01When the aerodrome is the whole revenue base
Many airports, island states and regional authorities provide only tower and approach services. With no upper airspace, there are no en-route or overflight charges to rely on. Revenue depends entirely on what happens within a few miles of the runway: approach, landing, parking and passenger charges.
With such a narrow base, every movement counts. Yet these charges are still often compiled from handwritten tower logs and paper strips, then re-keyed into spreadsheets at month end. A missed movement, an unrecorded parking stay or an unchecked passenger count is revenue that never reaches an invoice.
02Where the revenue leaks
Incomplete movement records
Handwritten logs miss flights, carry illegible callsigns and rarely include the registration or MTOW needed to rate them.
Estimated parking time
On-stand and off-stand times are guessed or never recorded, so parking is under-billed or waived.
Unchecked passenger charges
Passenger numbers come from airline declarations, with no check against the flights that actually operated.
Slow, disputable invoices
Manual compilation delays billing and leaves no evidence when an operator challenges a charge.
03From manual records to automated charges
| Charge | Manual basis today | With ABX |
|---|---|---|
| Tower and approach | Tower log entries and paper strips | One digital movement record, matched to the flight plan, registration and MTOW |
| Landing | Handwritten arrival times | Time-stamped arrivals and departures, rated automatically |
| Parking | Estimated stay, free time applied by hand | Duration calculated from on-stand and off-stand times, free periods applied by rule |
| Passenger | Airline declarations, rarely checked | Passenger data reconciled against recorded movements before invoicing |
04How ABX captures every charge
- Digital movement capture. One electronic record per flight, built from flight plan data and tower entries, so no billable movement goes unrecorded.
- Automatic tariff rating. Your published tower, approach, landing, parking and passenger tariffs are applied with weight bands, free periods, exchange rates and exemptions.
- Optional ADS-B at the airfield. Not required, but a low-cost receiver gives controllers situational awareness and independently confirms arrival, departure and stand times.
- Instant, audit-ready invoices. Each invoice is ready as soon as the movement is recorded and carries its movement times, aircraft details and calculation, cutting disputes.
When terminal charges are your only revenue, ABX turns every movement into an accurate, auditable invoice, with no new surveillance infrastructure required.
Applies to aerodromes and authorities providing tower and approach services only. Charges and tariff rules are configured to each customer’s published tariffs. ADS-B is optional and used for situational awareness and validation only.