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Programme Virtual Centre

Skyguide

Key facts

Skyguide provides safe and efficient air traffic management services, both in Switzerland and in adjacent parts of neighbouring countries. It is more than 99% owned by the Swiss Confederation. In 2020, the Federal Council decided to increase Skyguide’s share capital by CHF 150 million in order to financially stabilise the company. The following year, Skyguide was also granted a subordinated loan from the Confederation, worth CHF 250 million.

With its Virtual Centre (VC) programme, the company aims to drive forward the digital transformation of air traffic control and modernise the overall technical configuration of these systems. Eventually, air traffic controllers will be able to manage any sector of Swiss airspace from any workstation at the two control centres in Geneva and Dübendorf. This programme plays a central role in Skyguide’s strategy. The new platform is expected to help the company as it moves towards greater sustainability, resilience and efficiency, amidst growing traffic and a shortage of air traffic controllers.

The work started in 2011, with an initial estimated cost of CHF 262 million. The first two tranches laid the organisational and technical foundations for the new platform, which is now operational. The third and final tranche currently in progress will see the implementation of flexible operations. For this third stage, Skyguide initially anticipated earnings of around CHF 238 million over the period 2021–34. The company also aimed to achieve savings of CHF 21 million by 2024. However, the work is behind schedule.

The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) has already conducted four VC-related audits. In particular, it noted the absence of the expected cost savings, due to the delay in the programme as a result of other priorities. It now wants to review the current status of the programme and the efforts to mitigate the effects of this slackening of the activity rate. It would also like to follow up on the implementation of a 2019 audit recommendation (audit mandate 19120) concerning the monitoring of privileged access in the production systems.

The situation is a difficult one, with the programme’s end date having been pushed back from 2024 originally to 2031 now. The total estimated costs come to CHF 286 million. The earnings anticipated from the third tranche have been carried forward and have fallen to around CHF 110 million for the period up to 2034, and the expected savings are not being achieved. One of the reasons for the delay is the persistent shortage of IT personnel, with the uncertainty surrounding the funding of the company’s activities not helping with finding solutions. Given this worrying outlook, the SFAO recommends that some thought go into the VC programme’s contribution to achieving the organisation’s strategic objectives.