partial statement
in CHF RC AC MIL
Route charges (RC) 227 801 462
Approach charges (AC) 106 893 424
Military compensation 30 053 174
Skyguide income 227 801 462 106 893 424 30 053 174
./. Income for airspace delegated by France – 54 205 487
Swiss airspace income 173 595 975 106 893 424 30 053 174
Personnel charges 158 218 875 59 818 796 22 672 291
Operating expenses 39 695 538 15 284 036 6 528 034
Depreciation 48 057 899 16 084 219 575 673
Interests 7 021 124 2 413 471 277 176
Skyguide costs 252 993 436 93 600 522 30 053 174
./. Costs for airspace delegated by France – 54 205 487
Swiss airspace costs 198 787 949 93 600 522 30 053 174
Operating result without carry-overs – 25 191 974 13 292 902 0
Cumulative cost coverage
2010 income for Swiss airspace 173 595 975 106 893 424 30 053 174
+ Over-recovery RC 2008 (n – 2)
+ Over-recovery AC 2009 (n – 1)
2010 cost for Swiss airspace 198 787 949 93 600 522 30 053 174
+ Under-recovery RC 2008 (n – 2) 47 199 573
+ Under-recovery AC 2009 (n – 1) 15 473 464
Cumulative over-recovery/under-recovery – 72 391 547 – 2 180 562 0
Cumulative cost coverage ratio 63.6 % 97.7 % 100.0 %
Income structure ANS for 2010
MIL 8 %
AC 29 %
RC 63 %
82
Cost structure ANS 2010
Interest 3 %
Depreciation 17 %
Operating cost 16 %
Personnel 64 %
skyguide Annual Report 2010

Glossary of abbreviations
ACC
Area control centre
ACE
ATM Cost-Effectiveness
AD
Air defence
AFTN
Aeronautical fixed telecommunications network
AHV
Alters- und Hinterbliebenenversicherung
(Swiss state old-age pension scheme)
AIC
Aeronautical Information Circular
AIG
Aéroport International de Genève
(the Geneva airport authority)
AIM
Aeronautical Information Management
AIP
Aeronautical Information Publication
AIRE
Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce
Emissions AIS
Aeronautical Information Service
ALV
Arbeitslosenversicherung
(Swiss state unemployment benefit scheme)
AMIE
AIS/MET Information Environment
ANS
Air Navigation Services
AOT
Administrative, operational and technical personnel
APP
Approach
APTC
Association du Personnel de la Tour de Contrôle et
du Terminal Genève
ARO
ATS/AIS Reporting Office
ASB
ANSP Strategic Board (FABEC)
ASHTAM
NOTAM on vulcanic ash activities
ATC
Air Traffic Control
ATCO
Air Traffic Controller
ATFCM
Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management
ATFM
Air Traffic Flow Management
ATIS
Automatic Terminal Information Service
(reports weather conditions to arriving
and departing traffic)
ATM
Air Traffic Management
ATS
Air Traffic Services
ATSEP
Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel
BFU
Büro für Flugunfalluntersuchungen
(Federal Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, the
Swiss air accident investigation office)
BSC
Balanced scorecard
CANSO
Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation
CDO
Collaterised debt obligation
CFMU
Central Flow Management Unit
CHIPS
CH Implementation Program for SESAR related
Objectives CIDIN
Common ICAO Data Interchange Network
CLA
Collective labour agreement
CMR
Corporate Management Review
CNS
Communications, Navigation & Surveillance
CPCG
Centre de perfectionnement des cadres, Geneva
CSM
Corporate Security Management
DDPS
Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil
Protection and Sports
DETEC
Swiss Federal Department of the Environment,
Transport, Energy and Communications
DFS
Deutsche Flugsicherung
(Germany’s air navigation service provider)
DSNA
Direction des Services de la Navigation Aérienne
(France’s air navigation service provider)
EIS
Executive Information System
EMS
Environmental Management System
ERM
Enterprise Risk Management
ESARR
Eurocontrol Safety Regulatory Requirement
ETHZ
Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich
Eurocontrol
Europe’s umbrella air navigation services
organisation
FAB
Functional Airspace Block
FABEC
Functional Airspace Block Europe Central
FASTI
First ATC Support Tools Implementation
FCOS
Federal Coordination Commission for
Occupational Safety
FDP
Flight Data Processing
FOCA
Federal Office of Civil Aviation
(the Swiss aviation authority)
HRO
High-Reliability Organisation
IAS
International Accounting Standards
IATA
International Air Transport Association
ICAO
International Civil Aviation Organisation
ICT
Information and Communications Technology
IFR
Instrument Flight Rules
IFRS
International Financial Reporting Standards
ILS
Instrument Landing System
IntACT
International Audit Cooperation Team
IV
Invalidenversicherung
(Swiss state disability insurance scheme)
KPI
Key Performance Indicator
LAN
Local Area Network
NISV
Swiss Federal Ordinance on Non-Ionising Radiation
NOF
NOTAM Office
NOTAM
Notice to Airmen
OIR
Operational Internal Reporting
OLDI
On-Line Data Exchange
OPET
Swiss Federal Office for Professional Education
and Technology
PVB
Personalverband des Bundes
(union for federal employees)
QMS
Quality Management System
RWTH
Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule
(Aachen University)
SES
Single European Sky
SESAR
Single European Sky Aviation Research
(a programme to upgrade Europe’s aviation
infrastructure)
SIA
Service de l’Information Aéronautique
(French flight information office)
SMS
Safety Management System
SNOWTAM
NOTAM on winter runway conditions
SSG
Safety Steering Group
STC
Skyguide Training Center
SUVA
The Swiss federal industrial injury insurance scheme
TMA
Terminal Manoeuvring Area
TWR
Tower
VFR
Visual Flight Rules
VFSD
Ordinance on the Provision of Air Navigation Services
VOLMET
Meteorological information facility for aircraft
in flight
VOR
Very-high-frequency omnidirectional radio range
WAN
Wide Area Network
skyguide Annual Report 2010 83

Contact and publishing details
Contact details
Media Relations
Phone: + 41 22 417 4008
Fax: + 41 22 417 4586
E-mail: presse@skyguide.ch
Corporate Communications
Roger Gaberell
Phone: + 41 22 417 4015
Fax: + 41 22 417 4586
E-mail: info@skyguide.ch
84
This annual report is also available
in French and German.
The original German version shall prevail.
© 2011
skyguide, swiss air navigation services ltd.
Editor and project manager
Raimund Fridrich
Corporate Communication
Editing: Thomas Graf, Zurich
Translations
Jean-François Cuennet, Palma de Mallorca
Paul Day, Zurich
Concept and design
Valérie Giroud, Lausanne
Photos
All photographs except p. 39 have been taken
by employees for the internal competition “10 years
skyguide ”.
Cover – Thomas Weckemann
p. 8 – Marcus Meyer (and the Meiringen team)
p. 20 – Philippe Rey
p. 25 – Christian Weiss
p. 30 – David Fraternali
p. 35 – Thomas Muhl
p. 40 – Guillaume Boppe
p. 45 – Daniel Eberli
p. 39 – Gaby Züblin, Berne
© skyguide
skyguide Annual Report 2010

skyguide
swiss air navigation services ltd
p.o. box 796
CH-1215 geneva 15
tel + 41 22 417 41 11
fax + 41 22 417 45 47
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